In the autumn of 1930, in Los Angeles, all industries were in depression, except for the film and related industries. Each of the dozen or so films produced by Hollywood this year achieved good box office success and were hailed as a ray of light in the economic crisis. Since the collapse of the Wall Street stock market
back,
Hollywood production companies were once worried about whether the movie market would shrink, but they soon discovered to their delight that even if Americans were receiving relief and scrimping on food and clothing, they still had to squeeze out a few coins and flock to movie theaters to seek spiritual comfort and happiness.
The warmth and hope of survival.
It was under this circumstance that after "Man Jiang Hong" was introduced to the United States in early April, it quickly won the audience's attention with its grand ancient Chinese war scenes, rich humanistic and historical knowledge, wonderful Chinese-style soundtrack and noble patriotic sentiments.
Good Feelings was only released in a few theaters in Los Angeles at first, and then quickly spread to major theaters across the United States due to hot reviews from the media and word-of-mouth from the audience. In just four months, it has already earned a huge box office of six million US dollars.
It set the highest box office record since the birth of talkies.
Speaking of the success of "River River", half of it comes from the strong and conservative influence of silent films in the American film industry. Most of the films shown in theaters today are still silent films, including humor films and gunfight films. It is an excellent sound film.
attraction to the audience
The force of gravity is far greater than imagined. Since the release of Hollywood's first sound film "Don Juan" in 1927, it has caused great controversy in public opinion. Film art masters led by Chaplin, Méliès, and Griffith believed that the sound
The film technology is very naive,
Moreover, if the audience pays too much attention to the sound, it will greatly weaken the montage effect and artistry of the movie. It is really a terrible retrogression, so there is a strong boycott of sound movies. From 27 to the beginning of the 1930s, major Hollywood companies only produced more than a dozen movies.
Talking movies, although these movies were very good at the box office, they had no reputation. It was not until the release of "Man Jiang Hong" that every movie-watching audience was amazed by the wonderful combination of movies and sound, and the talkies were officially launched.
A frenzy of production.
The car was driving slowly on Hollywood Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Zhang Xi looked at the long queues in front of many movie theaters, with a hint of relief on his face, because what these people were supporting was the second film produced by Oriental Film Company.
The second film "Model Camp". Since the civil war in which as many as one million troops participated in China has just ended, newspapers and magazines are full of articles about the pro-American Nanjing government.
, about the report about the legendary general An Yi, many Americans are full of curiosity about China on the other side of the ocean. The introduction of such a movie is tantamount to a shortcut to recognition and understanding. Moreover, with the good reputation of "Man Jiang Hong", most viewers
We are full of expectations for this war film, which will involve greater investment, use more troops to participate in the filming, and introduce many unprecedented special effects.
The premiere of "Model Camp" was held in Shanghai in early July, and was also released on the same day in major cities such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningxia, and Nanchang. As the war in the Central Plains entered its most critical moment, the public was concerned about the war and was concerned about the combat power of the Central Army.
Worried about their own future, they all walked into the cinema to see what was happening at the Central Military Commission.
The legendary growth experience of an independent artist who was hailed as an ace in the movie, so the film caused a huge sensation as soon as it was released. Theaters built by plutocrats from all over the country were full, and the box office continued to rise, with a revenue of nearly one million oceans a month.
It is hard to see that this is a level that the Chinese people in the precarious situation can reach.
Zhang Xi's trip to Los Angeles was mainly to purchase an aircraft manufacturing factory located in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles. This aircraft factory is large in scale and has its own design center and two production lines of engine production workshops, as well as other equipment.
fully equipped, designed and produced aircraft
It has won many awards in aviation exhibitions. If it were not for this economic crisis, the future would be bright. Unfortunately, the aircraft manufacturing factory finally failed to survive. After the owner of the factory went bankrupt and committed suicide by jumping off the building, the California government took it back and issued a contract.
The ultra-low price of 10,000 US dollars is auctioned around the world.
Zhang Xi's competitor this time comes from Russia. When the economic crisis swept across Europe and the United States last year, Russia was in the early stages of a new upsurge in socialist construction. Industry did not account for a large proportion of the entire national economy. The outbreak of the crisis gave Russia a great power.
The Deed of Rise
machine. Russia began to attack on all sides, sending an unprecedented large-scale purchasing group to European and American countries, introducing technology, importing machinery, importing intelligence and attracting foreign loans, striving to achieve industrialization in the shortest time. This time, Zhang Xi and the Russian purchasing group
Right.
In the previous procurement confrontations, both sides had their own winners and losers. Since then, they have intentionally or unintentionally avoided each other to avoid raising prices and causing unnecessary losses. However, this time the stakes are very high, and the competition is for companies with high technological content.
, both parties are unwilling to give up easily, and there will definitely be a fight between dragons and tigers, but Zhang Xi is confident enough to win this auction. After all, he has a huge amount of money and can make the decision on his own, while his opponent has to ask his superiors for instructions after exceeding the psychological bottom line. This
Time comes and goes and it is enough for me to win.
