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The Development of Official Film-Making in Hong Kong

2012; Routledge; Volume: 32; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01439685.2012.727337

1465-3451

Ian Aitken,

Cinema and Media Studies

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgements This article is based on research funded by RGC for project 240109: ‘Documentary Film in Hong Kong: The Documentary Film Series’. Notes Notes 1 Nicholas Pronay, John Grierson and the Documentary—60 years on, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 9(13) (1989), 230. Pronay uses the term ‘Griersonian’ in the broader sense employed in this present article 2 Paul Rotha, Letter to Grierson, 10 April 1942, John Grierson Archive, Stirling University, G4.265. Basil Wright was one of Grierson's first appointees, joining the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit in 1930. He worked closely with Grierson throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Paul Rotha worked closely with Grierson, though not directly within either the EMB or GPO Film Units. Worked as an independent producer and director, and also worked for the Strand and Realist Film Units during the 1930s. Worked briefly at the Crown Film Unit in 1940. 3 Quoted in Ian Aitken, Alberto Cavalcanti: realism, surrealism and national cinemas (Trowbridge, 2001), 92. Alberto Cavalcanti, De Almeida, was Brazilian by birth. He worked in the French avant garde cinema of the late 1920s and early 1930s and joined the documentary film movement in 1934. He stayed until 1941, when he left to join Michael Balcon's Ealing Studios as a producer and director. 4 See, Ian Aitken, The Documentary Film Movement: an anthology (Edinburgh, 1998), 42. 5 Pronay, op. cit., 237. 6 Nicholas Pronay and Jeremy Croft, British film censorship and propaganda policy during the Second World War, in: James Curran and Vincent Porter (eds), British Cinema History (London, 1983), 153. 7 Rosaleen Smyth, The British Colonial Film Unit and Sub-Saharan Africa, 1939–1945, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 8(3) (1988), 288. 8 James Chapman , The British at War: cinema, state and propaganda, 1939–1945 (London and New York, 1998), 116. 9 Sir Kenneth Clark (later Lord) (1903–1983), art historian, Director of the National Gallery during the Second World War, Surveyor of the King's Pictures (1934–1945), Chairman of the War Artists Advisory Committee during the War. Head of Films Division of MoI, December 1939—April 1940. Later, Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain (1955–1960), Chairman of the Independent Television Authority (1954–1957), wrote and presented Civilisation (1969). 10 Jo Fox, John Grierson, his ‘Documentary Boys’ and the British Ministry of Information, 1939–42, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 25(3) (2005), 357. Arthur Elton (later Sir), worked with Grierson at the EMB and GPO Film Units during the 1930s, and was producer and director at the Crown Film Unit from 1941 to 1943. Jack Beddington (later Sir). Appointed Publicity Manager for Shell UK in 1928. Commissioned films from the Shell Film Unit, established in 1934 by Edgar Anstey. April 1940, Director of Films Division, MoI, until 1946. Directly responsible for renaming the GPO Film unit as the Crown Film Unit. 11 Fox, op. cit., 356. 12 Ibid., 355. 13 Ibid., 360. 14 Rosaleen Smyth, The post-war career of the Colonial Film Unit in Africa, 1946–1955, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 12(2) (1992), 175. George Pearson, scriptwriter, producer and director. Long career in British silent and sound cinema during the 1920s and 1930s. Worked for Gaumont and Pathé. Joined Alberto Cavalcanti at the GPO Film Unit at the outbreak of War in 1939. Joined the Colonial Film Unit in 1942. Published his autobiography Flashback (Allen and Unwin) in 1957. Though a founder member of the Film Society, Pearson did not like forms of modernist cinema, and his films were often based on melodramatic formats. However, through his association with Gaumont, Pathé and others, he had also worked in the field of educational cinema, and he returned to this field after 1942, at the Colonial Film Unit. 15 Fox, op. cit., 364. 16 Philip Snow, The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation (New Haven and London, 2004), 265. 17 HKRS 41-1-1603, Notes on Organisation of an Information Office, page 3, 14 November 46. 18 HKRS PRO Annual Report 1948–9, para. 16. 19 HKRS ISD 5/7/2c, CO Circular Despatch, The Work of Information Departments in the Colonies, (2), 96012/C/48, 15 July 1948, para. 2. 20 HKRS ISD 5/7/2c, CO Circular Despatch, The Work of Information Departments in the Colonies, (2), 96012/C/48, 15 July 1948, para. 1. 21 HKRS ISD 5/7/2c, CO Circular Despatch, The Work of Information Departments in the Colonies, (2), 96012/C/48, 15 July 1948, para. 5. 22 Steve Tsang, A Modern History of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, 2004), 158. 23 HKRS PRO/204, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, 19 March 1952, para. 12. 