Shaw Brothers: King of Hong Kong Cinema

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[@LIONTAMER3D]

The Shaw films had an indelible mark that was left on the table here: absurdly long takes. A scene where 20-30 people spoke, interacted, and fought would be filmed over the span of a single 3-5 min take where everyone had their movement, lines, and action perfectly in place for the duration. They were cheap, so it was a cost cutting measure. However, that approach to directing made the job of the actors much harder & Shaw Brothers actors became the very best in the business.

[@terubokmasin3247]

Seeing the logos of Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest & TVB along with their associated soundtracks really takes me back to my childhood. I know most of their films age poorly but still, I have that nostalgic feeling. Thanks for this, Asianometry!

[@steinarvilnes3954]

I do not really feel their movies age that bad. The reason being that for a westerner like me, those movies were so far from anything else I saw, so for me they give a feeling of existing time, space and reality in a way.

[@ronan5228]

So many obscure and interesting topics that I'd never heard of have been introduced to me by your videos. I'm studying my master's in computer science currently, I adore your videos that intersect with the field. Keep up the brilliant work!

[@RogerSanGabriel]

Facts

[@eltontan4340]

glad you mentioned Malaysia and Singapore, people often forgot that they used to make films over here and rarely talked about, Shaw Brothers probably won't be so successfu and famous without their production in SEA, they still left a huge legacy on both film industry, many malay people of older generations still feel nostalgia of their films with many classics like in HK, in fact Malaysia's most famous actor--P Ramlee started his career in Shaw Studios in Singapore and the old studio in Singapore today is still often visited. Today most of the old SB and Cathay theatres are abandoned, scattered around Malaysia, as a remnants of the golden age of Malaya film industry.

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

Southeast Asia? You mean Malaya only (both Malaya & Hong Kong were under British administration). Indonesia's film industry was initiated by their own people.. especially those with American/Dutch education like Usmar Ismail who produced Indonesian noir like "Lewat Djam Malam" (After the Curfew, 1954).

[@eltontan4340]

@@Cyan_Nightingale if someone said Hollywood production in Asia I wont automatically assume they meant every single sovereign states in Asia,Malaya and Singapore is separate entity after WWII,and both were indeed in SEA,I'm not gonna type Malaya and Singapore everytime I mentioned them,plus I never mentioned anything of Philippines,Indonesia,Timor Leste,Brunei Darussalam,Laos,Myanmar/Burma,Thailand,Cambodia,South Vietnam,North Vietnam,Sarawak or North Borneo etc, personally don't see a problem with it,I think most people can understand that I meant Malaya and Singapore only.

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

@@eltontan4340 But Southeast Asia doesn't mean Malaya/Singapore only.. how about Philippines film history? Or Burma? How about Thailand? Or how about Indonesia? Not all of them were funded by foreigner like Hollywood production studios or HK's Shaw Brothers.

[@eltontan4340]

@@Cyan_Nightingale Anyone who watched the video and read my comment should understand I meant Malaya and Singapore which were both in SEA,I used that term because that's where they're at.They made films in Malaya and Singapore,in SEA. No one's saying those countries were funded by foreigners and I've specific mentioned Malaya and Singapore and not others. If I travel to France and Switzerland can I say I went to Europe?since those two countries aren't the only places in Europe?No one would think I've actually traveled every countries there right? By your statement then ASEAN shouldn't be called ASEAN in its inception since not every country in SEA was joined in the beginning therefore it doesn't represent the entire region until every state was joined(and Timor Leste is still not an official member yet)

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

@@eltontan4340 Yes. I would say that you are travelling to France and Switzerland.. not Europe (it doesn't cover Southeastern Europe e.g. Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania or Eastern Europe e.g. Poland & Lithuania)

[@nightvisiongoggle4100]

Shaw Brothers and Raymond Chow movies were all over Saturday's Kung Fu Theater back in the 80s which I always waited for as a kid.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

I lived in San Francisco with my girlfriend for a while, a long long time ago, and we used to spend weekends alternating between the Shaw Bros in Chinatown and Zato Ichi et al in Japantown. Thanks for the memories, to quote Bob Hope.

