Robert Chung Kai-man (1919–1993), a native of Guangdong born on 31 October 1919, graduated from the University of Hong Kong. In 1948 he was recruited by the film magnate Li Zuyong to head the Yung Hwa Motion Picture Studio, which later sponsored him to study colour photography and film processing in the United States; on his return he was promoted to general manager of Yung Hwa Motion Picture Industries Ltd. When the studio was taken over by the Singapore-based Cathay Organisation in 1955, the distributing company that ran it was restructured in 1956 into Motion Picture and General Investment Co Ltd (MP & GI), and Chung was hired as its general manager. Over about seven years he produced more than a hundred MP & GI films of varied genres and styles, giving the studio its distinctive house look during its most productive period. MP & GI was known for modern studio management, turned out mainly Mandarin pictures, rivalled Shaw Brothers in the market and turned out one notable picture after another, gathering many directors, writers and actors whose work also found favour in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaya. In the early 1960s he also directed, making his debut with Education of Love (1961) and following it with A Fine Romance (1962) and Please Remember Me (1964). He resigned in 1962 amid personnel changes at MP & GI and that same year joined Rediffusion Television (Hong Kong) as director of its Chinese channel and television consultant. He left television in 1972, emigrated to the United States and continued working in colour film processing, and died in September 1993.
In about seven years running MP & GI, Robert Chung produced more than a hundred films and gave the studio a distinctive house style, making it a major centre of Mandarin film production in late-1950s and early-1960s Hong Kong, in rivalry with Shaw Brothers.
Achievements
- 1948 · Was recruited by Li Zuyong to head the Yung Hwa Motion Picture Studio in Hong Kong.
- 1956 · Became general manager of MP & GI, producing more than a hundred films over about seven years.
- 1961 · Made his directorial debut with Education of Love.