集導(dǎo)演、制片、票房于一身，12年間拍攝電影155部，親自執(zhí)導(dǎo)82部

中國電影誕生已有100多年了。時至今天，中國電影已取得了令世界矚目的成就，獲得了國際電影節(jié)多項獎項，涌現(xiàn)了不少世界級的導(dǎo)演和演員。但你可知道是誰創(chuàng)辦了中國第一家有規(guī)模的電影制片公司、拍攝了第一部無聲故事片、第一部有聲故事片、第一部武俠片、第一部彩色片和戲曲片？他就是名副其實的中國電影拓荒者、中國電影事業(yè)的先驅(qū)和奠基人張石川。

中國電影的最初嘗試

張石川是浙江寧波人，1890年1月1日出生于商人之家。他15歲時父親不幸亡故，小小年紀(jì)的張石川就跟隨著舅父經(jīng)潤三到上海謀生，先在上海華洋公司擔(dān)任書記員，一天忙碌下來晚上還到夜校補習(xí)英文。工作之余張石川喜歡泡戲院，當(dāng)時中國正在興起“新劇”(文明戲)，于是他由此結(jié)識了一批熱心文明戲的朋友，后來舅父經(jīng)潤三叫他在公司里組織一個叫“鳴社”的新劇團體，并由他擔(dān)任經(jīng)理，從事組織和管理演出等事宜，張石川在這個方面漸漸地顯露出他管理的卓越才能。

當(dāng)時世界電影已傳入了中國，在號稱“冒險家樂園”的上海，已有外國人帶著電影拷貝到上海的茶館、娛樂場地來放映；也有洋人想拍攝反映中國生活的紀(jì)錄片和逗笑取樂的喜劇小品。張石川對這種新興起的西方“西洋鏡”、“影戲”頗感興趣，他不光成天去趕場子觀看，自己也躍躍欲試想拍攝西方那樣的電影。

1911年有兩位美國人來找張石川，說是想在中國拍一部影戲，要他幫忙拍攝，這兩個美國人還接管了美籍俄國人本杰明1909年在上海創(chuàng)辦的影片公司“亞西亞影戲公司”。張石川心想：要拍影戲我得去找文明戲的演員朋友來出演，于是次年(1912)張石川就在門口掛上了“亞西亞影片公司”和“新民公司”兩塊牌子，正式成立了中國第一家電影制片公司。

有了制片公司，張石川就找來能編能演的鄭正秋一起拍攝影片，開頭拍了中國第一部有故事情節(jié)的短故事片《難夫難妻》，內(nèi)容是批判不合理的封建婚姻制度。拍攝中編劇、演員的表演由鄭正秋負責(zé)，張石川則負責(zé)攝影機和演員位置的調(diào)度，這就是最初的電影導(dǎo)演。當(dāng)時文明戲演員全是男的，因此這部電影的女角也由男的扮演，顯得有些不倫不類，拍攝的方法也全是“遠景”，鏡頭一成不變，好像在記錄舞臺上的演出，而且全在露天利用日光進行拍攝，沒有內(nèi)景、燈光和其他設(shè)備。

好在拍攝的內(nèi)容是當(dāng)時流行的滑稽劇，觀眾愛看，能逗人樂，所以不管怎樣張石川初次嘗試是成功的，于是中國第一部故事片《難夫難妻》誕生了。

明星影片公司的成立

第一次嘗試成功，張石川拍攝電影的興趣更大了。1916年張石川與別人共同創(chuàng)辦了“幻仙影片公司”，把久演不衰的文明戲保留節(jié)目《黑籍冤魂》拍成電影。

《黑籍冤魂》是反映中國人民受帝國主義鴉片毒害之苦，染上毒品如墮黑暗深淵。這出文明戲不斷在劇院上演，常常得到臺下觀眾的強烈共鳴。張石川覺得將這個文明戲搬上銀幕肯定有票房，果然，這部電影拍成上映后，連連滿座，人人叫好，《黑籍冤魂》成為中國電影史上第一部反毒品作品。

