Ma-Xu Weibang


Ma-Xu Weibang was a Chinese film director active in mainland China from the 1920s to 1940s, and later in Hong Kong, perhaps best known for his work in the horror genre, the most important unarguably being The Phantom of the Opera-inspired, Song at Midnight. Ma-Xu was also known for a few acting roles early in his career, as well as for being a screenwriter. The director of 33 known films, much of Ma-Xu's early work has been lost.
Ma-Xu was born Xu Weibang in 1905 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Little is known of this early period except that his parents died while Ma-Xu was still a child, which was said to influence his decision to incorporate his wife's surname, "Ma".

Career in film

Ma-Xu studied at the Shanghai Institute of Fine Arts in the early 1920s. Following his graduation, he began working as an actor for the Mingxing Film Company, his first film being Zhang Shichuan's The Marriage Trap in 1924. Following a brief stint in the short-lived Langhua Film Company where he directed his first film in 1926, Ma-Xu returned to Mingxing where he began serving as assistant directors for some of the more established talent. His thriller, The Cry of Apes in a Deserted Valley is the only one of these directorial efforts to have survived.
Ma-Xu's first real success, however, did not come until 1937 with Song at Midnight, often referred to as China's first horror film. Based on Gaston Leroux's classic novel The Phantom of the Opera, the film is now seen as part of the canon of early Chinese cinema, and was also remade as The Phantom Lover by Ronny Yu in 1996. Ma-Xu followed up Song with two additional horror films, Walking Corpse in an Old House and The Lonely Soul. In 1941, he made a lackluster sequel to Song at Midnight, and also co-directed with Bu Wancang the controversial Japanese propaganda film Eternity.
Like Bu, Ma-Xu suffered for his work on The Opium War after the Japanese were defeated and was eventually forced to move to Hong Kong where he continued to work in the film business until 1961, when he was killed in a road accident.

Filmography

Note: in most early Chinese films, there often were no official English translations, leading to a sometimes confusing lack of consistency in titles.
YearEnglish TitleChinese TitleNotes
1926The Love FreakQing chang guai renPresumed lost
1928Freak in the NightHei ye guai renPresumed lost
1929The Devil IncarnateHun shi mo wangPresumed lost
1930The Cry of Apes in a Deserted ValleyKong gu yuan sheng
1934Pear Blossom in the Storm暴雨梨花Presumed lost
1934Prison of LoveAi yuPresumed lost
1935Han jiang luo yan
1937Song at Midnight夜半歌聲
1938Walking Corpse in an Old HouseGu wu xing shi ji
1938The Lonely SoulLeng yue shi hun
1939Ma feng nu麻瘋女
1940Diao Liu shi
1941Song at Midnight, Part II夜半歌聲續集
1941Xian dai qing nian
1942Yuan yang lei
1943Eternity萬世流芳
1943Qiu Haitang
1947Tian luo di wang
1947Chun can meng duan春殘夢斷
1949Mei yan qin wang
1949A Maid's Bitter Story瓊樓恨Also known as The Haunted House
1954Blood Stained FlowersBi xue huang hua
1955Xin yu guang qu
1956Wo xin chang dan臥薪嘗膽Also known as Dangerous Beauty or
Beauty of the Beauties
1956Ghost at Midnight午夜魂歸Also known as Foggy Night, Fright Night
1957The Resurrected RoseFu huo de mei gui
1957Booze, Boobs, and Bucks酒色財氣
1958Young Vagabond流浪兒Also known as The Vagabond Boy
1958Hong fu si ben
1959The Lovers and the Python毒蟒情鴛