[@asj685]

There was a film Zatoichi and the One -armed Swordsman starring the two iconic actors

[@Obscurai]

There was a Golden Harvest movie theater in Vancouver in the 1970s.

[@glenyoung1809]

Run Run Shaw saw an enormous level of technological change that would boggle the mind. Imagine seeing the first silent pictures in the 1920s, all the way to 4K, CGI, 3D and internet distributed movies, some costing as much as $150-$200 million to produce. His wiki said he was active for 87 years in business. Also fun fact: Bruce Lee's Kato overshadowed his boss, the Green Hornet, they appeared in a crossover episode with Batman, there was a rumor that Robin was supposed to face off against Kato and the actor Burt Ward, was petrified of Lee considering what was known about Bruce Lee's real life skills in the martial arts. Not so fun fact: Bruce Lee was passed over for the tv series Kung Fu in favor of David Carradine because Lee wasn't "serene" enough to be seen as a Shaolin monk. Gotta love Hollywood's biases about Asians not qualified to be seen in an asian themed production.

[@stevengill1736]

Bruce Lee would have made an awesome Shaolin monk!

[@twooldcampersandadog8169]

What? Now I know the meaning of "Sir Run Run Shaw" at the beginning of some of my favorite movies? I think even the original Blade Runner?

[@jangelbrich7056]

Who else would be so qualified to make a video on this topic, besides this channel? Great timeline, very informative!

[@knife-wieldingspidergod5059]

I love Shaw Brothers' movies. I remembered as a kid sitting on a bench with ceiling fans above me in a rural movie theater near where I spent my summer vacation at my grandparent's farmhouse. With grilled corn on a cobb bought from the street vendor in front of the theater in my hand and hearing the introduction theme music of the SB logo. Remembering looking forward watching the movie. Great memories.

[@BillyLapTop]

I seem to recall there was a Run Run Shaw connection to the 1982 Blade Runner movie. That is when I learned of his name.

[@glenyoung1809]

Correct, If you look at the IMDB production company they are listed as Shaw Bros, along with the The Ladd Company, Warner Bros. and three others. The wiki page lists the complicated setup they had to get funding in place.

[@BillyLapTop]

@@glenyoung1809 Thank you got that information. Very interesting. Glad I always watch movie credits to the end.

[@subliminalvibes]

I hope Quentin and Roger see this.

[@richardong6640]

Thanks for this wonderful story! During my teenage years I had watched practically all HK Shaw movies! Was a true fan and I’m 70 now!

[@hoemuffin]

Its really interesting to see how other film markets develop - one wonders how the US/Hollywood would look if the Paramount Decrees (Studios couldn't produce, exhibit and distribute movies) never passed. Would Hollywood have been as successful? Would Shaw Brothers still be around if they had pivoted to a "modern" studio business model? The Golden Harvest stinger is the soundtrack of my childhood!

[@djitidjiti6703]

When I was a kid, my mum and I would search everywhere for Shaw Brothers films in Australia's dying video rental shops. We loved how comedic the kung fu movies were, and we especially loved anything with Gordon Liu.

[@winyup7271]

I actually hated him when he played bad guys in his early career.

[@aryehyehudahajzenberg9503]

Do you know what I love the most in your videos ? EVERYTHING ! a) simple videos but nicely produced that are easy to follow b) interesting stories (specially the not that too technical ones) c) the opportunity to learn a lot about Asia ! I was born in South America and I now live in Israel so, in school I never studied anything about Asia (a little about China) and nowadays only what is in the news..... (I wish I had money to travel through Asia....) Thank you very much for the excellent video, keep up the excellent work, looking forward for the next one and may God bless you always ! (the moment I have a little sum spare, I will gladly donate you !) If I could ask you two questions, I would like to know: a) Do you live in Taiwan ? b) What is this map at the opening of your videos ? Again, thanks !

