Tao Yuen Motion Picture Development Company, established in 1958 and closing in 1967, had produced 36 films in total.

‘Tao Yuen’ translates as ‘the land of peach blossoms’, a Chinese-literature reference meaning ‘an ideal domain of peace and happiness’. The company’s founder Li Wui-tao was a well-known figure in the culture and education sectors of his time. Apart from filmmaking, he was also involved in the arts, culture and education industries. He incorporated the Hong Kong Cultural Service and Artcraft Printing Factory, which printed textbooks for primary and secondary schools, and also founded Ming Tang Yat Pao Daily News, which specialised in entertainment news, columns by famed writers and serial novels. His wife, Law Shun-wah, was Tao Yuen’s Executive Producer, whereas his younger sister, Li Kit-fong, worked as Production Manager.

There were three main approaches to Tao Yuen’s filmmaking—casting opera stars to guarantee box-office success, featuring popular ‘genius child star’ Fung Bo-bo, as well as cultivating a generation of new blood, such as ‘Madame Rose’ Ho Lan, Fong Sum and Lam Tin. Tao Yuen also produced two Mandarin films, one starring Grace Chang and the other Diana Chang Chung-wen. The company mainly focused on making costume opera-musicals, which constituted about half of its overall productions, making Tao Yuen one of the most prolific and important film companies producing opera films in the 1950s and 1960s. Examples include The Random Harvest (1960), starring Yam Kim-fai and Law Yim-hing, as well as Happy Wedding, A Respectable Tutor and The Lion’s Roar (all released in 1959), starring the legendary Yam-Pak duo (Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin).

Tao Yuen’s films are blends of entertainment and education. One of its most noted and cherished works is The Magic Cup (1961), marketed as a ‘fairy-tale educational blockbuster’. The film, showcasing the beloved cutie-pie Fung and opera star Law Yim-hing as ‘Magic Cup Genie’, is fondly remembered by audiences of different generations. Nurtured and promoted by Tao Yuen, Fung makes an impressive appearance in Director Lung To’s The Stormy Night (1960) as well as in the company’s very last production, Adventure of a Blind Kid (1967). The latter was particularly produced to raise funds for the Ebenezer School, with Fung offering a heartwarming performance as a blind boy.

Li Wui-tao passed away in 1986 and Mrs Li later donated Tao Yuen’s inventory to the Hong Kong Film Archive for preservation. This year marks the 65th anniversary of Tao Yuen’s establishment and the 10th anniversary of Mrs Li’s passing. The Archive has organised this retrospective, screening a total of 15 films starting in January and lasting through April next year, covering the works of almost every director of Tao Yuen. The programme is presented in four themes, corresponding to the company’s major approaches, namely ‘Sister Yam Classics’, ‘Showtime for Bo Bo’, ‘Parade of New Faces’ and ‘Mandarin Productions’. This year marks the 110th birthday of the beloved superstar Yam Kim-fai, and we are celebrating by screening seven of her classics, including the rarely shown The Golden Cat (1961) and The Mysterious Heroine (1962). A programme not to be missed!

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