Directing

Pengnian Ren

Ren Pengnian 任彭年(1894-1968.2.23) .  Director.  Native of Shanghai.  Trained at the Anglo-Chinese Book Guild, then joined the Shanghai Commercial Press at age 16.  In 1918, transferred to theCommercial Press's new Motion Picture Division.  Directed first film in 1919, a two-reel comedy titled "The Gambler."  In 1921, Ren directed his first feature film, the highly successful "Yan Ruisheng" for the China Shadow Play Research Society.  In 1926, started the Orient Film Company, to direct "The Worker's Wife."  Became one of China's first generation of swordsman film directors in 1928, when he formed the Bright Moon film studio and directed its 13 part serial "Northeast Hero."  (His future wife and business partner Wu Lizhu, had the female lead, becoming one of the first swordswomen heroines.)  In 1935, directed the anti-Japanese film "Dark Violence," after which he returned to directing such martial arts epics as the six-part "Mistress of the Spear."  As did many in the Chinese film community, Ren and Wu left Shanghai after the Japanese invasion, arriving eventually in Hong Kong, where they remained after the war.  In Hong Kong, Ren became known for making Cantonese dialect martial arts and sword films in both classical and modern settings and usually featuring the martial exploits of heroines, with Wu Lizhu often cast in the lead role.  After being semi-retired in the 1950s, Ren and Wu in 1960 resurrected the Bright Moon studio to make such movies as " Three Covert Female Investigators" and "Flying  Heroine Huang Yingqiao Cracks the Diamond Theft Case."  Their working partnership usually took the form of Ren Pengnian producing and directing the movie, with Wu Lizhu editing and often starring.  Wu Lizhu retired after making her final screen appearance in 1961 and Ren Pengnian's last directing effort was in 1963, after which he also retired