From such early films as Zhuang Zi Tests His Wife (1914, fiction film) and The Sport of Kings (1914, documentary), Hong Kong cinema gradually transitioned from silent shorts to sound features. The industry started to flourish in the mid-1930s, as young filmmakers emerging locally, working alongside veterans from Shanghai who were in Hong Kong to flee the war.

The Mainland of China at the time was plagued by war and many Hong Kong films, in solidarity, featured stories about the resistance efforts against Japan's invasion. The Last Stand (1938) mobilised almost the entire film industry, followed by Fortress of Flesh and Blood (1938), The Devils' Paradise (1939) and Roar of the Nation (1941). A wide variety of genre films were also produced, from works of social realism like The Light of Women (1937) and Follow Your Dream (1941) to comedies with mainstream appeal like the Country Bumpkin series and The Cruel Mother-in-Law (1938) to fantasy films such as The Ghost Catchers (1939) and The Goddess Helps the Bridge Builder (1940). Meanwhile, Cantonese opera stars like Sit Kok-sin and Ma Si-tsang found themselves both onstage and onscreen, starring in films with the same titles as their cherished stage plays, though often significantly altered from the original theatrical productions. Such works are in fact exercises in cross-media creativity.

This revised edition is based on the 1997 edition (Research Coordinator: Yu Mo-wan; Editor: Mary Wong) but includes amendments and additions from the Archive's latest research. Apart from the information gleaned from Chinese and overseas newspapers, publications and online databases, we benefited from a variety of new sources: the Archive's newly acquired film periodicals and still photos; copies of 1930s and 40s films found in the United States as well as classification documents of several hundred theatrical releases. The new information helped bolster the content of this new edition.

The volume contains information on over 600 fiction films and documentaries produced in Hong Kong from 1914 to 1941. The Chinese edition is 352 pages in length, including 24 colour pages, and a complete film list and three indices. Published in 2020. Priced at HK$ 255. (Edited by Kwok Ching-ling; revised by Wong Ha-pak, et al.)

ISBN 978-962-8050-73-4