HK Cinema - 1970
Raymond Chow who had been with Shaw Brothers for
many years decided to leave and form his own company. He bought the remnants
of Cathay (formerly MPGI) and changed the name to Golden Harvest. He conducted
the business differently then the Shaw Brothers – often allowing the stars
great latitude and the enabling them to form their own production companies.
Chow soon started signing some talent that would revolutionize HK cinema
over the coming years. Some of these were Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Angela
Mao.
These two film companies would compete fiercely
over the next decade with Golden Harvest eventually becoming the premier
studio by the end of the decade. By the mid 1980’s Shaw stopped making
films all together and concentrated on their TV business. Before
that was to come about however, Shaw was to make a number of legendary
kung-fu films that still are big favorites of kung-fu fans today.