民国时期美国人来华摄片的审查问题

Censorship of Americans Coming to China to Make Movies During the Republic of China Period

民国时期,以各种目的来华摄片的美国人不计其数,其拍摄行为催生了民国电影审查制度的诞生与完善。在制度创建过程中,有三类在中国拍摄却不在中国放映的纪录片的审查问题值得关注:一是产生于“前电影审查时代”的纪录片,以《饥饿的中国》为例,该片除协助筹款外,更为美国人开拓中国市场展现了无限机遇;二是战地新闻片,这类影片票房价值高,因此各驻华美国新闻公司纷纷抢夺独家新闻;三是混杂了东方主义情结与商业意图的私人纪录片,这类影片未经国民政府审查,也躲过了日本方面的搜查。后两类影片在美国放映后取得了上佳的票房收入,很大程度上弥补了二战爆发导致的美国电影海外票房损失。

In the Republic of China(ROC),countless Americans came to China to make films for various purposes,and their filming behavior gave birth to the birth and perfection of the censorship system in the ROC.In the process of creating the system,there are three types of documentaries filmed in China but not screened in China that deserve attention:the first is the documentary produced in the"pre-film censorship era",taking Starving China as an example.In addition to helping to raise money,the film also presented unlimited opportunities for Americans to explore the Chinese market;secondly,war news films,the box office value of which made them the exclusive news grabbed by American news companies based in China;and thirdly,private documentaries with a mixture of orientalist sensibilities and commercial intentions,which not only were not censored by the Nationalist government,but also escaped the search of the Japanese.The latter two types of films made good box office receipts in the U.S.,largely compensating for the overseas box office losses of U.S.films caused by the outbreak of World War Ⅱ.