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Song At Midnight
''Song at Midnight'' (, also known as ''Midnight Song'', ''Singing at Midnight'' or literally "Midnight Voice") is a 1937 Chinese film directed by Ma-Xu Weibang, a director best known for his work in the horror genre. Often referred to as the first Chinese horror film, or as the first horror-musical, ''Song at Midnight'' draws influence from the 1923 film ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', as well as the 1910 novel ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (''Le Fantôme de l'Opéra'') by Gaston Leroux and its 1925 film adaptation of the same name. ''Song at Midnight'' was released five months prior to the eruption of the Second Sino-Japanese War in China. The film's primary subplot concerns the activities of Chinese leftist revolutionaries, and did not easily evade the film censorship of Kuomintang, along with its serious punishment to films dealing with themes of horror, gods, spirits, or "superstition and heresy" at that time. With a passion to maintain his creation, and in order to succ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ma-Xu Weibang
Ma-Xu Weibang (; 1905–1961) was a Chinese film director active in mainland China from the 1920s to 1940s, and later in Hong Kong, perhaps best known for his work in the horror genre, the most important unarguably being ''The Phantom of the Opera''-inspired, ''Song at Midnight''. Ma-Xu was also known for a few acting roles early in his career, as well as for being a screenwriter. The director of 33 known films, much of Ma-Xu's early work has been lost. Ma-Xu was born Xu Weibang in 1905 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Little is known of this early period except that his parents died while Ma-Xu was still a child, which was said to influence his decision to incorporate his wife's surname, "Ma". Career in film Ma-Xu studied at the Shanghai Institute of Fine Arts in the early 1920s. Following his graduation, he began working as an actor for the Mingxing Film Company, his first film being Zhang Shichuan's ''The Marriage Trap'' in 1924. Following a brief stint in the short-lived Langhua Film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Revolution (Republic Of China)
The Second Revolution () refers to a 1913 revolt by the governors of several southern Chinese provinces as well as supporters of Sun Yat Sen and the Kuomintang against the Beiyang Government of the Republic of China led by Yuan Shikai. It was quickly defeated by Yuan's armies and led to the continued consolidation of Yuan's powers as President of the Republic of China. The Bai Lang Rebellion was concurrent to the Second Revolution. Background Kuomintang leader Song Jiaoren was assassinated in March 1913. Some people believe that Yuan Shikai was responsible, and although it has never been proven, he had already arranged the assassination of several pro-revolutionist generals. Animosity towards Yuan grew. In April he secured a Reorganization Loan of 25 million pounds sterling from Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Japan, without consulting the parliament first. The loan was used to finance Yuan's Beiyang Army. On May 20, 1913, Yuan concluded a deal with Russia that g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Loh Ti
Betty Loh Ti (July 24, 1937 – December 27, 1968), also known as Le Di or Loh Tih, was a Hong Kong actress originally from Shanghai. Known as the "Classic Beauty", she was one of the most celebrated actresses of Hong Kong cinema. She is most famous for her roles in the 1960 film '' The Enchanting Shadow'', for which she was called "China's most beautiful actress" by the jury of the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, and ''The Love Eterne'', which earned her the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress in 1963. She died from barbiturate overdose at the age of 31. Early life Betty Loh Ti was born as Hsi Chung-i on 24 July 1937 into a prominent family from Pudong, the owner of the Xi Fu Ji () Factory in Shanghai. She was born in the midst of the Battle of Shanghai, one of the bloodiest battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which her father was killed by Japanese bombing before she was born. She was the youngest of six siblings; her elder brother (born Hsi Chungchien) would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DVD Regions
DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to the appropriate region. This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers incorporate the regional-playback control (RPC) system. However, region-free DVD players, which ignore region coding, are also commercially available, and many DVD players can be modified to be region-free, allowing playback of all discs. DVDs may use one code, multiple codes (multi-region), or all codes (region free). Region codes and countries Any combination of regions can be applied to a single disc. For example, a DVD designated Region 2/4 is suitable for playback in Europe, La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phantom Of The Opera (1943 Film)
''Phantom of the Opera'' is a 1943 American romantic horror film directed by Arthur Lubin, loosely based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel ''The Phantom of the Opera'' and its 1925 film adaptation starring Lon Chaney. Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film stars Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, and was composed by Edward Ward. The first adaptation of the source material to be filmed in Technicolor, ''Phantom of the Opera'' was even more freely adapted than Universal's silent picture. The film reused Universal's elaborate replica of the Opéra Garnier interior, which had originally been created for the 1925 film. Despite mixed critical reviews, the film was a box office success. It is also the only classic Universal horror film to win an Oscar, for Art Direction and Cinematography. Plot Violinist Erique Claudin is dismissed from the Paris Opera House after revealing that he is losing the use of the fingers of his left hand. Unbeknownst to the cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Comcast through the NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment division of NBCUniversal. Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States; the world's fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film; and the oldest member of Hollywood's "Big Five" studios in terms of the overall film market. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. In 1962, the studio was acquired by MCA, which was re-launched as NBCUniversal in 2004. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paste (magazine)
