Shichuan Zhang(1890-1954)
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
His first movie, "Difficult Husband, Difficult Wife", was shot in 1913,
and was considered as the first narrative short film in China. Zhang
directed all kind of films, but from 1922 he focused on dramas about
women. In the mid-20s he added knight-errants and ghosts stories to his
personal themes. His first hit was "The Burning of Red Lotus Temple", a
film series (1928-31) which consisted of 18 movies, followed by "New
Journey to the West" (1929-30) which consisted of 3 movies. During the
Sino-Japanese War, Zhang made many left wing movies against Japan until
1942, when he was promoted to take charge of a directive post in the
Chinese Union Film Company, and later in the Hong Kong China Film
Company and finally the Shanghai Datong Film Company. During this time
he only directed two films in 1948-49. In total, he made nearly 150
films.
