The Wenhua Film Company was a major privately-owned film production company

Production company

A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

 of the immediate post-war period in China.

History

The film company was founded in 1946 by Wu Xingzai, a businessman who had previously controlled assets of the Lianhua Film Company

Lianhua Film Company

The Lianhua Film Company was one of two major production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other being the Mingxing Film Company.-Names:...

 during the mid-1930s. With Wenhua, Wu desired to have a film studio devoted to making smaller-budget art films, sophisticated comedies, and high-minded dramas. These films often focused on contemporary social issues such as feminism and adaptations of Western literature. These included Night Inn

Night Inn

Night Inn is a Chinese black-and-white film released in 1947, directed by Huang Zuolin and starring the popular Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan.The film is based on the Chinese theatrical adaptation of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths by playwright Ke Ling...

(1947), an adaptation of Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky

Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...

's The Lower Depths, and starring Zhou Xuan

Zhou Xuan

Zhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...

. but also comedies such as the Sang Hu-Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang was a Chinese writer. Her most famous works include Lust, Caution and Love in a Fallen City....

 collaboration, Long Live the Mistress! (1947). During this early period, however, the company is perhaps best known as the producer of Fei Mu's masterpiece, Spring in a Small Town

Spring in a Small Town

Spring in a Small Town is a Chinese film released in 1948 and directed by Fei Mu . The film was based on a short story by Li Tianji , and was produced by the Wenhua Film Company....

(1948).

Like other private studios, notably Kunlun Film Company, Wenhua continued in operation after the Communist takeover, putting out several films with the popular actor-director Shi Hui

Shi Hui (actor)

Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....

, including This Life of Mine

This Life of Mine

This Life of Mine is a 1950 Chinese film directed by Shi Hui.- Cast :*Shi Hui as I*Heling Wei as Old Zhao*Yang Shen as Shen Yuan*Wei Li as Hai Fu*Zhi Cheng as Hu Li*Chaoming Cui as Sun Yuan...

(1950) (based on a novella by Lao She

Lao She

Shu Qingchun , better known by his pen name Lao She was a notable Chinese writer. A novelist and dramatist, he was one of the most significant figures of 20th century Chinese literature, and is perhaps best known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse . He was of Manchu ethnicity...

), Corruption (1950) (based on a work by Mao Dun

Mao Dun

Mao Dun was the pen name of Shen Dehong , a 20th century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and journalist. He was also the Minister of Culture of China from 1949 to 1965. He is currently renowned as one of the best realist novelists in the history of modern China...

), and the war film Platoon Commander Guan (1951). Yet many of these postwar films，particularly 1950's Peaceful Spring, were also criticized as hewing too close to Wenhua's pre-Communist humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 tradition. By 1952, Shi Hui had fallen out of the Party's favor and Wenhua, like the other remaining private studios in Shanghai, was consolidated under state ownership.

Notable films

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Director	Cast
1946	Phony Phoenixes	假凤虚凰	Huang Zuolin	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter.... , Li Lihua
1947	Bright Day	艳阳天	Cao Yu Cao Yu Cao Yu , born as Wan Jiabao , was a renowned Chinese playwright, often regarded as China's most important of the 20th century. His most well-known works are Thunderstorm , Sunrise and Peking Man...	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter.... , Li Lihua
1947	Long Live the Mistress!	太太万岁	Sang Hu	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1947	Night Inn Night Inn Night Inn is a Chinese black-and-white film released in 1947, directed by Huang Zuolin and starring the popular Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan.The film is based on the Chinese theatrical adaptation of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths by playwright Ke Ling...	夜店	Huang Zuolin	Zhou Xuan Zhou Xuan Zhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...
1948	Spring in a Small Town Spring in a Small Town Spring in a Small Town is a Chinese film released in 1948 and directed by Fei Mu . The film was based on a short story by Li Tianji , and was produced by the Wenhua Film Company....	小城之春	Fei Mu Fei Mu Fei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...	Wei Wei, Zhang Hongmei, Li Wei
1949	Sorrows and Joy in Middle Age	哀乐中年	Sang Hu	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1950	This Life of Mine This Life of Mine This Life of Mine is a 1950 Chinese film directed by Shi Hui.- Cast :*Shi Hui as I*Heling Wei as Old Zhao*Yang Shen as Shen Yuan*Wei Li as Hai Fu*Zhi Cheng as Hu Li*Chaoming Cui as Sun Yuan...	我这一辈子	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1950	Peaceful Spring	太平春	Sang Hu	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1950	Ideological Problems	思想问题
1950	Corruption	腐蚀	Huang Zuolin	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1951	Sisters Stand Up	姐姐妹妹站起来	Chen Xihe
1951	Platoon Commander Guan	关连长	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter....
1951	A Window on America	美国之窗	Shi Hui Shi Hui (actor) Shi Hui , born Shi Yutai , was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter.... , Huang Zuolin, Ye Ming

External links

• Wenhua Film Company at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  
• Wenhua Film Company at the British Film Institute
  British Film Institute
  The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...