隨著西方電影事業(yè)突飛猛進，出現(xiàn)了卓別林這樣的藝術(shù)大師。為了更好地拍攝市民愛看的像卓別林這樣的電影，張石川在“新民公司”、“幻仙公司”的基礎(chǔ)上，于1922年3月，成立了中國電影史上真正的第一家電影公司“明星影片股份有限公司”，張石川任總經(jīng)理兼導(dǎo)演，鄭正秋任協(xié)理兼編劇，周劍云負責(zé)行政兼發(fā)行。

他們先聘請一個叫培爾的美國馬戲團小丑主演一部滑稽短片《卓別林游滬記》，由張石川自己擔(dān)任導(dǎo)演，接著又拍了《勞工之愛情》《大鬧怪戲場》等滑稽短片，這完全是模仿卓別林式的搞笑滑稽短片。張石川擔(dān)任導(dǎo)演無師自通，他自覺地學(xué)習(xí)國外電影“蒙太奇”的各種手法，用布景、道具來表明時間、場景的轉(zhuǎn)換，還揣摩外國電影如何運用特定鏡頭和疊印手法等。后來美國哥倫比亞大學(xué)電影教授格雷到上海來到“明星影片公司”參觀，向張石川傳授了不少電影專業(yè)方面的知識。接著，張石川就自己編劇、導(dǎo)演了中國第一部長故事片《孤兒救祖記》，花了8個月時間將它搬上銀幕?！豆聝壕茸嬗洝氛焦澈笠鹕鐣O大轟動，從這部影片開始，真正改變了外國電影一統(tǒng)天下、占領(lǐng)中國市場的局面，有個電影發(fā)行商看了《孤兒救祖記》以后贊不絕口，覺得這樣的電影才真實反映了中國人的生活情態(tài)，符合中國人的道德倫理，他以8000銀元買下了《孤兒救祖記》的海外版權(quán)到南洋一帶放映。這一來大大緩解了“明星”公司成立伊始的經(jīng)濟拮據(jù)。

值得一提的是在張石川等人的極力主張下，《孤兒救祖記》第一次改變了“男扮女裝”的文明戲舊習(xí)，由女演員來扮演電影中的女主角。這次演女主角的是英美煙草公司打字員，張石川一眼看中她本色的純美和善良，立馬和她簽約。女主角王漢倫初登銀幕就轟動上海灘，成為中國第一代女明星。為了培養(yǎng)更多優(yōu)秀演員，張石川等人還開設(shè)了一所“明星電影”學(xué)校，吸引社會上大批愛好電影的少男少女特別是女孩子前來報名，讓她們圓一回“明星夢”。后來加入“明星”隊伍成為主要女演員的有楊耐梅、宣景琳、張織云等人。張石川在拍攝時既對她們精心指導(dǎo)，又不斷提出嚴(yán)格要求，使她們在演技上進步很快，一下子成為觀眾心目中的大明星，當(dāng)時王漢倫被譽為“悲劇圣手”，楊耐梅則擅長飾演風(fēng)流女郎，早先曾一度墮入煙花的宣景琳極富表演天賦，張織云則被評為首屆電影皇后。由于這些影星多姿多彩，使“明星”公司更加星光燦爛。

明星公司一連拍出了《玉梨魂》《苦兒弱女》《誘婚》《好哥哥》《最后之良心》《新人的家庭》等一系列受觀眾好評的影片，自然票房收入不菲。不少人看到電影是一門賺錢的行業(yè)，于是上海的影片公司就像雨后春筍般冒了出來：“上海影戲”、“大中華百合”、“天一”、“長城”、“神州”、“民新”、“南國”等等，光在上海灘就有140多家影業(yè)公司。

在激烈的市場競爭中富有經(jīng)營理念的張石川采取人才優(yōu)勢組合，除了明星公司擁有“四大名旦”及胡蝶、阮玲玉等人外，還向其他電影公司商借了王元龍、張慧沖等男明星。張石川用這個“人才合作法”來拍攝《空谷蘭》，票房更取得了空前成功，影片造就的風(fēng)流倜儻的男明星朱飛，成了女孩子的“萬人迷”。張石川還堅持《空谷蘭》到杭州西湖拍攝外景，這是中國電影史上第一次實地拍外景，也是西湖第一次走進電影。

