Tan's Film

Last updated
Tan's Film Company
Tan's Film Coy.
Company typePrivate
IndustryFilm
Founded Batavia, Dutch East Indies (1 September 1929 (1929-09-01))
Defunct1942 (1942)
FateDissolved
SuccessorTan & Wong Brothers
HeadquartersBatavia, Dutch East Indies
Area served
 Dutch East Indies
Key people
  • Tan Khoen Yauw (owner)
  • Tan Khoen Hian (owner)
ProductsMotion pictures

Tan's Film was a film production house in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). Established by the brothers Tan Khoen Yauw and Tan Khoen Hian on September 1, 1929, its films were mostly targeted at native ethnic groups. Starting with Njai Dasima in 1929, the company released fifteen movies before ultimately being dissolved after the Japanese occupation. The Tans and the Wong brothers established Tan & Wong Bros in 1948 to continue this work.

Contents

History

First iteration

Poster for Njai Dasima, Tan's first production Njai Dasima p103.jpg
Poster for Njai Dasima , Tan's first production

Tan's Film Company was established by Tan Khoen Yauw and his brother Tan Khoen Hian on September 1, 1929. [1] [2] It was one of three studios established in the Dutch East Indies that year, together with Nansing Film Corporation and another Chinese-owned studio. [3] [4] Tan's established a large studio building on Defensielijn v.d. Bosch (now Bungur Besar Raya Street). [5] It had several divisions, including costuming, filming, and decor. [6]

The Tans, who had been raised in Kwitang, Batavia (modern day Jakarta) and grown up in close interaction with native ethnic groups, targeted the studio at lower-class viewers, mostly native. [1] [5] This was accomplished through adapting Malay tonil (stage plays) which had been proven successful. [5] Tan's was not the first studio with this target audience, as George Krugers' Krugers Filmbedrijf had previously released Eulis Atjih (1927) with native audiences in mind. [7]

Tan's Film released its first film, the silent Njai Dasima , in November 1929. The work was an adaptation of the 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima (Story of Njai Dasima), written by G. Francis, which had previously been made into a tonil. [8] It was a commercial success to the point that the Indonesian film historian, Misbach Yusa Biran, writes that a cinema could make up several days losses with a single showing of the film. [9] Njai Dasima was followed by two further adaptations of tonils, the action film Si Ronda and the romance Melati van Agam (Jasmine of Agam), [8] [10] as well as the second part to the story, also entitled Njai Dasima, and sequel Nancy Bikin Pembalesan , in 1930. [11] [10] The two Njai Dasima continuations and Melati van Java were commercial successes. [4]

Owing to rising production costs, Tan's closed shop after the production of a talkie version of Njai Dasima in 1932. [1] This version had Krugers as its cameraman and Bachtiar Effendi as director; another of Krugers' films, Huwen op Bevel (Forced to Marry; 1932) had been released by Tan's after Krugers ran out of funds. [5] [12]

Second iteration

Magazine advertisement for Poesaka Terpendam, Tan's penultimate film Poesaka Terpendam ad, Poestaka Timoer 66 (15 Oct 1941), p3.jpg
Magazine advertisement for Poesaka Terpendam , Tan's penultimate film

In 1938 Tan Khoen Hian joined with the American-born Chinese directors Othniel and Joshua Wong to establish a reincarnation of Tan's Film, entitled Tan's Film Coy. [2] Tan served primarily as a financial backer, while the Wong brothers handled day-to-day matters. The new Tan's Film's first production, Fatima (1938), followed closely behind the highly successful Terang Boelan , released by the Dutch Indies Film Syndicate (Algemeen Nederlandsch Indisch Filmsyndicaat, or ANIF) in 1937, and used many of the same aspects; this included the same screenwriter, the same stars, and the same musicians. [13] Roekiah, the female lead of Terang Boelan, was given a 150 gulden monthly fee, with another 50 gulden for her husband; this was twice as much as ANIF had paid her. [14] Fatima was very successful, earning 200,000 gulden on a 7,000 gulden investment. [13] In 1939 Tan's Film released Gagak Item (Black Raven); the story, still based in part on that of Terang Boelan, featured a Zorro-like character called the Black Raven. [15] [14] The following April they released Siti Akbari , also influenced by Terang Boelan. Both later films were successes, although not as much as Fatima. [16]

