The history of the Hong Kong film industry, Part Three

HF: Language and Sound

Films in the Cantonese language have been made in Hong Kong since the beginning. In the 1950s, it also became a centre of Mandarin language film making after the Communist takeover in mainland China and the entertainment industry shifted from Shanghai to Hong Kong. From the 1960s to mid 1970s Mandarin film productions became dominant especially those made by the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong.

There was also a short lived period whereby Hokkien films were produced in Hong Kong and there were also films made in Teochew dialect. Cantonese films made a comeback in the 1970s and since the 1980s films have been made mostly in Cantonese.

For decades films were typically shot silent with all other sound dubbed afterwards. In the hectic and low budget industry this method was faster and more cost efficient than recording live sound, particularly when using performers from different dialect regions, it also helped facilitate dubbing into other languages for the vital export market (for example Standard Mandarin for mainland China and Taiwan).

Famous Hong Kong film actors

Famous Hong Kong film actresses

Source: Wikipedia

This article was first posted on 24th June 2025.

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