24 HKRS PRO/204, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, 19 March 1952, para. 2. 25 Smyth (1992), op. cit., 164. 26 Quoted in Smyth, ibid., 165. 27 Harper, T. N., The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya (Cambridge, 1991), 362. 28 Ibid., 363. 29 HKRS 41/1/ 7190, Sellers, W., A Report on the Work of the Colonial Film Unit for the Year 1951, February 1952, para. 12 (d). 30 HKRS 41/1/ 7190, CO/96307/K/50, Circular Despatch (2), 19 September 1950, para 3. 31 HKRS 41/1 7190, CO/96307/K/50, Circular Despatch (2), 19 September 1950, para 5. 32 HKRS 41/1 7190, CO/96307/K/50, Circular Despatch (2), 19 September 1950, para 7, clause (i). 33 HKRS ISD 5/7/2c, Murray, Reorganisation of Public Relations Office, 28 November 1950, page 24, para. 87. 34 HKRS ISD 5/7/2c, Murray, Reorganisation of Public Relations Office, 28 November 1950, page 25, para. 92. 35 HKRS/ISD 5/7/2c, Murray, Reorganisation of Public Relations Office, 28 November 1950, para. 94. 36 HKRS/ISD 5/7/2c, Murray, Reorganisation of Public Relations Office, 28 November 1950, para. 95. 37 HKRS/ISD 5/7/2c, Murray, Reorganisation of Public Relations Office, 28 November 1950, paras. 97, and 115–122. 38 HKRS IS 8/576/51, Murray, Memo to Hon. C.S., para. 2, 19 March 1951. 39 G. Shirley and B. Adams, Australian Cinema: the first eighty years (Sydney, 1989), 165. 40 Ibid. 41 Hassan Abdul Muthalib, The end of empire: the films of the Malayan Film Unit in 1950s British Malaya, in: Lee Grieveson and Colin MacCabe (eds), Film and the End of Empire (London, 2011), 178. 42 Ralph Elton, letter to Basil Wright, January 1946 (BFI Special Collections, London). Quoted in Tom Rice, Voices of Malaya, February 2010, Colonial Film Website (www.colonialfilm.org.uk). 43 HKRS 8/576/51, Murray, Memo. to Hon. C.S., para. 2, 19 March 1951. 44 HKRS PRO 204 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para 3, 19 March 52. 45 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 5, 19 March 1952. 46 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 6, 19 March 1952. 47 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 6, 19 March 1952. 48 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 7, 19 March 1952. 49 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 7, 19 March 1952. 50 HKRS 204, CO Circular Despatch (2), CFU: (1) Raw Stock Scheme. (2) Film Strip Production, 18 June 1951. In the Raw Stock Scheme, a camera, tripod, other equipment and film stock were despatched to the relevant colony, and footage was then returned to London for processing. The Film Strip Production scheme provided training and equipment for basic film strip production. Film strips were simple loops of films meant to be accompanied by a lecture in the field. 51 HKRS 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 10, 19 March 1952. 52 HKRS 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Quotation from his response to CO Circular Despatches of 19 September 1950 and 18 June 1951, 17 January 1952, quoted in his Letter to Carstairs, para. 12 (v), 19 March 1952. 53 Tsang, op. cit., 159. 54 HKRS 8/576/51, Murray, Memo to Hon. C.S., para. 3, 19 March 1951. 55 HKRS 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Quotation from his response to CO Circular Despatches of 19 September 1950 and 18 June 1951, 17 January 1952, quoted in his Letter to Carstairs, para. 12 (i), 19 March 1952. 56 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Quotation from his response to CO Circular Despatches of 19 September 1950 and 18 June 1951, 17 January 1952, quoted in his Letter to Carstairs, para. 12 (ii), 19 March 1952. 57 HKRS 41/1/ 7190, CO/96307/K/50, Circular Despatch (2), appendix: The Past Work and Future Plans of the Colonial Film Unit, 19 September 50, page 2, para 6 (a). 58 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Quotation from his response to CO Circular Despatches of 19 September 1950 and 18 June 1951, 17 January 1952, quoted in his Letter to Carstairs, para. 12 (ii), 19 March 1952. 59 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Quotation from his response to CO Circular Despatches of 19 September 1950 and 18 June 1951, 17 January 1952, quoted in his Letter to Carstairs, para. 12 (v), 19 March 1952. 60 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 5, 19 March 1952. 61 Editorial commentary for Tom Hodge, MFU: A Record of Solid Achievement, in: Educational Screen and Audio Visual Guide, 36(10,357) (1957), 538. British Information Services was an overseas branch of the Foreign Office and the American base of the MoI during the war. Its remit was to promote Britain within the USA, and also to work with British and American political propaganda production. 62 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 15, 19 March 1952. 63 Film Producer for C.-G.'s Staff, Straits Times, 12 December 1951, 4. 64 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, para. 15, 19 March 1952. 65 HKRS PRO 204, 6/516/52, Murray, Letter to Carstairs, paras. 16–17, 19 March 1952. 66 Mr. Hodge Gets Top Job, Straits Times, 1 August 1952, page 5. 