The glitz and glamour of Singapore’s movie scene has never seen better glory days between the 1940s to 1970s.
Coined the “golden era” of Singapore cinema, the 25-year period saw a boom in film production where hundreds of movies were made in Singapore by the two giant film empires, Cathay-Keris and Shaw Brothers.
Shaw Brothers, established by two Shanghainese brothers, Run Run and Runme Shaw, has successful pre-existing operations of several cinemas in both Singapore and Malaysia. Hence, it’s to no surprise that the brother decided to enter the film production scene.
Many cited that the Shaw Brothers’ move ignited the gears to kickstart Singapore’s film golden age. In 1947, the conglomerate reopened Jalan Ampas studio and incorporated a new company, Malay Film Productions, to target the Malay audiences in both Singapore and Malaya.
Shaw invested heavily by bringing in the studio system of Hollywood to Singapore and formed their own crew that has directors, producers, production support, and actors. In total, 37 movies were produced between 1947 and 1952, with 1952 seeing a record-breaking 23 movies being aired in that year.
Shaw’s monopoly over the film industry will be short-lived as a new major player challenges their reign.
In 1953, Loke Wan Tho founded Cathay-Keris with the support of successful film producer Ho Ah Loke after the end of World War II.
Cathay-Keris made its mark as it managed to break away from the bangsawan (a genre of traditional Malay opera) influence and were the first studio to produce coloured films.
The first two films shot in colour in Singapore were Perwira Lautan Teduh (1952) and Bulan Perindu (1953).
Cathay-Keris struck a major breakthrough after producing the Singapore-made cult classic, the Pontianak (1957). The immense popularity of the film led to it being dubbed into English and Cantonese for the American and Hong Kong markets. Riding on the success wave, Cathay-Keris produced Dendam Pontianak and Sumpah Pontianak to make it the Pontianak Trilogy.
Pontianak ushered in the Horror genre craze in Singapore and Malaya. It also catapulted Maria Menado and S.M. Satay into stardom. Their competitor, Malay Film Productions, would adopt the horror genre recipe to produce their own Pontianak series.
The golden age of Singapore cinema will see its inevitable decline from the 1960s. As Hollywood blockbuster films are being increasingly imported into Singapore, audiences started to turn their attention away from local productions. Additionally, the introduction of television in Singapore accelerated the decline in audiences at cinemas.
The separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 contributed greatly to the talent drain in the film industry as many well-known directors, producers, and actors made Malaysia as their base. The talent depletion crisis was further exacerbated when one of Cathay-Keris’ founders, Ho Ah Loke, left the company and took rights to some of the company’s famous hits before founding Merdeka Studios in Kuala Lumpur.
The devastating decline reached its apex in 1967 when Shaw Brothers officially shut down Malay Film Productions.
Its long standing competitor, Cathay-Keris, followed its footsteps as it ceased operations in 1972, marking the end of the Singapore film golden age.
While the golden age of Singapore “ended” in the 70s, the present film industry in Singapore is far from over. With many aspiring filmmakers making their mark throughout the globe, as seen from Director Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo (2013), there is hope that Singapore may enjoy another age of film boom.
