An Orphan Rescues His Grandpa (1923)

Interesting facts

Orphan Rescues Grandfather, also translated as An Orphan Rescues His Grandpa, is a 1923 Chinese silent film directed by Zhang Shichuan for the Mingxing Film Company. Starring Wang Hanlun, Zheng Zhegu, and Zheng Xiaoqiu, this melodrama follows the pregnant widow of a wealthy man who, after her reputation is tarnished, is evicted from her husband's family. Ten years later, her son becomes an apt pupil who saves his grandfather from a plot to steal his wealth.

Production

Orphan Rescues Grandfather was produced by the Mingxing Film Company. Established in 1922 with 10,000 yuan (equivalent to ¥1,100,000 in 2019) in capital, Mingxing had produced several films but found little financial success. So great were its financial straits that Zhou Jianyun, one of the company's co-founders, had to pawn his wife's jewellery to complete the production of Orphan Rescues Grandfather.

Orphan Rescues Grandfather was directed by Zhang Shichuan. The widow was portrayed by Wang Hanlun in her first film role, while the role of the family patriarch was played by Zheng Zhegu. The titular orphan, meanwhile, was portrayed by Zheng Xiaoqiu. Another role was held by Wang Xianzai. Several smaller roles were taken by students with Mingxing's film school.

The screenplay was written by Zheng Zhengqiu, a co-founder of Mingxing. Zheng had formerly distributed several films by D. W. Griffith for Chinese audiences, and the film scholar Qijun Han notes similarities between Orphan Rescues Grandfather and Griffith's works. She identifies the title as an allusion to Orphans of the Storm (1921). The overarching plot of salvation, meanwhile, echoes Way Down East (1920).

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