Tso Kea, born Wong Tso-kei, was a Cantonese director and screenwriter. A native of Nanhai, Guangdong, and a sociology graduate of Guangzhou University, he began working in film in 1937 as a screenwriter, his first script being The Flower Girl (1938); he also worked as a continuity man and in film processing and editing. In 1947 he co-directed The Young Couple with Mong Wan and made his solo debut with You Feng Xi Long (1948). From 1947 to 1969 he directed more than eighty films spanning literary drama, family drama and opera, mostly in Cantonese apart from a few Chaozhou-dialect titles such as Zhao Pan Er (1961), Wan Mian An (1962) and Qing Guan Zhan Xiao Nu (1962). He directed the first film of International Films and Distribution, Yu Zhi Qi (1955), and went on to make seventeen features for its successor MP & GI, among them Love Trilogy (1955), Xuan Gong Yan Shi (1957), Hun Gui Li Hen Tian (1957), Dai Lu Nian Hua (1957), Pi Pa Yuan (1957) and Mei Ren Chun Meng (1958). His best-known Cantonese works include the opera film Princess Cheung Ping (1959, co-directed with Lung To and starring Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin from a script by Tang Ti-sheng) and adaptations of Zhang Henshui's novels such as Luo Xia Gu Wu (1961), Ye Shen Chen (1962), Qin Huai Shi Jia (1963) and Yi Shui Ge Tian Ya (1966), for which he also wrote lyrics; his last film was Zhui Qiu Qi Yu (1969). He wrote most of his own scripts, sometimes under the pen name Ho Yu. In 1968 he joined RTV, producing series such as Hua Long Tan An and running its script department and acting class, becoming a creative manager in 1981. He retired in the early 1980s, emigrated to Canada, founded a film and television association, and died in Vancouver on 17 January 1997.
Over more than two decades Tso Kea directed over eighty films spanning Cantonese, Chaozhou-dialect and Mandarin MP & GI productions, excelling in opera films such as Princess Cheung Ping and in adaptations of Zhang Henshui's novels. In later life he moved into television, running RTV's script department and acting training, and his prolific, genre-crossing output reflects the studio production model of post-war Hong Kong.
Achievements
- 1938 · Wrote his first screenplay, The Flower Girl.
- 1959 · Co-directed the Cantonese opera film Princess Cheung Ping.
- 1968 · Joined RTV, producing series such as Hua Long Tan An and heading its script department.