Esther Eng
| Esther Eng | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | 伍錦霞 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 伍锦霞 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Wu Jinxia (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | Ng Kam-ha (Cantonese) |
| Born |
24 September 1914 San Francisco, United States |
| Died | January 1970 |
| Occupation | Film director, producer |
| Years active | 1936–1961 |
Esther Eng (September 24, 1914 – January, 1970) was a Chinese–American film director and the first female director to direct Chinese-language films in the United States. Eng made four feature films in America and five in Hong Kong. She was recognized as a female pioneer who crossed the boundaries of race, language, culture and gender. Eng died of cancer at the age of 55 in January, 1970.
Esther Eng was born in San Francisco on September 24, 1914. Eng was the fourth child in a family of ten children. Eng's Grandparents originally came to America from the Toy Shan (Taishan) county in southern China's Guangdong province. Eng was a fan of Chinese Opera and having lived in San Francisco she was able to socialize with the Chinese singers and actors who performed there. San Francisco had Chinese language theaters which were successful and had hosted some of the best actors from China.
When she was 19, her father and his business partners create a film production company with Eng as a producer. The studio was based at 1010 Washington Street while Esther looked for a studio in Los Angeles. Esther's first screen credit was as co-producer on the film Heartache (1936). Heartache is set in San Francisco and was directed by Frank Tang, Heartache was shot in eight days with two reels shot in color. The film was made at a rented studio in Hollywood.
In 1936, along with friends and the film's leading actress Wai Kim Fong, Eng went to Hong Kong for a premiere at the Queens Theater under the title Iron Blood, Fragrant Soul. After China entered war with Japan, she directed the film National Heroine (1937). The next year, Eng made the film National Heroine (1937) about a female pilot that fights for her country. The film was a success which led to Eng staying in Hong Kong where she directed her two next films: Ten Thousand Lovers and Storm of Envy both released in 1938. She also co-directed the film A Night of Romance, A Lifetime of Regret with Wu Peng and Leung Wai-man. In 1939, she created the film It's A Women's World which had an all female cast showcasing 36 women in different professions.
In 1939, she returned to San Francisco to begin distributing Chinese films in both Central and South America. In 1941, Eng directed the film Golden Gate Girl in San Francisco. which received a favorable review in Variety that year. Eng returned to Hong Kong to make a war film between 1946 and 1947. After months of preparation that included location hunting in southern China, Eng had to abandon the project. By mid-1947, Eng returned to California where she made The Blue Jade that starred another Cantonese Opera singer Fe Fe Lee. Eng followed it up with another film with Lee titled Too Late For Springtime (1949) about a Chinese girls' relationship with a Chinese-American GI. This was followed up by a film shot in the Hawaiian Islands titled Mad Fire Mad Love about a romance between a mixed race woman and a Chinese sailor.
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