Title

Trans-Medial Romance: The American Factor in MP & GI’s Urban Films and Eileen Chang’s June Bride

Author

Chao Chia-chi

Genre

Article

Pages

123-166

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202203_52(1).0004

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

cultural Cold War, romance, Motion Picture & General Investment Co. (MP & GI), Eileen Chang 張愛玲, June Bride 六月新娘

Abstract

This article adopts the background of the cultural Cold War to analyze the Motion Picture & General Investment Company (MP & GI)’s urban films produced in 1950s- 60s Hong Kong, investigating their westernized rhetoric fostered by the American-led cultural strategy and right-wing propaganda spreading throughout liberalized Asian areas. By referring to the term “romance” with its connotation on sentimental issues and popular literature, this article probes the political metaphor set in the transnational narratives in MP & GI’s urban-styled films. Next, this essay focuses on Eileen Chang’s 張愛玲 (1920-1995) June Bride 六月新娘, a rewritten version based on a British comedy, exploring its female-oriented narrative which puts forth romantic love as a questionable issue. By comparison, MP & GI’s version of June Bride transforms Chang’s play into a trans-medial middlebrow product/merchandise conveying the capitalistic message circulated in the Cold-War Asian “free world” in its forms of entertainment.