Directing

Tu Kuang-chi

Tu Guang Qi (1914 -1980), also known as 屠光啟. His original name was Tu Guangqi, and he was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He originally studied at Hangchow University. In 1935, he was admitted to the National School of Drama in Nanjing, graduating in 1937. In the same year, the War of Resistance broke out, and he served as a drama section staff member in the Seventh Division of the Third Department of the Political Bureau of the Military Affairs Commission. In 1939, he moved from Wuhan to the Shanghai foreign concessions and joined the Shanghai Drama Society to perform in stage plays, including *Flowers Spilling Tears*, *The Deep Abyss*, and *Ge Nianniang*. *Ge Nianniang* was a massive box office hit that caused a sensation at the time. Zhang Shankun then adapted the stage play into a film titled ***Ge Nianniang*** (1939) under the name of Huacheng Film Company. Tu reprised his original role in the film, which was also the first motion picture he acted in. After the victory of the War of Resistance, he adapted the stage play *The Wild Rose* into the film ***Spy Number One*** (1946) for the Third Studio of the Central Motion Picture Corporation in Peiping (now Beijing), starring Ouyang Shafei. The film tells the heroic story of a Chinese female spy lurking in the home of a traitor; with its twists and thrilling romance, it was a tremendous box office success and one of the most famous post-war Chinese films, which also brought Tu widespread fame. Following that, he directed ***A Tragic Marriage*** (1947), adapted from Xu Zhenya's famous tragic novel *Jade Pear Spirit*, which was also very popular. In addition, he established his own Qihua Film Company.