Ng Cho Fan
吳楚帆
(1911–1993)
Completed studies in 1926 - King of Southern Chinese Films
1926年肄業 —華南影帝
Born in Tianjin in 1911, Ng Cho Fan studied at St. Paul’s College until 1926 and went on to become one of Hong Kong’s biggest movie stars; his 1937 performance in Song of Life saw him crowned as the ‘King of Southern Chinese film’.
As the conflict between China and Japan worsened, Ng starred in movies that supported China. This included Lifeline (1935) and At the Critical Juncture (1938), the latter raising funds for Chinese troops. Ng was one of many who fled to French-controlled Guangzhouwan (now Zhanjiang) as Hong Kong fell, amid rumours that the Japanese were planning to use Hong Kong’s talent for imperialist propaganda. There, he founded a troupe with fellow actors, performing regularly to boost Chinese morale.
Shortly after the war ended, Ng and his colleagues started the ‘third Cantonese film cleansing movement’, which aimed to improve screenwriting quality and get rid of cheap, unnecessary violence in contemporary movies. Receiving broad support, the movement changed the course of post-war Hong Kong cinema.
Ng also produced two of Hong Kong cinema’s most memorable quotes: 人人爲我，我爲人人 (‘all for each and each for all’), from In the Face of Demolition (1953) and 食碗面，反碗底 (roughly, ‘standing behind someone’s back only to stab them’) from Under Hong Kong’s Roof (1964).
Ng was posthumously awarded the Special Commemoration Award at the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards (1993).