Picking pearls in the sea: the acting career of poplar, a movie star in the Republic of China

1934, Bai Yang, who became famous for his performance of the drama "Horn", joined the "China Travel Drama Club" organized by Tang Huaiqiu and went to Peking to perform. On June 10 and 10/2 1 day of that year, in the famous Concord Auditorium in Beijing, Poplar took the place of others and starred in the finale drama "Mei" of China Travel Agency. With its excellent appearance and free performance, it conquered the critical audience at once. Since then, Bai Yang has appeared in a series of plays, such as Women and Dogs, Lady Fan and La Traviata, and became the most popular actress in the drama club of China Travel Agency. 1At the end of 934, Poplar left CTS for Nanjing. Through the recommendation of filmmakers and the old classmates of Lianhua Film Company, I got to know the film pioneers Hong Shen, Xian Xinghai, cutie, Xiu Wenshu and others who were in Nanjing at that time. In Nanjing, Bai Yang and Ma starred in Song of Spring, in which they played Ma's wife. At the beginning of 1936, Bai Yang, who had been in Nanjing for several years, received an invitation from Zhou, the manager of Shanghai Star Film Company, and went to Shanghai to star in the once sensational film Crossroads with Zhao Dan and others, playing the heroine in the film. After the release of Crossroads, Poplar quickly became a new star in Ran Ran. Even The Times, which has always been reserved, published a large article in a prominent page, praising: "Many China fans think that they have found a greta garbo in China, which is a poplar as special as Garbo. Just as the poplars on the beach turned red and purple, the August 13th Sino-Japanese War broke out. For a time, Shanghai was in chaos and the film studio was forced to close. Poplar, at the forefront, began to be financially strapped because of the film's pay, and almost lived on the streets. At this time, some directors and actors from Lianhua, Yihua and Xinhua film companies in Shanghai film industry formed the Anti-Japanese Salvation Drama Club, and at the same time initiated and organized the "Shanghai Salvation Shadow Play Troupe", which was prepared to be divided into several teams to carry out anti-Japanese propaganda activities throughout the country. After learning the news, the struggling poplar immediately ran to participate. He went to Chongqing with Wu Yinzeng and others to carry out anti-Japanese propaganda activities. On September 23rd, 1937, Bai Yang and Wu Yin set out from Shanghai with the troupe. With the help of Xia, the manager of Shanghai Film Company, Bai Yang and others set up camp all the way, trudged thousands of miles, created and performed current affairs dramas and street news dramas while walking, and took the Fujian-Guangxi boat from Yichang to Chongqing, the rear area at that time. 1October 27th, 1937, 10, Bai Yang, Wu Yin and others put the current affairs drama Night in Shenyang on the stage. Being warmly welcomed by Chongqing people, he performed more than 50 consecutive performances and was still packed. The performance of "Night" in Shenyang greatly inspired people's confidence in the war of resistance against Japan and played a certain role in promoting the cause of the war of resistance in full swing at that time. 1937 65438+On February 3rd, the Shanghai Shadow Play Troupe led by Shen Xilin went to Chengdu to perform a large-scale national defense drama Long Live the Nation, as well as progressive anti-war dramas such as Night in Shenyang, Battle of Lugouqiao and 30 million Refugees. During the premiere of "Long Live the Nation", Fan Shaozeng, then deputy commander of Sichuan Army 2 1 Army, Chen Lanting, commander of 163 Division, and Yan Xiaohu, the garrison commander of Chengdu garrison headquarters, coveted Bai Yangmei and wanted to occupy him. After three discussions, an invitation letter was sent to Bai Yang, inviting him to visit Yan Xiaohu. In the face of repeated harassment by Fan Shaozeng and others, Poplar euphemistically refused Yan Xiaohu's invitation on the grounds that he was too busy at work. The news was fed back to Yan Xiaohu, who flew into a rage and ordered the guards to come to the door with guns. Shen Xilin and others are afraid that things will make a big deal, and it will be difficult to get out in the future. Can only coax poplar perfunctory, and please thank day and others to go to dinner. In Yan Fu, facing the malicious and eloquent Yan Xiaohu and others, Poplar looked