By 1940 Tan's Film was one of six film studios in the Indies; the establishment of new studios, inspired in part by the success of Fatima, continued into 1941. [17] Under this pressure, especially that from Java Industrial Film Coy., the performance of Tan's Film's releases began to suffer. Joshua Wong began working with Oriental Film, [16] and Rd. Mochtar  – the leading male actor for Tan's Film since Fatima – left over a wage dispute. [18] The screenwriter Saeroen also left the company in 1940. [19] Production slowed drastically, to two releases a year. [18]

After the commercial successes Roekihati and Sorga Ka Toedjoe (Seventh Heaven) were released in 1940, Tan's released Koeda Sembrani (The Enchanted Horse), which used a massive and expensive palace set. The following year Tan's released Poesaka Terpendam (Buried Treasure) and produced Aladin dengan Lampu Wasiat (Aladdin and the Magic Lamp), the latter of which reused the palace set. However, the Japanese occupation of the Indies beginning in early 1942 led to Tan's Film being shut down; Aladin dengan Lampu Wasiat would only be released in 1950, after the occupation and national revolution. [18] [20] In 1948 the Tan and Wong brothers would join together to establish Tan & Wong Bros. [21]

List of films

The following list of films released by both incarnations of Tan's Film is derived from Biran (2009 , pp. 379–387)

Related Research Articles

<i>Njai Dasima</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

Njai Dasima is a 1929 silent film from the Dutch East Indies. It details the fall of a rich mistress at the hands of a greedy delman driver. The first film released by Tan's Film, the film – adapted from an 1896 novel – was a critical and commercial success. It was released in two parts, followed by a sequel, and remade another two times by 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rd Mochtar</span> Indonesian actor

Hajji Raden Mochtar, often credited as Rd Mochtar, was an Indonesian actor. Of noble descent, Mochtar was discovered by Albert Balink and first cast in the commercial failure Pareh (1936). Rising to popularity after the release of Terang Boelan the following year, he spent nearly sixty years in film, while also becoming a businessman and farmer.

Nancy Bikin Pembalesan is a 1930 film from the Dutch East Indies. It was released by Tan's Film Company and a sequel to the 1929 two-part film Njai Dasima; it follows Dasima's daughter Nancy on her quest for vengeance. Like its predecessor, it was a commercial and critical success.

<i>Terang Boelan</i> 1937 film from the Dutch East Indies

Terang Boelan is a 1937 film from the Dutch East Indies. Written by Saeroen, directed by Albert Balink, and starring Rd Mochtar, Roekiah and Eddie T. Effendi, Terang Boelan follows two lovers who elope after one is almost forced to marry an opium smuggler. The film was shot in the Indies and Singapore, and was partially inspired by the 1936 Hollywood film The Jungle Princess. It was aimed at native audiences and included keroncong music, which was popular at the time, and several actors from Balink's previous work Pareh (1936).

Melati van Agam is a 1931 romance film directed by Lie Tek Swie and produced by Tan's Film. Starring A. Rachman, Neng Titi, Oemar, and Bachtiar Effendi, the two-part film follows the young lovers Norma and Idrus. The film, which may be lost, was reportedly a commercial success, but critical reviews were less favourable.

Lie Tek Swie was an Indonesian film director active in the early cinema of the Dutch East Indies. He is thought to have begun his career at a film distributor's office before making his directorial debut in 1929 with Njai Dasima, the first of three literary adaptations that he directed. His other three films, two of which were made for Tan's Film, were original stories. In 1941 Lie was a founding member of the Standard Film Company, which closed in 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wong brothers</span> Three ethnic Chinese film directors and cameramen

The Wong brothers were three ethnic Chinese film directors and cameramen active in the cinema of the Dutch East Indies. The sons of an Adventist preacher, the brothers – Nelson (1895–1945), Joshua (1906–1981), and Othniel (1908–1986) – received much of their education in the United States before going to Shanghai and establishing The Great Wall Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saeroen</span>

Saeroen was an Indonesian journalist and screenwriter. Born in Yogyakarta, he became a journalist after a time working at a railway station. By the mid-1930s he had established the daily Pemandangan with Oene Djunaedi and was writing editorials with the pen name Kampret. When the paper was dissolved, Saeroen drifted into the film industry as a writer, making his debut with Albert Balink's Terang Boelan (1937). Much of his later life was spent working with several minor publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kartolo</span> Indonesian actor and songwriter

Raden Mas Kartolo was an Indonesian actor and songwriter. Born in Yogyakarta to a noble family, he entered the theatre and married the actress Roekiah around 1933. The two, living in Batavia acted in numerous movies together, starting with the 1938 hit Terang Boelan. However, Roekiah was always cast with other actors as her romantic interest. After Roekiah died in 1945, Kartolo brought the family to Yogyakarta and worked with Radio Republik Indonesia until his death. One of his sons, Rachmat Kartolo, went on to be an actor in the 1960s and 1970s.

