''Night in the City'' () (also known as ''City Nights'') was a 1933 Chinese

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

Production background

''Night in the City'' was the

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

Fei Mu Fei Mu (October 10, 1906 — January 31, 1951), also romanised as Fey Mou, was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era. His ''Spring in a Small Town'' (1948) was declared the greatest Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Criti ...

(who would later go on to achieve lasting fame throughout the 1930s and 1940s) and starred actress

Ruan Lingyu Ruan Lingyu (born Ruan Fenggen; April 26, 1910 – March 8, 1935), also known by her English name Lily Yuen, was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her exceptional acting ability and suicid ...

and actor

Jin Yan Jin Yan (; April 7, 1910 – December 27, 1983), also known by his English name Raymond King, was a Korean-born Chinese actor who gained fame during China's golden age of cinema, based in Shanghai. His acting talents and good looks gained hi ...

. It was highly acclaimed upon its release, particularly by leftist progressives for its social criticisms of city-life. The film is now considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

Plot

The film tells the story of a poor family living in China's

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

s. The daughter, played by

, is forced to work at the docks. When it is learned that the slum's landlord is preparing to demolish the entire tenement, the daughter is forced to give up her body to her landlord's son in exchange for a delay in construction. By the end of the film, the daughter, her family, and the landlord's son all leave the city for what they hope will be a better life in the country.

Preservation

Though lost, parts of the film were "recreated" for scenes in

Stanley Kwan Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Kwan landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College. ...

's 1991 biographical film on Ruan Lingyu's life and career, '' Center Stage''.Hjort, p. 53

Cast

References

Bibliography

* Hjort, Mette, ''Stanley Kwan's center stage'', Hong Kong University Press (2007). . * Hu, Jubin, ''Projecting a nation: Chinese national cinema before 1949''. Hong Kong University Press (2003). .

External links

''Night in the City'' at the Chinese Movie Database
1933 films 1933 drama films Films directed by Fei Mu Lianhua Film Company films Lost Chinese films Chinese silent films Chinese drama films Chinese black-and-white films 1933 lost films Lost drama films 1933 directorial debut films Silent drama films {{China-film-stub