Singapore Cinema Golden Era: Shaw Brothers vs. Cathay Organisation, 1947 1970s

The Golden Era of Singapore Cinema spanned a remarkable 25-year period from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, during which hundreds of films were produced by two major film empires-Cathay Organisation and Shaw Brothers-in Singapore. The pioneering efforts of Run Run and Runme Shaw, the Shanghnese brothers who operated a flourishing cinema business across Southeast Asia, ultimately led them to venture into film production.

Recognizing the potential market for Malay audiences in both Singapore and Malaya, they established the Jalan Ampas studio in 1947 and created the Malay Film Productions company. This marked the beginning of a fruitful period that would soon see hundreds of feature films being produced under this banner. The brothers invested heavily in Hollywood-style studio syste streamline production processes.

In addition to building their crew of directors, producers, technical staff, and actors from scratch, they also launched the careers of notable talents such as Salleh Ghani, Rokiah Hanafi, and P Ramlee with Indian film director B.S. Rajhan at the helm until 1950.

The next year saw the formation of Cathay-Keris by Loke Wan Tho and Ho Ah Loke, who sought to challenge Shaw Brothers' monopoly on Malay cinema production. They capitalized on this opportunity by establishing themselves as an alternative studio system that broke away from the traditional bangsawan Malay opera influence and pioneered colour film production in Singapore with Perwira Lautan Teduh 1952 and Bulan Perindu 1953.

Cathay-Keris is perhaps best known for launching the Pontianak horror film series in 1957, a phenomenon that captured audiences' attention across Southeast Asia. Following its success with Pontianak 1957, it went on to produce further instalments such as Satay 1958 and Badang 1962. Meanwhile, Shaw Brothers closed the Malay Film Productions studios in Singapore in 1967 after a successful run of approximately 160 feature films.

The intense competition between Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organisation catalyzed early developments in film production in Singapore. The collaboration fostered an ecosystem that saw hundreds of predominantly Malay films being produced over a two-decade period, eventually reaching its zenith before the of the golden era of Singapore cinema in the early 1970s.

In , this era was marked by intense rivalry between Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organisation which led to significant advancements in film production infrastructure. The competition spurred and propelled Singapore's film industry into a golden age that produced hundreds of memorable works before coming to an .

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? 2024 National Heritage Board. Last Updated 03 July 2023
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