[@JoshuaC923]

Excellent points! Agreed 100% , i believe he mentioned he lives in Taichung now, i might be wrong. Also that's a old map or drawing of Taipei

[@answerman9933]

This is one of the few channels that I not only have a subscription, but I also have an alert to.

[@Retrofire-47]

Have any other suggestions for channels like Asianography? I want some more long-form content to bolster my non-existent attention span

[@answerman9933]

@@Retrofire-47 I personally would not consider this channel long-form because most videos are under half an hour. But here are three channels that you may find interesting: Sabine Hossenfelder, Company Man, and The Cold War. Most videos on these channels are just under thirty minutes. Of the three, The Cold War is the closest to the format of Asianometry.

[@edwinvanhuizen]

I had the honor to work on the restoration project for Epic Shaw Library. Very challenging but so satisfying. Took our team 5 years to complete. Spent 15 good years in Shaw Studios.

[@kimothemo]

Did you restore P. Ramlee films?

[@charlesmurphy5644]

Was your restoration work done before Celestial bought the library?

[@spladam3845]

This was fantastic, I grew up getting these movies bootleg in Atlantic City and was always fascinated with story of the Shaw Brothers. Your summary was spot on, they created some classics DESPITE their assembly line production. Thanks again for another banger.

[@JasperKlijndijk]

You are one of my favorite channels due to these random topics and your great storytelling

[@errgoseven4680]

I'm really grateful for this video about the Shaw Brothers history! My earliest experiences appreciating films on a higher level, not just entertainment, were during my high school years in the 90's watching the Gordon Liu film collection with my best friend. TY!

[@cv990a4]

One of the best you've done. Always heard the name Run Run Shaw - never knew the details. 106 years old - the benefit of daily exercise!

[@ashleighkivilaakso5676]

“Run Run” was his name to clarify. Gosh I miss that era - Ashleigh

[@Winston_Chu]

Do a video on the triads and how they operate that would be cool

[@ariewijaya1679]

and get the risk getting threat from them

[@davidb6576]

Always interesting videos! I need more hours in the day to catch up with them all...

[@grayaj23]

I would never have imagined I'd enjoy this as much as I did. Great video!

[@jinngeechia9715]

The original logo of Cathay is the Cathay building!

[@Semtex777]

Great story

[@theunluckycharm9637]

Show me your ways

[@Laundry_Hamper]

Should be made into a movie

[@cyberswine]

This is a great video as I grew up in Hong Kong. You are not wrong about Shaw being all about money: despite the prestige image it tries to paint itself, it made a butt load (pun intended) of softcore movies as well.

[@charlesmurphy5644]

I love watching Shaw Brothers movies! Their opening theme always makes me happy. 27:11 I was starting to worry that you weren’t going to mention my favorite film Come Drink with Me, starring the Golden Swallow herself Cheng Pei-Pei! I have really been enjoying your content, Thank you for your hard work.😺

[@edwinvanhuizen]

I worked on the restoration of the Shaw films and the first movie I restored was Come Drink with me! Followed by 700 plus more film over a period of 5 years!

[@utubegeronimo7628]

Cheng Pei-Pei's daughter married to a Malaysian Indian man?

[@charlesmurphy5644]

@@edwinvanhuizen That’s amazing, thank you for preserving the films for future enjoyment!

[@MithunOnTheNet]

Wow, didn't know Raymond Chow first worked at Shaw. The Golden Harvest logo and how it appears on screen remains iconic! 😄

[@horkme]

Jon: I saw the title of this video and thought, "oh boy what is this". After watching my hats off to you. Tech, Movies, Asian history, your style is informative and entertaining at the same time. Thank you for all that you do!!!!!!

[@danewesterdahl3451]

Interesting story--I see the remnants of the shaw studios on the edge of HKUST and have wondered about its past. It's still quite an impressive and big place, but mysteriously empty.

