Hollywood and Shanghai Cinema in the 1930s

In his article "Hollywood and Shanghai Cinema in the 1930s" Adrian Song Xiang argues that Hollywood films provided a repertoire of images Chinese filmmakers of the 1930s adapted to their films. Xiang analyses Yu Sun's 1932 film (Wild Rose), whose leading female character Xiaofeng was adapted from Hollywood actress Mary Pickford's iconic rambunctious teenager screen persona, particularly from the 1922 film Tess of the Storm Country. The modernist connotations of Tess' teenage girl character were changed in the process to meet Chinese cultural and political needs. Xiang's analysis suggests an adjustment in the history of early Chinese cinema to account for Hollywood's complex legacy.