67 Stanley Hawes, Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film Board. Hawes Report: Malayan Film Unit: Proposed Investigation and Reorganisation (1949–50). UK PRO CO 537/6571, 1950. Hawes had worked with Paul Rotha during the 1930s at the Strand Film Company. Worked with John Grierson at the National Film Board of Canada 1940–1946. Remained Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film Board and its successors from 1946 to 1969. 68 Hassan Abdul Muthalib, in: Grieveson and MacCabe (eds), op. cit., 181. 69 Ibid., 184. Hugh Carleton Greene. Brother of novelist Grahame Greene, who was associated with the British documentary film movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Ex-journalist. Appointed as Head of the BBC German Service in 1940, dealing with political propaganda and covert intelligence. 1945, appointed as Head of the BBC East European Service. Arrived in Malaya in September 1950 as Head of the Emergency Information Services. Returned to Britain and the BBC in the mid-1950s. Appointed Director-General of the BBC in 1960. 70 Ibid., 185. 71 Peter Lowe, Contending With Nationalism and Communism: British policy towards South-East Asia (London and New York, 2009), 47. 72 Ibid., 48. 73 A.D.C. Peterson, quoted in Kumar Ramakrishna, ‘Transmogrifying’ Malaya: the impact of Sir Gerald Templer (1952–54), Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32(1) (2001), 87. 74 Ramakrishna, ibid., 86. 75 Child-Prodigy Gets An Expert, Straits Times, 6 October 1952, 9. 76 Harper, op. cit., 279. 77 Ibid., 281. 78 Hassan Abdul Muthalib, op. cit., 184. 79 Tom Hodge, op. cit., 538. 80 HKRS CO 96307/52, Circular 61/53, Colonial Film Unit, page 2, para. 4, 17 January 1953. 81 HKRS PRO 2/516/52, Murray, Letter to Hon. C.S., page 2, para. 6, 23 February 1953. 82 HKRS 2/516/52, A.S.2, Memo to D.C.S, para. 3, 20 July 1953. 83 HKRS 160/1/23, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, PRO 5/7/30, Murray, Memo to Hon. Colonial Secretary, para. 4, 21 August 1957. 84 HKRS 2/516/52, Acting PRO to Hon. C.S., 20 August 1953. 85 HKRS 160/1/23, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, PRO 1/2 Murray, Letter to Hon. C.S., para. 7, 22 November 1954. 86 HKRS 160/1/23, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, PRO 1/2, Murray, Letter to S.H. Evans, CO, London, para. 9, 19 January 1955. 87 HKRS 160/1/23, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, Training of Local Officers for Senior Posts in Public Relations, PRO 5/7/30, Murray, Memo to Hon. Colonial Secretary, para. 8, 28 September 1957. 88 HKRS 160/1/23, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, PRO 1/2, Murray, Letter to S.H. Evans, CO, London, paras. 10–11, 19 January 1955. 89 Smyth (1992), op. cit., 175. 90 HKRS 160/1/2/3, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, Post of Film and Photographic Officer, PRO 5/7/30, Memo, Murray to Hon. Colonial Secretary, para. 8, 21 August 1957. 91 HKRS 160/1/2/3, Reorganisation of the Public Relations Office, Post of Film and Photographic Officer, PRO 5/7/30, Memo, Murray to Hon. Colonial Secretary, paras. 4. and 11, 21 August 1957. 92 HKRS 160, 5/7C, PRO Staff—General, Murray, Government Publicity in Hong Kong: A Report by the Public Relations Officer, para. 19, November 1958. 93 HKRS 160, 5/7C, PRO Staff—General, Murray, Government Publicity in Hong Kong: A Report by the Public Relations Officer, paras. 29–30, November 1958. 94 HKRS PRO Annual Report 1947–1948, para. 10. 95 HKRS 2/516/52, Murray, Memo to D.C.S., para. 3, 20 July 1953. 96 HKRS 1/516/50, HK Colonial Secretariat, Crown Film Unit, Production Team of the … 27 January 1950; Handwritten note by ‘D.D.S.’ 13 February 1950. 97 Peter Moss, GIS Through the Years, website (www.info.gov.hk/isd/40th/3.html). 98 Smyth (1992), op. cit., 175. 99 Ibid., 163. 100 Harper, op. cit., 362. 101 Colin MacCabe, ‘To take ship to India and see a naked man spearing fish in blue water’: watching films to mourn the end of empire, in: Lee Grieveson and Colin MacCabe (eds), Empire and Film (London and New York, 2011), 13. 102 Tsang, op. cit., 168. 103 Paul Gilroy, Great games: film, history and working-through Britain's colonial legacy, in: Lee Grieveson and Colin MacCabe (eds), Film and the End of Empire (London and New York, 2011), 25. 104 Ronald Hyam, Britain's Declining Empire: the road to decolonialisation, 1918–1968 (Cambridge and New York, 2006), 139. 105 Peter Moss, interview with author, Hong Kong, May 2010. Moss worked with GIS from the early 1960s until the Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. His reminiscences of his work in Government public relations, including with the Hong Kong Film Unit, appear in his No Babylon: a Hong Kong Scrapbook (2006), and in his website GIS Through the Years, which contains a historical account of the development of the Hong Kong PRO and GIS. Moss has now retired to Malaysia. 106 Bernard Porter, The Lion's Share: a short history of British imperialism, 1850–1995 (London and New York, 1996), 331. 107 Hyam, op. cit., 313.