[@woolfel]

one arm swordman is a classic. My parents used to rent the TVB dramas for me from the local chinese market. I grew up watch period dramas.

[@bastardogrosso4311]

It was my favourite film that time of the 70's ... there was even a special version where the One-Armed Swordman (starring Wang Yu) met the Blind Samurai Zatoichi (starring Shintaro Katsu) titled Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordman (1971) ... it was a CLASSIC!

[@fauzirahman3285]

Shaw not only market to the Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore. Eventually some of these studios starting making Malay-language films in Singapore in the 50s and 60s influenced by southern Indian movies but done in black and white in the style of 30s American movies. Seemingly an odd combination, but they were a hit and many of these movies are still played over and over again today as classics. The black and whiteness of them gave that old charm, but of course many said it was done that way over colour to save money. Sadly, after Singapore's partition from Malaysia, maybe of these movie studios have shut down, with a number of production moving north to Malaysia, though many of the buildings that housed them could be seen up to the 90s and early 2000s. Some might still be around even but most that have not been converted into other uses have fallen into disrepair.

[@OasisTypeZaku]

Shaw Brothers martial arts films were a staple of my childhood here in Texas. There were three stations, all since gone, that showed these treasures; Channel 27, Channel 39, and Channel 44. At least once a week, at least one of these stations had a Shaw Brothers kung-fu film and my brothers and I ate it up. Sleeping Fist is still an absolute favorite of ours.

[@0neIntangible]

Thank you for making aware of this to myself, as I had absolutely no idea of the long original history, along with the popularity of Asian filmmaking industries.

[@clunkclickeverytrip]

Great video your one of my favorite KZbin channels thanks.

[@pjacobsen1000]

Great overview! A whole other video could be made about Run Run Shaw's philanthropic efforts.

[@LeChef5269]

The One Armed Swordsman, that brings back memories. I saw that movie in a theater my father worked at in the Netherlands. Later I bought it on dvd. It was a fun movie. Thanks for the memorie Asionometry

[@onlyplaysveigar7241]

I swear to god i was watching Wu-Tang Shaolin movies and was wondering if Asianometry was gonna do a video on this. Hot damn!

[@TS-xk4in]

Great episode!

[@BayuAH]

This is interesting that I not remember see any Shaw Brothers logo in any film, but I clearly remember see many Golden Harvest logo in many old Chinese films that I saw when I was kid.

[@Shyaiful1]

Shaw Brothers - Malay Film Productions (1943-1967) Cathay-Keris Film Studios (1951-1973)

[@dobbsd6737]

that was fun! thank you always for the great research and content. much thanks for this, good fun story,, romance, business, history and Bruce Lee!!

[@ethanmye-rs]

Suggestion - a video on TVs. The price race to the bottom is absurd. Easily the cost has dropped an order of magnitude in a decade. The other interesting bit is legacy players like Samsung selling similar units at a premium price point trying to differentiate in other features. Very interesting market

[@danfairfw]

Wonder if the Shaw's hadn't tried to chump change Bruce Lee that Shaw Studios would still be making movies today.

[@calvyncraven1141]

He made much more money running TVB.

[@Wfalen]

Reminds me a lot of the old Italian film industry. Some classics, a lot of trash, but a treasure trove for B-movie fans. Hollywood of course had Cannon films during the 80s, but they were low budget only by hollywood standards. What connects these, is that they never even held the facade of making art. "We are in the business of making money", and that is the sort of straightforward speech I like

[@ricardokowalski1579]

Solid content.

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

I hadn’t heard of them before. Although Golden Harvest I definitely noticed from all my watching of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies on VHS and DVD in the late 90s and early 00s. You managed to make it very interesting despite me at first not caring much about the subject.

[@ruff1draft]

Thanks for this video. I have Shaw Brother Films on DVD

[@johnspencer1855]

Thanks, and on with the Shaw!

