Shanghai audiences, like fellow enthusiasts elsewhere," go more for screen personalities than for pictures themselves. Kay Francis has tremendous drawing power in Shang-hal, Local women, it is thought, 20 to pictures in which she is starred simply to see the creations which she. wears. But her name. on a billboard is enough to fil m Shanghai cinema. The women also go In their crowds to see Robert Taylor and Dick Powell, but the same attractions which flutter the feminine heart turn the masculine one as cold tone. These two are not at.
popular among the Shanghai males. Errol Flynn, on the other liliand, is a personality who appeals to men and women alike, Titles mean a tremendous lot to the Shanghai cinema-goer, and however good a picture may be an unfortunate title will dampen all hopes its being a success locally. The type of picture which appeals most to Shanghai audiences is the musical Durlesque. while as far as cartoons 0 Popeye and Mickey Mouse are eck and neck to win the most favour from local fans.
Shanghai Chinese are gradually coming back in larger numbers to cinemas showing foreign Aims. The "talkies" naturally were a great blow to local cinemas, as a knowledge of English is necessary to follow the picture. Chinese form seventy per cent. of cinema audiences) "They find it easier to understand the dialogue of British pictures than Amerlcan pictures, and sometimes there are angry faces to be seen among Chinese leaving after a show. There is nothing more exasperating than to hear chuckles from others when the joke is not clear to oneself, and when comical situation depends upon the Most local cinemas have a special man on their staff to remove off ing dialogue from the sound tra: There is. naturally much " in average picture which could ye offence to member of one nationality for another represented in Shanghai, fand when a word or a phrase 1s condemned," the keen eyes of the blot-out man search through the sound-tracks for the pattern which represents the offending portion. Then it is carefully removed, Shanghai audiences are "coddled" much more than they are in. other places. There are no continuous performances given at local cinemas, with long queues stretching out into the streets who may not see the picture, until half of it has been shown. And Shanghai audiences are usually very punctual about arriving at the cinema, although there are a few diehards who would not think {t worth going to a show unless they could make an individual entrance just whicn everyone else ix setting back comfortably into their seats. Pictures are often shown in Shanghai before their premiere in America, owing to the fact that much time is spent in the United States in. publicizing a @lm before it is shown, "Taboo" in Shanghai are romances centring around the boxing ring oF the football eld. Local audiences are bored by them., On the other hand, there must Be a news reel and 'a cartoon in the programme That is one point on which Shanghai cinema-goers are very Arm,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.