Zhang Xi's second purpose in coming to Los Angeles was to acquire Hollywood's Lightning Film Company. The company has nearly a hundred movie theaters on the east and west coasts. It has always been mainly shooting and showing silent films. However, with the popularity of sound films this year, its production
Silent films were dismal at the box office, and their movie theaters in Yemen were empty. In addition, Chairman Hardman was heavily in debt during previous speculations, and the film company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Zhang Xi believed that he could obtain the company's profits at a very small price.
control.
Owning a completely own film company in Hollywood is a strategy that An Yi has planned before. As the largest economic entity, the influence of the United States in the world is far beyond the reach of China, which is poor and backward and cannot even guarantee its sovereignty.
Therefore, An Yi attaches great importance to public opinion guidance in the United States. Taking advantage of this economic crisis, Zhang Xi has successfully controlled a newspaper that distributes nationwide, and also acquired a radio station. This time he bought Flash
The movie company wants to improve its own publicity chain so that it can cooperate with and serve Anyi's global strategy. Of course, all acquisitions are carried out quietly, and the person named in the transaction is also Zhang.
Xi quietly found an American who was born and raised with a clean net worth but had a miserable life during the economic crisis. At least from the official point of view, no matter how the property rights were changed, the holders were still American citizens. They had no idea that the actual rights and interests had fallen into An Yi's hands.
in hand.
"Zhang, the California government building is here, let's go down." New York State Lieutenant Governor Herbert Lyman, who accompanied Zhang Xi on his trip to Los Angeles, said to Zhang Xi with a smile. During this time, the New York State Government and the State Banking Authority,
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is lobbying Wall Street financial professionals to propose a package plan to save the United States Bank. Unfortunately, no one is interested. Only Zhang Xi has expressed some interest in this.
The Bank of the United States is the fourth largest bank in New York, with 450,000 depositors. The collapse of the financial market and the ensuing tightening have damaged the collateral that maintains interbank loans. The New York authorities want the Bank of the United States to cooperate with the other three banks.
Merge, offset each other's debts, and avoid bankruptcy,
But the controlling shareholder needed to come up with US$30 million for rescue. In order to win over Zhang Xi, a major financial backer, the New York State government put down its pretensions and sent Lieutenant Governor Herbert Lyman to lobby. When they heard that Zhang Xi was going to attend the auction in California,
Herbert Lehmann simply accompanied him throughout the whole process to express his goodwill.
Zhang Xi smiled and nodded, pulling Herbert Lyman out of the car and walking to the California Government Conference Hall to attend the auction held there.
…
After finishing many matters, An Yi set off again, taking a passenger ship from Jiangnan Shipping Company and returning to Yichang under the escort of two gunboats from the Li Guangshui Police Division.
Yin Jinan, Zeng Kuanqing and other generals who came to pick up the ship finished meeting with An Yi. They pointed at the fashionably dressed, handsome and beautiful men and women who stepped off the passenger ship and asked in a low voice which part they were from?
An Yi smiled and asked someone to invite a middle-aged screenwriter and an assistant director to meet. Only then did the brothers know that these handsome men and pretty women were part of the cast and crew of Shanghai Oriental Film Company. They came to Hubei specially this time.
The boxes where Xi sent condolences to the brothers of the Fifth Army Corps contained projectors and film copies.
Yin Jinan quickly called the gendarmerie captain and ordered a platoon of brothers to do their best to protect the guests and valuable equipment from afar. They all arranged to stay at the public office guest house with the best conditions. The screenwriter and assistant director thanked them repeatedly and expressed that they would cherish their three days.
Live in the military camp and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, communicate and live together, and screen movies for the soldiers for three consecutive nights.
After hearing this, Zeng Kuang quickly politely told the guest that it would be better to live in the government office. The conditions in the military camp were too simple, and with so many beautiful actresses, the soldiers of the Fifth Army would not be able to sleep if they lived there. Everyone listened.
After laughing, the guests still insisted on staying in the military camp. A group of actors and actresses also gathered around, chattering about half a year.
I was filming the movie "Model Camp" in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places. I spent several months with nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Nanchang Security Command who assisted in the filming. I felt very good. I gained a deeper understanding of the military and gained a lot of inspiration. I hope to be stationed this time.
Regular troops, in order to gain more understanding and inspiration, and make some accumulation for the next film reflecting the war of the National Revolutionary Army.
An Yi briefly discussed with Yin Jinan and decided to place the consolation group in Yiling Camp, where there is a military field hospital, a guard regiment, a military police regiment and a special agent regiment. Actresses can stay in the hospital's female doctors and female nurses' barracks, and male
Actors can live and train with the officers and soldiers of the guard regiment. Although the conditions are a little worse, they can basically meet the requirements of the guests to go into the military camp and live with the officers and soldiers, and safety is also guaranteed.
Furthermore, the playground at Yiling Camp is large enough, and there are six basketball courts built with solid soil. It is more convenient for soldiers of all divisions to watch movies there.