Tan Tjoei Hock was an Indonesian journalist and filmmaker. Born in Batavia, he was discovered by The Teng Chun in the late 1930s. Tan became one of the most productive film directors of the Dutch East Indies between 1940 and 1941, directing nine films – primarily action.

<i>Siti Akbari</i> 1940 film

Siti Akbari is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong and produced by Tan Khoen Yauw. Starring Roekiah and Rd Mochtar, it follows a couple while the husband commits adultery.

<i>Fatima</i> (1938 film) 1938 film

Fatima is a 1938 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Othniel and Joshua Wong. Written by Saeroen, it starred Roekiah, Rd Mochtar, and ET Effendi and followed two lovers who are disturbed by a rich youth. The film followed the same formula as the earlier hit Terang Boelan, and saw commercial success domestically. It is one of three films which Misbach Yusa Biran credits with reviving the domestic film industry, which had been faltering.

<i>Gagak Item</i> 1939 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Wong brothers

Gagak Item is a 1939 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong for Tan's Film. Starring Rd Mochtar, Roekiah, and Eddy T. Effendi, it follows a masked man known only as "Gagak Item". The black-and-white film, which featured the cast and crew from the 1937 hit Terang Boelan, was a commercial success and received positive reviews upon release. It is likely lost.

Si Ronda is a 1930 silent film from the Dutch East Indies which was directed by Lie Tek Swie and starred Bachtiar Effendi. Based on contemporary Betawi oral tradition, it follows the exploits of a bandit, skilled in silat, known as Si Ronda. In the lenong stories from which the film was derived, Ronda was often depicted as a Robin Hood type of figure. The production, now thought lost, was one of a series of martial arts films released between 1929 and 1931. Si Ronda received little coverage in the media upon its release. A second adaptation of the tale, Si Ronda Macan Betawi, was made in 1978.

<i>Sorga Ka Toedjoe</i> 1940 film

Sorga Ka Toedjoe is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong for Tan's Film. It follows an older couple who are reunited by another, younger couple after years of separation. The black-and-white film, the first production by Tan's Film after the departure of Rd Mochtar, featured kroncong music and was targeted at lower-class native audiences. It was a commercial and critical success. Roekiah and Djoemala took leading roles in three more films before Tan's closed in 1942. Sorga Ka Toedjoe is now thought lost.

<i>Bengawan Solo</i> (1949 film) 1949 film

Bengawan Solo is a now-lost 1949 film from what is now Indonesia. Directed by Jo An Djan, it starred Sofia WD, Rd Mochtar, and Mohamad Mochtar.

<i>Dasima</i> 1940 film

Dasima is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Tan Tjoei Hock and produced by The Teng Chun. It is the third adaptation of G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima.

Njai Dasima is a 1932 film from the Dutch East Indies which was directed by Bachtiar Effendi for Tan's Film. It was the second film adapted from G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima, following a silent version in 1929. Starring Momo and Oesman, it followed a young Sundanese njai (concubine) who is tricked into marrying a man who does not love her and ultimately killed for her money. The film, the first talkie produced by its company, was also the first directed by a native Indonesian. The now-lost work received mixed critical reception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elly Yunara</span>

Elly Joenara was an Indonesian film actress who later became a producer. She was the wife of producer Djamaluddin Malik.

References

Footnotes
  1. 1 2 3 Jakarta City Government, Tan's Film.
  2. 1 2 Biran 2009, p. 174.
  3. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 86.
  4. 1 2 Prayogo 2009, pp. 12–13.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Biran 2009, p. 98.
  6. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 99.
  7. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 97.
  8. 1 2 Biran 2009, pp. 99–100.
  9. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 24.
  10. 1 2 Heider 1991, p. 15.
  11. ↑ Biran 2009, pp. 105–106.
  12. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 111.
  13. 1 2 Biran 2009, p. 175.
  14. 1 2 Imanjaya 2006, p. 111.
  15. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 176.
  16. 1 2 Biran 2009, p. 212.
  17. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 205.
  18. 1 2 3 Biran 2009, p. 214.
  19. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 249.
  20. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 250.
  21. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 367.
Bibliography
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