[@bastardogrosso4311]

Born in South East Asia in 1960 ... my late father used to take me and my younger brother to cinema almost every week (1970 until mid 1977 when my father passed away) to watch movies from the Shaw Brothers. So I grew up watching their mostly action movies with actors like Wang Yu, David Chiang, Chen Kuan Tai, Lo Lieh, Chen Pei Pei and others ... all those years ago. Before watching this video I really wondered what happened to Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest ... looks like the parties had to end somehow. And now in my early 60's I love reminiscing all the good times I had during my childhood and teens.

[@godfreypoon5148]

A Shaw Fire success.

[@layahma]

Very informative and I love the topics you choose. But I want to point out the inconsistency of saying the Chinese names with their last name last (Shaw brothers), and sometimes their last name first(eg Zhang Shichuan). I think it'll be a good policy to stylize The Chinese names the Chinese way - last name first, like Shaw Run Run instead of Run Run Shaw. The intonation you used to say their names sounds correct, but only if you say their last names first. The way you are saying the Shaw brothers names is quite strange due to that fact. Just want to help improve your channel =)

[@Kishimyu]

Love Shaw brothers cause I grew up watching so many of their movies. However, now seeing and discovering how they treated their actors, especially the female stars, was very heartbreaking. I love Li Ching, Gordon Liu and Lau Kar-leung's works done with the Shaw brother.

[@anthonybird546]

What an amazing story of survival. I thank the Shaw Brothers for endless hours of delight, the stuff of childhood martial arts dreams were made of

[@phanomtaxskibididoodoo]

Daily uploads? Can you sustain this?

[@ceemfajtswm4465]

Wow.. Thank you for the History about Hong Kong Movies.

[@jokesterthemighty227]

My childhood

[@FirstLast_Nba]

Absolutely fascinating

[@BeachTypeZaku]

My brothers and I love the Shaw Brothers martial arts film as children and today. These were memorable times watching the action adventure stories play out and the awesome kung-fu scenes.

[@Sacto1654]

My late stepfather worked as a publicist for Shaw Brothers during its height from the middle 1960's to the early 1970's. Too bad he passed away in 2019, because just his personal experience with the company could have added massively to this video.

[@TIB1245L]

In Singapore we now associate Shaw and Golden Harvest with operating cinemas

[@epeeypen]

Okay i subbed becuz you do make good content.

[@douro20]

Cathay is still in business; they are the largest theater operator in Singapore.

[@hcwcars1]

Awesome story, thank you.

[@SunnyIlha]

Thanks!

[@alexanderphilip1809]

I remember watching reruns of HK action movies just a couple of years ago and watching their logo pop up.

[@otakunemesis34]

how many movies did they make and are they all accessable now?

[@non-human3072]

Shaw a very Scottish name

[@non-human3072]

I swear for a moment you were describing New Zealand in the late 90s early 2000s.... amazing

[@scottchiang7616]

Wait a second, ATV actually predated both TVB and CTV in the form of Rediffusion. ATV wasn't a new competition for TVB, but rather the rise of domestic TV drama from other stations. Nonetheless very detailed, enjoyable and insightful video, as always.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

23:30 These aren't "B" movies, they're double-A movies.🙂

[@nickj2508]

My reading is broken: "King Kong of Hong cinema" 😂

[@atomic_wait]

I grew up watching these movies as a kid, looking back it's fun to see how many movies use the same locations in and around Hong Kong and the new territories. That tea house/restaurant set got a lot of mileage.

[@atomic_wait]

Also I want to point out that if Run De ever hosted a party he'd be Run De MC

[@andreadaleyutronebel5894]

Did they have the runs?

[@patrickmurphy3759]

So wait, you don't have hard-wired internet in your house? You would probably be better off just using broadband telephone line Internet.

[@frankyong2607]

In the Shaw studios, Chu Yuan did directed a series of exceptional and ground breaking genre of Chinese literati wuxia swording fighting films of aesthetic mise en scene adapted from the novels of Ku Lung.

[@mutisovictorm438]

Excellent Naration

[@snp4619]

Could you do a prediction for the future what the world will be like in 10 years?