密切關(guān)注票房價值

張石川不光是中國第一代的電影導(dǎo)演、制片人，也是一位成功的電影商人。電影靠明星，張石川就不斷推出新的明星。他覺得老是王漢倫、楊耐梅、宣景琳、張織云那幾張臉，觀眾也會感到不滿足，于是明星公司就及時發(fā)掘出新人胡蝶和阮玲玉。雖然胡蝶、阮玲玉的演技十分稚嫩，張石川罵得她們直哭，可是就在他的嚴(yán)格要求下，胡蝶和阮玲玉很快成為紅極一時的大明星。

除了培養(yǎng)明星，張石川還注意影片的可看性。張石川看見報紙雜志和圖書市場上武俠小說非常暢銷，就異想天開地拍攝了中國第一部武俠片《火燒紅蓮寺》。這把火燒紅了中國影壇，《火燒紅蓮寺》在上海灘放映竟達半年之久，場場客滿，南京、北平、廣州等大城市也爭相放映。張石川一看武俠片市場這么好，就一發(fā)不可收地拍了《火燒紅蓮寺》續(xù)集、再續(xù)集等，三年內(nèi)拍了18集之多!

“明星影片公司”的驕人成績引起了外國同行的注目。1929年好萊塢美籍華裔攝影師黃宗沾(奧斯卡最佳攝影獎獲得者)前來參觀，同年底第二屆奧斯卡最佳女演員瑪麗壁克馥來華訪問也來到張石川“明星”公司。接著，電影進入有聲片時，張石川等三巨頭又連忙研究拍攝有聲片的相關(guān)事宜。

張石川于1931年派洪深遠赴美國學(xué)習(xí)有關(guān)拍攝有聲片技術(shù)，并引進先進的有聲電影的器材，由胡蝶主演，拍攝出中國第一部有聲電影《歌女紅牡丹》，轟動了全國和海外，從而中國電影由默片時代躍入了有聲片時代。

日寇侵華“一·二八”事變發(fā)生后，張石川決定拍攝抗戰(zhàn)電影，聘請夏衍、鄭伯奇、阿英三位左翼電影劇作家加入明星公司，夏衍等人就接連創(chuàng)作了《狂流》《脂粉市場》《前程》《春蠶》《鹽潮》等一系列反映民族苦難的現(xiàn)實主義作品，獲得廣大勞苦大眾的共鳴。

明星影片公司成立后的12年時間，拍攝了155部電影，其中張石川導(dǎo)演的作品就有82部。30多年來張石川一共拍攝了上百部電影，在中國電影史上這樣多產(chǎn)的導(dǎo)演甚為少見，張石川不光是中國第一個故事片導(dǎo)演、第一個有聲片導(dǎo)演，也是作品最多的導(dǎo)演。

Founding Father of Chinese Cinema

By Xue Jiazhu

The Chinese cinema has scored brilliant progress since its debut one hundred years ago. Chinese directors， actors， and films have made their names known across the world. Of all the heroes who contributed to the honor of the Chinese cinema， the name of Zhang Shichuan may appear unfamiliar today. But one of the founding fathers of Chinese cinema， he made China's first silent film， first sound film， first martial art film， first colored film and first theater film.

Zhang was born in January 1890 in a business family in Ningbo， a port city in eastern China's coastal Zhejiang Province. His father died when Zhang was 15. Shortly afterwards， the teenager followed his mother's brother to Shanghai. He worked as a secretary in his uncle's company for a while and studied English in his spare time. At that time， Shanghai was seeing a rapid inrush of western people and things. Drama was a new mania that attracted many young urban Chinese. An eager theatergoer， Zhang soon made friends with many enthusiastic actors. He later was asked by his uncle to organize a drama troupe. Zhang became the manager of the troupe and his management talent began to materialize.

