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Mingxing
_production_logo.jpg){kind=logo} Production logo, 1937 | |||||||||
Native name | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 明星影片公司 | ||||||||
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| Company type | Private limited company | ||||||||
| Industry | Film | ||||||||
| Founded | February 1922 in Shanghai, Republic of China | ||||||||
| Founders | |||||||||
| Defunct | late 1937 | ||||||||
| Fate | Closed during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai | ||||||||
| Headquarters | Shanghai , Republic of China | ||||||||
The Mingxing Film Company (Chinese: 明星影片公司; pinyin: Míngxīng Yǐngpiàn Gōngsī), also credited as the Star Motion Picture Production Company, was a production company active in the Republic of China between 1922 and 1937. Established by a consortium of creative professionals, including film director Zhang Shichuan, dramatist Zheng Zhengqiu, and critic Zhou Jianyun, Mingxing initially produced comedy films that drew little audience attention. Facing insolvency, in 1923 the company used its last capital to produce Orphan Rescues Grandfather, which released to massive commercial success and provided the company with the revenue needed to expand and hire new talent.
In the mid-1920s, Mingxing acquired new studios and made its initial public offering, growing rapidly even in the face of emerging competition. It adapted several novels to film, with its Lonely Orchid (1926) one of the most successful Chinese films of the silent era. It also expanded from family dramas to wuxia with The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928), and began producing sound films with Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (1931). By the early 1930s, Mingxing was one of the largest film companies in Shanghai, together with the Tianyi Film Company and the United Photoplay Service.
However, between the ongoing Sino-Japanese War – including damage caused by the 1932 incursion into Shanghai – and a series of financial setbacks, Mingxing faced significant financial losses through the 1930s. Despite the success of films such as Twin Sisters (1934) and efforts to attract new writers, the company was unable to recover and operations ended after the Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1937. During its lifetime, Mingxing produced 174 fiction films, as well as newsreels, cartoons, and actualities.
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