at him coldly: "Commander Yan, when I meet a guest for the first time, the guards have to escort me. Thank you for your kindness. I appreciate it. Say that finish, twist a head and go. Yan Xiaohu pulled out his gun to try to stop the poplar. Fan Shaozeng and others are afraid of making a mountain out of a molehill and getting into trouble in public. They hurried forward to dissuade them, and talents such as Poplar and Xie Tian finally got away. Not long after, unwilling to fail, Yan Xiaohu ordered the seizure of Zhiyu Cinema, which was being performed, on the pretext that the sun set on the stage in Thirty Million Refugees performed by Shanghai Cinema was intended to symbolize the Japanese flag, and the play "Put Down Your Whip" was also suspected of deliberately insulting China people. In order to continue the performance, Shen Xilin and others temporarily renamed the China Film and Drama Club as Chengdu Drama Club, insisting on publicizing the War of Resistance Against Japan. At this moment, "Central Film Studio" wrote to inform Shen Xilin, Shen Fu, Zhao Dan, Poplar, Gu Eryi, Shi Chao and others that China Film Company was going to make a new film. In Chongqing, Bai Yang participated in the filming and recording of a series of progressive films such as Sons and Daughters of China, Wan Li Sky and young chinese as the heroine. In addition, he also appeared in dozens of plays, such as Forever, Spring and Autumn in the Kingdom of Heaven, Twenty-four Hours in Chongqing, Qu Yuan, Fascist Fungus and Happy Ever After. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Bai Yang quickly became a well-known movie star in Chongqing. Together with famous actors such as Xiu Wenshu, Zhang Ruifang and Qin Yi, she became the "four famous dances" deeply loved by the people on the stage of Chongqing drama. /kloc-in the summer of 0/943, Bai Yang, who returned from the drama department of Yale University in the United States, and Zhang Junxiang co-starred in many plays such as Home, Romeo and Juliet. In the cooperation, the two men had an inseparable feeling. They got married at the beginning of 1945, although there was a difference of ten years. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, China appointed Yang Hansheng, Cai Chusheng, Shi Dongshan, Zheng and others to set up Kunlun Film Company in the former site of Shanghai Lianhua Film Company. He began to prepare a feature film "Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and the Moon" reflecting the anti-Japanese national salvation group's battle to the north and south, and director Shi Dongshan specially appointed Bai Yang as the heroine. At this time, Poplar is filming the film "Holy City" in other film companies. In the absence of two places at once, Poplar worked day and night, finished the film "The Storm of the Holy City" in the shortest time, and immediately rushed to Shanghai to participate in the filming of "Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and the Moon". After the film was released, it was welcomed by the audience. Many newspapers and magazines praised this film, believing that it accelerated the development of China films. Poplar also benefited a lot from this film and became a movie star with great success. With the east wind of "Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and the Moon", Bai Yang took on the film "A Spring River Flows East", thus reaching the peak of his personal acting career. The movie "A River Flows East" is divided into two episodes, namely "Eight Years from Chaos" and "Before and After Dawn". The * * * department in charge of film censorship once blocked the filming, made things difficult for the film censorship agency and refused to pass. Fortunately, Zheng used his quick wits to buy some gold watches and give them to the relevant departments, so that the film could be released soon. Once the film was released, it set off a frenzy of watching movies. From June 1947 to June 1948, the number of people watching movies reached 7 12874, the highest at that time. After the film "A River Flows East" was filmed, Poplar successively filmed films such as Diary of Returning Home and Son-in-law, and went to Hong Kong to participate in the filming of films such as Tears of Mountains and Rivers and Cremation. Different from many actors in the Republic of China, Poplar ushered in the birth of the new China in the full-load shooting work. 1949 Poplar on the eve of liberation became the most eye-catching movie star in Shanghai at that time.