The Arch (film)

The Arch
Traditional Chinese董夫人
Literal meaningMadam Dong
Hanyu PinyinDǒng Fūrén
Directed byTang Shu Shuen
Written byTang Shu Shuen
Produced byLi Chiu-chung
StarringLisa Lu
CinematographySubrata Mitra
Edited byLes Blank
C.C. See
Music byLui Tsun-Yuen
Release date
  • 1968 (1968)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageMandarin

The Arch (Chinese: 董夫人) is a 1968[1] Hong Kong drama film directed by Tang Shu Shuen.[2] The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3]

Cast

  • Lisa Lu as Madame Tung
  • Roy Chiao as Captain Yang
  • Szu-yun Chen
  • Yu-Kuan Chen
  • Hilda Chow Hsuan as Wei-Ling
  • Po Hu
  • Ying Lee as Chang
  • Yui Liang as Monk
  • Tang Shu Shuen

Production

The Arch was loosely based on a short story by Lin Yutang. Tang developed the story a couple of years after graduating from the University of Southern California.[4] As a wholly neophyte director with no credentials, Tang leaned on her connections to Jeanette Lin Chui, a friend and classmate of Tang's sister, to help circulate the script amongst the studios in Hong Kong. Eventually, she was able to book the Cathay Organisation film studio, who stipulated she use their roster of actors.[4] In addition, Tang brought on fellow USC student Les Blank as editor, and was able to enlist the help of cinematographer Subrata Mitra through her friends' connections.[4]

Reception

Variety reviewed the film at the San Francisco Film Festival's "New Director Series" on 31 October 1968, describing the film as ""a sensitively photographed, professionally-made story," and praising Subrata Mitra (also Satyajit Ray's cinematographer) as "exceptional."[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Arch". San Francisco Film Festival. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Cinema China". Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  4. 1 2 3 Prakash, Inney (6 October 2025). "Interview: T'ang Shushuen on The Arch". Film Comment. Archived from the original on 13 January 2026. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Variety's Film Reviews 1968-1970. Vol. 12. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "October 30, 1968". ISBN 0-8352-2792-8.