Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Midnight screenings in Hong Kong are generally reserved for film critics, industry professionals, media reporters, and die-hard movie fans.

This is a life-or-death test for the film's producers. At the midnight screening, you can hear the most genuine reactions so that the creative team can make final revisions to the film.

As an unknown director of erotic films, Li Jiangbo couldn't attract film critics, industry insiders, or media reporters to watch his film "Happy Ghost".

Considering the promotional period was only five days, the midnight screenings had an attendance rate of around 40%, which was already a small success.

The following day, Shaw Brothers cinemas screened "Happy Ghost" in 10 theaters as scheduled.

At 8 a.m., Ji Tongguang, general manager of Shaw Brothers Cinemas, was smoking and waiting idly for the premiere results of "Happy Ghost".

Yesterday, Shao Daheng had already made arrangements to report to him immediately after the attendance figures for the first show this morning came out.

"Ring ring..."

A rapid phone call rang. Ji Tongguang threw away his cigarette butt, picked up the phone unhurriedly, and asked, "Feeding?"

"Manager Ji, the Emerald Theater is about 80% full."

"What? Eighty percent?" Ji Tongguang asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yes, about 80%."

Three minutes later, another call came in: "Manager Ji, the Wenhua Theater is 90% full."

Before the phone call was even over, a staff member barged into Ji Tongguang's office.

"Manager! Manager! The Golden Theatre and the Bo Sheng Theatre are completely sold out!"

Ji Tongguang shakily took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. How long had it been since Shaw Brothers theaters were packed?

Another phone rang. Ji Tongguang waved to the staff member to answer the phone, while he went to call Shao Daheng.

When Shao Yifu heard the news, he was stunned on the spot. After a long while, he came to his senses and asked, "How was the attendance at Golden Harvest today?"

"Less than 50%."

"What? Less than 50%?"

Upon hearing this, Shaw Yifu burst into laughter. After a moment, he said in an unquestionable tone, "Add more theaters! Show 'Happy Ghost' in all the remaining theaters!"

"clear!"

......

The Mandarin Theatre, located in Causeway Bay, was Shaw Brothers' flagship store.

Chen Bosen stood at the entrance of the Wenhua Theater, looking at the endless stream of people queuing to buy tickets, and felt a little regretful.

I should have come to the Mandarin Theatre to see the midnight showing of "Happy Ghost" last night. He and his good partner Wang Zhonghan were supposed to go their separate ways, but he was too lazy to come.

As the editor-in-chief of "Film Biweekly," which has only been established for half a year, he has no staff and no money under his command. It's really pathetic that he has to personally handle such a small matter as interviewing!

As soon as he entered the theater lobby, Chen Bosen was stunned by the scene before him.

The Mandarin Theatre, which can accommodate a thousand people, was almost full at this time.

More importantly, the majority of the audience members were young people.

Chen Bosen found his seat based on his movie ticket and listened carefully to the conversations of the people around him.

There were teenagers and young adults in their early twenties chattering away about the guys in the newspaper and sharing gossip they'd heard from who-knows-where.

Suddenly he heard a familiar voice, and upon closer inspection, he realized it was Feng Haoyu, a reporter and film critic from Oriental Daily.

"Haoyu, shouldn't you have come yesterday? Why are you only here today?"

Ma Haoyu gave a wry smile. "Hey! Our people came last night, but Editor-in-Chief Xu insists on coming again today."

Chen Bosen laughed heartily, "Your editor-in-chief Xu is truly farsighted. Based on the attendance at yesterday's midnight screening, we shouldn't have come today. Who would have thought this film could defy the trend?"

Ma Haoyu nodded. "Indeed! Judging from today's attendance, I estimate it will be another blockbuster."

Chen Bosen looked around and found about a dozen people sitting casually in the middle, each holding a sugarcane.

"Why are there people biting sugarcane?"

Ma Haoyu also got up and looked around. "I guess they're like us, they didn't come yesterday because they thought the attendance wasn't good enough."

