Chu Tsi-kwai (13 May 1902 – 26 July 1984), whose ancestral home was Zhili, present-day Hebei, but who settled in Panyu, Guangdong, was a Hong Kong film producer. As early as the 1930s he worked as a sound engineer and technician at the Qiming studio, and from 1948 he turned to producing. In November 1952 he and fellow Cantonese-film workers founded the Union Film Enterprise, whose shareholders numbered twenty-one film figures, including the producers Lau Fong, Chan Man and Chu himself, with Ng Cho-fan as chairman; the company set out to reflect social reality and uphold artistic standards and to raise the quality of Cantonese films against the shoddy output of the day, earning the name 'the glorious banner of Hong Kong cinema', and Chu was one of its three principal producers. Of the company's forty-seven films, more than thirty were produced by him, including Family (1953), Spring (1953) and Autumn (1954), The Thunderstorm (1954), The Romance of the Western Chamber (1956) and The Magic Lotus Lantern in three parts (1956–58). He was also production adviser to the Yongmao Film Enterprise, and for years served the Union Film Enterprise and similar companies, becoming one of the leading producers of realist drama in 1950s and 1960s Hong Kong. Because of his seniority and wide connections, large collective productions, among them Rear Window (1955), the all-star charity film Feast of a Rich Family (1959) and the two 1964 features Full of Joy and Splendid Paradise, were steered by him as chief producer. He also had an eye for talent, promoting stars such as Yuen Siu-fai and Lee Heung-ning, and trained producers such as Lam Sing-fan, Kong Man, Hung Keung, Chan Chik-hong and Chow Chung. He died in Hong Kong on 26 July 1984.
Chu Tsi-kwai was a mainstay behind the scenes at the Union Film Enterprise, and as a producer he made it possible to complete serious dramas such as Family, Spring and Autumn, an essential part of realist film-making in 1950s Hong Kong; he also ran a producer apprentice system that trained a number of production talents for the industry.
Achievements
- 1952 · Co-founded the Union Film Enterprise and became one of its three principal producers.
- 1953 · Produced Family, which together with Spring (1953) and Autumn (1954) formed the screen trilogy based on Ba Jin's Torrent.
- 1959 · Served as chief producer of the all-star charity film Feast of a Rich Family.