ZHAO DAN

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Nationality: Chinese. Born: Zhao Fengao in Yangzhao, 1914. Education: Attended Technical College of Art, Shanghai, 1931–34. Family: Married twice, children from both marriages, and two adopted sons. Career: 1925—first film appearance at age 11 in Young Master Feng; also wrote stories and plays for left-wing magazine; publication censored by Kuomintang government; Zhao changed name to Dan ("Red") as political gesture; 1934—by time of graduation, acting regularly on stage and in films; 1937—reputation established by appearances in the films Street Angel and Crossroads; when Shanghai fell to Japanese, joined touring company performing anti-Japanese plays; 1939—captured by Kuomintang warlord, imprisoned for four years; 1943—returned to stage following release from prison; 1947—film directing debut; 1965—made last film, Red Crag; at outbreak of Cultural Revolution, arrested and imprisoned for five-and-a-half years; 1973—released; 1976—rejoined Shanghai Film Studio, as teacher; also stage director. Died: Of cancer, in Peking, 19 October 1980.

Films as Actor:

1925

Young Master Feng

1932

Spring Sorrow of the Pipa

1933

Twenty-Four Hours of Shanghai; Children of the Century

1934

Homesick for a Mountain Village; To the North-West; Bible for Girls

1935

Passionate, Faithful Spirit

1936

The Qingming Festival; Xiao Lingzi

1937

Shizi jietou (Crossroads) (as an unemployed graduate); Malu tianshi (Street Angel)

1939

Children of China

1947

Faraway Love; Rhapsody of Happiness

1948

Irrepressible Brightness of Spring; Wuya yu Maque (Crows and Sparrows) (as the peddler, + co-sc)

1949

The Story of a Girl

1950

The Life of Wu Xun

1951

A Couple

1956

Li Shizhen, The Great Pharmacologist (title role); For Peace

1957

Hai hun (Soul of the Sea) (as the sailor)

1959

Lin zexu (The Opium War) (as the nobleman); Nie er

1960

Contemporary Heroes

1965

Lie Huozhong yongsheng (Red Crag) (as the Communist leader)

Films as Director:

1947

The Dress Returns to Glory

1953

Bless the Children

1958

An Evergreen Tree; Precious Green Mountains (+ ro)

Publications

On ZHAO DAN: books—

Berry, Chris, editor, Perspectives on Chinese Cinema, New York, 1985; rev. ed., London, 1991.

Clark, Paul, Chinese Cinema: Culture and Politics since 1949, Cambridge, 1987.

On ZHAO DAN: articles—

The Annual Obituary 1980, New York, 1981.

Blank, M., "Le testament de Zhao Dan," in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), February 1981.

Chevillard, P.-B., in Positif (Paris), September 1981.

Nacache, J., in Cinéma, October 1981.

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The riches of Chinese cinema still remain largely unknown to the West—otherwise, Zhao Dan would probably rank among the greatest screen actors. In Chinese terms, he might be considered roughly the equivalent of Humphrey Bogart or Gary Cooper, though far more versatile than either. Gravel-voiced, energetic, warmly likable, Zhao could play comedy without heavy mugging, and serious roles without being ponderous. In his later films he attained an unpretentious nobility, completely removed from the posturing heroics favored during the Cultural Revolution.

Zhao's stage experience included Shakespeare and Ibsen, and he made nearly 30 films before the two which brought him to stardom. Both—not unlike Warner films of the period—blended romantic comedy with sharp-edged social comment. As the unemployed graduate of Crossroads, Zhao was cheerfully optimistic in the face of adversity; for the more somber-toned Street Angel his performance darkened, a note of manic violence creeping into his energy.

Unpopular with both the Japanese and the Kuomintang government for his left-wing beliefs, Zhao was imprisoned by the latter during the war. After his release he continued, undeterred, to make anti-KMT movies, most notably the teeming, exhilaratingly vital Crows and Sparrows, which he also co-scripted. His richly subtle performance as the opportunistic peddler meshed with inspired ensemble playing from the whole cast. Around this time he also started directing, making four competent but unremarkable films.

Increasingly, Zhao was cast as humanely heroic figures: the title role of Li Shizhen, father of Chinese herbal medicine; the sailor disgusted by his superiors' brutality in Soul of the Sea; patriotically resisting British imperialism in The Opium War; the imprisoned, tortured Communist leader of Red Crag. This, tragically prophetic, was his last film. Arrested by order of Jiang Qing—Mao's wife, who had acted with Zhao in the thirties—he was imprisoned again for more than five years. Broken in health, he never acted again.

—Philip Kemp