As the two were talking, the theater lights went out and the movie began.

After the "Shaw Brothers' SB intro" slowly flashed by, the animation intro from Time Pictures followed:

The screen first flashed with images resembling the grainy texture of a black and white film, then a circular, silver-white clock slowly descended. After the clock's hands moved one notch, film of the same color slowly enveloped three-quarters of the clock.

Then, the four characters "Time Pictures" were irregularly thrown downwards from top to bottom onto the bottom of the pattern.

The animation for this movie was designed by Li Jiangbo himself, and the inspiration came from the countless pictures he drew on paper before he traveled through time.

Li Jiangbo spent nearly 800,000 yuan to make this movie, including the short 25-second opening animation.

He even had professionals from the US do the opening sequence, and there was no company in Hong Kong that could take on this job.

Although it cost 50,000 yuan, the results were remarkable. Everyone in the audience was amazed by it.

Chen Bosen was no exception. He exclaimed, "This is truly the best opening sequence I've seen in years, and the company name is also very nice, giving people a sense of nostalgia."

Ma Haoyu, standing to the side, nodded secretly, agreeing with Chen Bosen's statement.

The film officially begins.

When Cherie Chung, Rosamund Kwan, Wong Cho-si, and others appeared on camera in bikinis, the audience gasped in disbelief.

These beauties are so gorgeous! Their figures are amazing.

Chen Bosen quickly jotted down notes in his notebook: The lead actor is very photogenic, and the shots are very heartwarming.

The scene suddenly shifts to five beautiful young women setting up camp on the beach.

It wasn't until Joseph, played by Kent Tong, sang "A Game, A Dream" that audiences first realized that Mandarin pop songs were actually quite good and pleasant to listen to.

Then, the scene changed abruptly; the weather turned stormy, with strong winds and torrential rain.

At first, Joseph persisted in singing love songs in the heavy rain, but the next second he couldn't stand it anymore and crawled into the tent.

This made the audience burst into laughter, exclaiming, "This loser is really good at pretending!"

"Who can argue with that!"

Ma Haoyu whispered, "They've already played two new songs, haven't they? No wonder the person who wrote 'Those Things of the Ming Dynasty' is like this!"

Chen Bosen, who was standing to the side, was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly asked, "Is the author of 'Those Things of the Ming Dynasty' and this film the same person?"

Ma Haoyu instantly realized he had let something slip, and he shook his head vigorously, vehemently denying it.

Seeing Ma Haoyu's attitude, Chen Bosen instantly realized that what the guy said was true, but he didn't plan to ask any further questions. He would just ask Chairman Ma of the Oriental Daily News later.

The earlier part of the plot was quite interesting, as you can tell from the reactions of the Sugarcane Biting Gang.

When Zhao Yazhi appeared with ugly makeup, the atmosphere in the theater immediately became lively.

"Is this Zhao Yazhi?"

"What the hell! Such a beautiful woman, and this lousy director made her look so ugly!"

"I think it's really funny! Look at the mole on her face, it even has such long hairs!"

Chen Bosen, standing to the side, nodded secretly. Zhao Yazhi's portrayal of an ugly character was surprisingly effective! It seems Li Jiangbo has a really sharp eye.

What surprised him most was the film's pacing; the humor, heartwarming moments, and emotional scenes were blended together seamlessly.

When Leslie Cheung's character, Zhu Xiucai, used his superpowers to help Cherie Chung's character, Lin Qingqing, defeat her opponent in the sports meet, the entire theater was filled with laughter.

When the nun and her men were about to burn the long rope that Zhu Xiucai was possessing, everyone became extremely nervous.

When it came time to say goodbye, several girls tearfully bid farewell to Zhu Xiucai, and Chen Bosen clearly heard sobs around him.

Ma Haoyu kept wiping away his tears, but his pen never stopped moving.

Looking at the audience's reaction, Chen Bosen exclaimed, "This show is going to be a hit! And these main actors are going to become famous!"