Directors During

The Studio Era

Yow Chong Lee

Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

This OpenCourseWare@UNIMAS and its related course materials are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Learning Objectives:

• To identify the directors – their

background, films & contributions

• To explain the reasons of their

employment

Who Were Needed Then?

Having a chain of cinemas

Establishing studios

Who/what were needed?

To ensure

continuous supply

of films (in local

contents)

They enrich the filmmaking scene in Malay(si)a

Local

Philippines

India

The Directors:

Where Did They Come From?

INDIAN DIRECTORS

Malay Language Films

Economical Cultural

Importing Directors From India

WHY?

Economic Reasons

Cheap creative labour

They had some filmmaking experience

They were exposed to film

business

Economical Reasons

Cultural Reasons

Cultural interaction between India and Malaya was established earlier

Common – e.g. Hindu influences on the customs

and ritual traditions

Understand some words from Sanskrit – the root of most Indian languages, especially Hindi

Cultural Reasons

The Directors From India

1st Batch

(1950 and before)

- B.S. Rajhans

- L. Krishnan

- S. Ramanathan

2nd Batch

(late 52’ – early 53’)

- K.M. Basker

- B.N. Rao

- V. Girimaji

- K.R. Sastry

3rd Batch

(53’ – after Cathay-Keris studio was set

up)

- Phani Majumdar

- Kidar Sharma

- Dhiresh Ghosh

Who are they? Why are there several batches?

• Krishnan was raised in Penang from the age

of six.

• He spoke Malay to his artistes.

• Krishnan made friends and invited local

writers and journalists to submit their

stories.

L. Krishnan: A Driver Turned

Director!

• Adaptation of “Wuthering Heights”

• Ramlee Putih (P. Ramlee) played the lead role beside Kasma Booty

Bakti (Service)

(1950)

• As a result of working closely with local journalists and writers

Rayuan Sukma (The

Longing of Soul) (19951)

• Made while working under contract with Cathay-Keris

• Adaptation from a novel called “Cinta Gadis Rimba” (Love of the Jungle Maiden) by Harun Aminurrashid

Virgin of Borneo (1958)

Krishnan’s Films

S. Ramanathan: 1st Batch

Director

-Kembar (Twins)

(1950)

- Pulau Mutiara

(Pearl Island)

(1951)

- Juwita (Love)

(1951) – Led by

Ramlee-Booty

S.

Ramanathan

2nd batch of directors 1952-1953:

● KM Basker

● BN Rao

● V Girimaji

● KR Sastry

Second Batch Directors: From

India

From Malabar but raised & studied in Malaya.

Introduced performance styles, filming methods & Indian cinematic traditions.

• When Cathay-Keris studio was set up

in 1953, Krishnan, Rajhans and later

Rao and Basker left MFP.

• Some of their favourite artistes followed

their suit too:

Please Raise Our Wage, or…!

Neng Yatimah, Nordin Ahmad, Maria Menado and

Siput Sarawak

• Experienced director

• directed Hang Tuah (1956), Anak-ku Sazali (1956) & Long House (1957).

Phani Majumdar

• Well-known for his artistic films in India, ex: Suhag Raat

• Directed only one film for MFP, Kaki Kuda (1958) – a vulgar-comedy

Kidar Sharma

• Made Gergasi (1958) & adapted Malay legends & semi-historical scripts.

• Finished his 5-year contract.

Dhiresh Ghosh

Time to Seek For Replacements!

THE FILIPINO DIRECTORS

Malay Language Films

Brought in to Singapore after 1955.

To seek for replacement for those Indian directors.

Brought in American film techniques – shooting & lighting techniques that reduced overall shooting time.

The Filipino Directors WHY?

Who?

Eddy Infante

T. C. Santos

Ramon Estella

Lamberto Avellana

Rolf Bayer

Who were They?

He worked in America, Vietnam, Italy & Philippines.

How many films had he directed for MFP?

His films were different in genres, what were they?

He had directed:

Matahari

Samseng

Pusaka Pontianak

Ramon Estella

8

Historical Horror Comedy

• Best Director and Best Picture

• “Sergeant Hassan”

• Documentary style film – “Badjao”

• On “Badjao”

Work with

Bayer

Neo-Realist

Award-winning Directors

Only 1 Film for

MFP

Lamberto Avellana

THE LOCAL DIRECTORS

The Malay Language Films

Before 1950s: Local Crew

Very few local technical staff involved in filmmaking.

Due to lack of film knowledge, they were involved as clapper boy, boom operator, focus puller or continuity clerk.

From late 1940s – early 1950s onwards, locals became cameramen & assistant directors.

1950s: Expansion of social and cultural activism in Malaya – growing nationalistic feeling.

Newspapers and magazines placed more focus on local film industry.

Writers call for studios to allow Malay directors to direct as they understand Malay customs & traditions.

Pressure From The Activists!

Who?

Mahadi

P. Ramlee

S. Roomai Noor

Jamil Sulong

The Local Directors

The Local Directors:

Mahadi Mohd Said

Mahadi Mohd Said

• Joined MFP at 38 years old

• First* Malay director for SB

• Directed his first & only film Permata di Perlimbahan in 1953 based on AR Tompel’s script Fatimah.

The Local Directors:

P. Ramlee

• Performing in Penang Bangsawan & found by BS Rahjans.

• late 1940s: playback singer for MFP.

• Acted in 20 films under all the Indian directors as villain as well as hero.

• Ideal model of Malay film star.

P. Ramlee: All-in-One

Late 1950s: became important

composer, singer, director & actor

The Demise of An Artist

• Appeared in 63 films, directed 34 films.

• Died on 29 May 1973 at 44 years old when no longer popular.

• His films are loved for their acute social analysis of the Malays, who were suddenly caught up in rapid social, political and cultural changes in the 1950’s and 1960s’.

From Actor to Director:

S Roomai Noor

• Worked for MFP – clerk, translator & assistant director.

• Played the main role in Chinta (1948) with Siput Sarawak.

• Left MFP to join Cathay-Keris in 1954.

• Cathay-Keris’ first local director.

Not An Actor, But A Director:

Jamil Sulong

• 1959: directed Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup.

• Directed 17 purba films adapted from Malay legends & mythologies for MFP.

The Malay Directors:

Others Omar Rojik (1960) MFP

S Kadarisman (1961) MFP

Hussein Haniff (1961) Cathay-Keris

Salleh Ghani (1961) Cathay-Keris

M Amin (1962) Cathay-Keris

Nordin Ahmad (1964) Cathay-Keris

Malay directors worked together with Indian directors.

By 1963, only left Diresh Ghosh (last film Korban 1963) & Ramon Estella (last film Pusaka Pontianak 1965) at MFP.

1963-1967: Local directors in control until MFP closed down.

• There were directors from several nations who

had enriched the cinematic culture of

Malay(si)a.

• Economical and cultural reasons had drawn

the studio(s) to hire these directors during the

studio era.

• Local directors started directing after

demanded by several quarters.

Conclusion

Resources:

Books:

Hatta Azad Khan (1997). The Malay Cinema. Selangor: Penerbit UKM.

Mohd Zamberi A. Malek and Aimi Jarr (2005). Malaysian Films: The Beginning.

Selangor: FINAS.

Van der Heide, William (2002). Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and

National Cultures. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.