[@chrislopez1918]

Thanks for this history of the Shaw Bro's , I have some of there 70's martial arts movies there classic , and a couple of horror movies 👍😀👏

[@xxxwululu6036]

just curious, why someone live in taiwan set his video release time at 7 am taiwan time ?

[@xraymind]

Most likely the KZbin stats shows most of his audience is in North America and Europe.

[@amandahugankiss4110]

Happier and with your mouth open.

[@joshuajwars4271]

Fun little sidenotes to add in so that Hollywood knows I'm the contributor these are the following: 1926 - 1932 Fantastic Beasts 1 2 3 was launched basically writing a storyline for historical Wizarding World then 1935 Rise of Minerva McGonagall played in 2 forms 1 by Fiona Glascott in Fantastic Beasts 2 set in 1927 and Fantastic Beasts 3 set in 1932 however when Harry Potter moved from post World War 2 to the current era she was played by Lady Maggie Grace with Filius Flitwick the wizard played alongside Grip-hook a goblin Sir Warwick Davis who years later took part in Star Wars Skywalker Saga playing the roles of Weasel a spectator then Weasel freedom fighter the one who lit the spark for rebellion Wicket an Ewok leader in Episode 6 Return of Jedi during War on Endor (specifically Forest Moon then Water Moon in Episode 9 3 movies later) and of course Wicket with Porlack played by Harrison Davis the other actor in Disney Fox Studios Lucas Film's Star Wars Episode 9 Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

[@Ethan7s]

You are no less prolific than the Shaws.

[@khalimero99]

all brothers of run Forest run, the oldest brother..

[@yensteel]

One of the former shaw brothers buildings is next to HKUST.

[@mwkcheng]

Wow! This it's great content. Very important part of history of Hong Kong and Asian film industry. Seriously is there a topic you are not an expert in?

[@kingjoe3rd]

Thank you to Robert Rodriguez for putting Shaw Brothers movies on his network, which is where I first found them.

[@cynicalexpat]

His neighbors always found it a bit weird that this multi billionaire would choose to live in an apartment (albiet 4 smashed together😅) as opposed to a mansion/estate. Us kids liked the funny old man who would do Tai Chi in the mornings and giving us 200 meter rides in his roller. Staunchly anti sugar he would hand out lai see packets at Halloween instead of sweets.

[@alexlo7708]

26.39 Sir Run Run Shaw ,his age was 106 years. It don't beleive!! At the time ,there were 2 employees who broke off from Shaw brothers , Goldaen harvest and Cinema city.

[@juanmontoya6622]

These were great businessmen. They scaled the business in an organic manner, and pivot when adversity and politics interfered with the business. The creating demand bit would have made Steve Jobs smile. Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.👍

[@hhvictor2462]

The late 70s were their golden years of martial arts cinema.

[@Hobbes4ever]

"gong hei fat choy" so yeah its always about money

[@iandaniel1748]

This is quality Cinema on right 👍.

[@pandiyarajraj7442]

My younger days , were I stay Bukit Bintang Shaw brothers office was there I have seen both brothers .run run Shaw and ranme Shaw , bb park have three theatre's realto all English movies. Canton , sun theatre Chinese movie's. I never miss cowboy movies. What a beautiful days.

[@GungFuIsGungFu]

Thank you for making this history of SB ! It was very interesting and informative. There was a few smaller errors in the Bruce Lee section of this, but all in all I enjoyed this very much.

[@leesiuleung1816]

Please enlighten us Peer, you are so knowledgeable. 🙄

[@user-uq3go2kn5r]

u are close to the history book about the shaw brothers (clapping)

[@albertng9441]

Shaw Brothers best movies are Sword of Sword . Crocodile River. Chinese Boxer. In 1971. Wang Yin lleft SB and went back to Taiwan to step up his own film carrers. Then Raymon Chow .produced The Big Boss through Golden Harvest and smashed Box office Record worldwide.

[@lowengkok1201]

Fantastic❤😊