Motion Picture & General Investment Co Ltd (MP & GI) reached the pinnacle of its golden age with Loke Wan Tho at its helm. Modelling itself on the Hollywood studio system, MP & GI recruited to its ranks a host of big names, and produced a string of successful releases, including Our Sister Hedy (1957), Mambo Girl (1957), The Battle of Love (1957) and The Tender Age (1957). The studio's rise to prominence began in 1956 when Singapore's Cathay officially acquired Yung Hwa Motion Picture Industries Ltd under the International Films Distributing Agency, and established MP & GI, which wasted no time in launching into the production of Mandarin and Cantonese features. Basing its filmmaking in Hong Kong, MP & GI integrated the three practices of film production, distribution, and exhibition within a single corporation, taking its productions to cinema circuits in as far afield as Singapore, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.

An MP & GI film was as cutting-edge as the image the studio projected. MP & GI listed Doe Ching, Griffin Yueh Feng, Tang Huang, Evan Yang, Wong Tin-lam, Tso Kea and Eileen Chang among its top-notch screenwriters and directors, who were adept at drawing from the glittering, stellar talents of Grace Chang, Lucilla You Min, Julie Yeh Feng, Linda Lin Dai and Jeanette Lin Tsui, screen goddesses who made up the star-studded line-up alongside such heartthrobs as Chang Yang, Peter Chen Ho, Kelly Lai Chen and Roy Chiao. The studio deftly balanced quality and quantity with costs by leveraging economies of scale and through specialisation of its highly trained workforce, whether in publicity, distribution or production. Filled from cover to cover with celebrity news and reports on the latest releases, International Screen proved to be an effective mouthpiece and publicity tool. MP & GI (later reorganised as Cathay Organisation) had redefined the landscape of Hong Kong filmmaking with its innovative approach in a short span of some 15 years.

The Hong Kong Film Archive shares in the momentous occasion of Cathay Organisation's 80th anniversary in 2015 with a definitive retrospective of the works of the studio. Particularly noteworthy among the titles are Wedding Bells for Hedy (1959), the sequel to Our Sister Hedy (1957), and Calendar Girl (1959). The former, featuring the four belles reprising their original roles in all its Eastmancolor glory, while screening of the latter is made possible only after painstaking restoration work on the partially missed soundtrack of the surviving 35mm print. In addition to shining the spotlight on Doe Ching, the programme also features in focus screen goddess Grace Chang, director Tang Huang and some rarely seen Cantonese gems from MP& GI's vault. The studio had begun making Cantonese films as early as the 1950s, capitalizing on the popularity of the big names of Cantonese cinema and taking its beloved wenyi melodrama to greater heights with its topcalibre scripts and direction. The selection of four titles directed by Tso Kea, Wong Tin-lam and Wong Toi represents the glorious culmination of MP & GI's Cantonese repertoire.

Accompanying the retrospective screenings is the "80th Anniversary of Cathay – Behind the Glamorous Scene" Exhibition, where we pay tribute to numerous dedicated professionals who helped constructed all the starlit dreams on the silver screen. We are grateful for the generous support and assistance of Cathay Organisation and Ms Meileen Choo, who also supplied a copy of Our Sister Mambo (2015), a commemorative production for the studio's landmark 80th anniversary.

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