The other western gadget that fascinated Zhang was film. The young man often watched films screened by foreigners. He wanted to try his hand at producing some films of his own. In 1911， two Americans approached Zhang and asked him to help out shooting a Chinese film. Zhang set up his film company in 1912. Zhang and his friend Zheng Zhengqiu began working together as a team to make a short feature with a Chinese plot. It was \"The Difficult Couple\"， a moral rebellion against the age-old Chinese practice of arranged marriage. Zhang was in charge of camera and he gave instructions to actors where they should stand whereas Zheng wrote the script and directed actors how to act out the drama. Nothing about the film was great if one knows what a film looks like today. All the performers were men; the camera never moved as if it were recording a performance on a stage; all the shooting was done in the outdoor; there was no setting， no lighting， no anything fancy. However， the feature film had a story that appealed to the audience. It was a modest success.

The first success was encouraging. In 1916， Zhang co-founded the Huanxiang Film Company (Fantasy) and adapted a blockbuster drama success into a film. The drama was called \"Wronged Ghosts in Opium Den\"， which depicted the ugly consequences of opium upon the Chinese society and people. Zhang Shichuan figured that it would be a hit if he adapted it into a film. He was right. The box office hit ran on and on and it became China's first anti-narcotic film. As western films began to flourish and stars such as Chaplin became household names， Zhang decided to follow the trend. On the basis of his successful experiences of the first two companies he had run， in March 1922， he set up Mingxing Film Co Ltd together with his friends. According to many art historians， Mingxing is China's first really important film company. Zhang Shichuan was the company's chief executive and director， Zheng Zhengqiu was appointed assistant and screenwriter， Zhou Jianyuan was put in charge of administrative affairs and distribution.

The first few films Mingxing made were short comedies. An American clown was engaged to impersonate Chaplin. A self-taught director， Zhang applied various latest techniques such as Montage to his comedies; he also used settings and properties to relate the change of times and scenes. After learning from a visiting professor from Columbia University， USA， Zhang spent eight months rewriting and directing \"An Orphan Rescues His Grandpa\"， China's first full-length feature film. It was a sensational success. It was also an epoch-making film in the Chinese cinema market. From then onward， foreign films no longer dominated the Chinese market. A film distributor purchased the film's overseas copyrights for 8，000 silver dollars and screened the film in Southeast Asia. The revenue helped Mingxing ease cash shortage in its initial period.

It is worth mentioning that this feature film also put an end to a practice the Chinese modern drama had adopted: for a long while， all the characters in modern drama were performed by males. Zhang decided to star women. One day he spotted a typist working at an office of British American Tobacco and signed her up. The young woman was Wang Hanlun. Her first film was a great success. She caused a huge stir in Shanghai. To cultivate more talents for Mingxing， Zhang and his friends set up \"Mingxing Film\" school to train young people. The school became the cradle for many big names in the 1930s and 1940s. When investors saw the huge profit Mingxing was raking in after releasing one blockbuster after another， over 140 film companies mushroomed in Shanghai within a short period of time.

Seeing so many competitors， Zhang Shichuan had his own ideas to continue his track record of success. He had high-profile female stars working for the company and he rented male stars from other companies. The mixed cast enabled him to produce \"Orchid in the Empty Valley\"， an unprecedented box office hit. Part of the film was shot around the West Lake in Hangzhou. Shooting at a location in Hangzhou was another first in China's short history of cinema. It was also the first time the West Lake appeared in a Chinese film.

Zhang was a shrewd business man. When he found kongfu novels were all the rage on the market， he realized that there was a large crowd of people who loved the genre and that kongfu films could be a big opportunity for his company. In 1933， he produced the \"Burning of the Red Lotus Temple\". The film was so successful that it was screened for half a year in Shanghai alone and within three years Zhang Shichuan directed 18 sequences to the first original. In 1931， Zhang directed China's first talking film \"Red Peony the Songstress\" which starred Hu Die the Butterfly. This film also ushered China's film industry into the era of sound.

After the Japanese launched the January 28 Incident in 1932 and occupied Northeast China， Zhang decided to do something patriotic. He hired leftist writers to write scripts for new films. A series of realist films that depicted the national sufferings were greatly appreciated by the general public.

Mingxing produced 155 films in a period of 12 years after its inception. Zhang Shichuan directed 82 of them. Zhang directed over 100 films in his 30-odd-year career.

(Translated by Tian Jinjiang)