''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication from 2002 to 2010 before converting to online-only. History The magazine was founded as a quarterly in July 2002 and was owned by Josh Jackson, Nick Purdy, and Tim Regan-Porter. In October 2007, the magazine tried the " Radiohead" experiment, offering new and current subscribers the ability to pay what they wanted for a one-year subscription to ''Paste''. The subscriber base increased by 28,000, but ''Paste'' president Tim Regan-Porter noted the model was not sustainable; he hoped the new subscribers would renew the following year at the current rates and the increase in web traffic would attract additional subscribers and advertisers. Amidst an economic downturn, ''Paste'' began to suffer from lagging ad revenue, as did other magazine pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nosferatu
''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ( Greta Schröder) of his estate agent (Gustav von Wangenheim) and brings the plague to their town. ''Nosferatu'' was produced by Prana Film and is an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel '' Dracula''. Various names and other details were changed from the novel, including Count Dracula being renamed Count Orlok. Although these changes are often represented as a defense against copyright infringement, the original German intertitles acknowledged ''Dracula'' as the source. Film historian David Kalat states in his commentary track that since the film was "a low-budget film made by Germans for German audiences... setting it in Germany with German named characters makes the story more tangible and immediate for G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Expressionist
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central European culture in fields such as architecture, dance, painting, sculpture and cinema. This article deals primarily with developments in German Expressionist cinema before and immediately after World War I, approximately from 1910 to the 1930s. History The German Expressionist movement was initially confined to Germany due to the country's isolation during World War I. In 1916, the government banned foreign films, creating a sharp increase in the demand for domestic film production: from 24 films in 1914, to 130 films in 1918. With inflation also on the rise, Germans were attending films more freely because they knew that their money's value was constantly diminishing.Thompson, Kristin. Bordwell, David. ''Film History: An Intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankenstein (1931 Film)
''Frankenstein'' is a 1931 American pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., and adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell. ''Frankenstein'' stars Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, an obsessed scientist who digs up corpses with his assistant in order to assemble a living being from body parts. The resulting creature, often known as Frankenstein's monster, is portrayed by Boris Karloff. The make-up for the monster was provided by Jack Pierce. Alongside Clive and Karloff, the film's cast also includes Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan. Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film was a commercial success up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia Weekly
''Yazhou Zhoukan'' () is a Chinese-language international affairs newsweekly. It was launched in 1987 by Michael O'Niell as a sister magazine to ''Asiaweek''. It is published by Yanzhou Zhoukan Limited (a subsidiary of Media Chinese International Limited), and provides international political, economic and cultural news. In December 2011, its circulation reached 150,000. History 1975-1987 ''Asiaweek'' was founded in 1975 by Michael O'Neill, a New Zealander, and T. J. S. George, an Indian, who had worked together at the ''Far Eastern Economic Review''. O'Niell's experience in Asia confirms his belief that ‘the Asian century is coming’. In 1985, Time, Inc. (as it was then known) acquired 84% of ''Asiaweek'', buying out ''Reader's Digests 80% stake and 4% local interests. The remaining 16% was owned by Michael O'Neill. The Chinese edition of Asiaweek, ''Yazhou Zhoukan'', was launched in 1987 as a sister magazine to ''Asiaweek''. O'Neill was a founding Editor-in-Chief of ''Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, acting and cinematography. The awards are the Hong Kong equivalent to the American Academy Awards. The HKFA, incorporated into Hong Kong Film Awards Association Ltd. since December 1993, are currently managed by a board of directors, which consists of representatives from thirteen professional film bodies in Hong Kong. Voting on eligible films for the HKFA is conducted January through March every year and is open to all registered voters, which include local film workers as well as critics, and a selected group of adjudicators. General rules The Hong Kong Film Awards are open to all Hong Kong films which are longer than an hour and commercially released in Hong Kong within the previous calendar year. A film qualifies as a Hong Kong film if ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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