VISIONARY
HK moviemaker Raymond Chow lit the flame of martial arts that still adds star power to films around the world, says
The story goes that the American film bosses were skeptical when Raymond Chow Manwai first came to them in the early 1970s with his plan to introduce kung fu into their world, and beyond.
Martial arts wouldn’t work, they said, because international audiences had no connection to that style of combat and, besides, kicking another man wasn’t really “fair.”
But Chow had a vision of the future, and by championing the star power — and sheer talent — of the likes of Bruce Lee, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, martial arts movies soon went mainstream, and to the top of the international box office charts.
These days the influence of martial arts may be found in just about any action film that’s made anywhere. Those who knew him say that Chow — who passed away on Nov 2 aged 91 — had a pure passion for cinema that never abated. Across a career spanning five decades he was both producer — of more than 600 films across all genres — and star maker.
Andre Morgan was hired by Chow fresh out of college in 1972. He started as an intern at Chow’s Golden Harvest Studio and would go on to later become its CEO.
“Raymond truly loved the magic of cinema,” says Morgan. “Every time you sat with Raymond in a screening room, no matter what the film was he would sit there with his eyes wide open staring at the screen, loving every minute of it.”
Creating opportunities
Chow began his working life as a journalist before joining the massive Shaw Brothers film studio. In 1970, he broke away with Leonard Ho and formed Golden Harvest, a production house that would soon dominate Chinese-language cinema while setting business models that are still being followed today.
Chow would later say how his work as a new journalist helped fine-tune his ability to work independently. He certainly started in the trade young enough, producing a weekly sports magazine with fellow students while at high school in Shanghai before receiving more formal training. It was during his school years that Chow’s love for Chinese martial arts was also first explored, and he became for some period a student of the
hung ga master Lam Sai-wing, a man who could trace his own lineage back to Wong Fei-hung, himself the subject of hundreds of martial arts movies.
Generations of filmmakers were also given a start — or their careers revitalized — by working with Chow, most famously Lee and Chan, but later industry heavyweights too, including director John Woo whose flair for inventive action sequences was first given full rein at Golden Harvest. Chow protégés also include Andy Lau Tak-wah, who had only just left television work when the producer and his team identified the young actor’s star power.
Reinventing Jackie Chan
Chan took to his website to reveal how Chow had suggested the actor use “Jackie” as his name. Chan had previously been calling himself “Jacky” but the producer wanted a “fresh start.”
Chan had a serious accident on the Yugoslavian set of Armour of God in 1986, so serious that it was assumed by many that the actor was close to death. On hearing the news back in Hong Kong, Chow made arrangements for Chan to be treated by a Swiss neurologist, “which ultimately saved my life,” Chan revealed.
“For decades, Mr Chow was not only my boss, he was my teacher, my mentor, and the most respected model example in the film industry. He’s an icon of an era in the history of Hong Kong and Asian film. Mr Chow, may you rest in peace. I will always remember your energy, your trust, and all the things you’ve taught me,” Chan posted.
During an interview with Woo back in 2008 the conversation turned to Chow and the support Golden Harvest had shown for a director who in many ways was still unproven in a fiercely competitive market place.
Woo said one of Chow’s great skills was that when he recognized talent he also created opportunities to help them “follow their own dreams.”
The Hong Kong International Film Festival’s newly appointed executive director, Albert
Lee, spent 21 years working under Chow at Golden Harvest as a producer and executive. He was among those to pay tribute to Chow following a memorial service held in Hung Hom on Nov 19.
“I saw a lot of people from the old days,” says Lee. “That all these people have stayed friends for such a long time is a testimony to how close-knit the film-making community he built was. In terms of Hong Kong film and Greater China film, he was a giant.”
While co-productions between filmmaking territories have become all the rage in recent years, Chow tied up with the likes of the massive American studio 20th Century Fox to produce the star-studded romp
The Cannonball Run back in 1981. It was a monster international hit.
“Golden Harvest had offices in London and Los Angeles years before anyone else,” explained Lee. “All the things he was doing then, people are trying to do now. He was decades ahead of the game. When you talk about the golden days of cinema in Hong Kong, it came down to him. He changed the way studios operate and he had faith in the people he worked with. His passing really is the end of an era.”
While the success of Lee and Chan gave
Chow an international profile, Morgan believes the filmmaker’s lasting legacy was the work he did behind the scenes, work that was far from the spotlight and the gala red carpets of major movie premieres.
“There’s a lot more to be said about Raymond Chow than just that he was the man who introduced Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan to the world,” says Morgan. “He modernized Chinese cinema and gave opportunities to generations of filmmakers. He was the true path finder for martial arts, and beyond martial arts.”