Mr Wong Tin Lam

1928-2010

Director

Shanghai-born Wong Tin Lam came to Hong Kong in 1935. His uncle, Wong Pang Yik, was a co-founder of Nanyue Film Company and so the young man joined the film industry at age 19 and worked as a film processor, recordist and log keeper before becoming an assistant director. Wong directed his first film in 1950: The Flying Sword Hero from Mount Emei Parts I & II. He began directing Mandarin movies in 1952 and made a name for himself with Songs of the Peach Blossom River (1956). In 1958, he met MP & GI production executive Stephen Soong in Thailand, and the latter invited him to join the studio, a move which saw Wong evolve into one of Hong Kong’s most sought-after filmmakers. All in the Family (1959) won Best Director at the 7^th Asian Film Festival. Other popular works for MP & GI include The Wild, Wild Rose (1960), The Greatest Civil War on Earth (1961) and Father Takes a Bride (1963). In total, Wong directed more than 120 films in genres spanning romantic drama, martial arts, comedy and opera, and languages including Cantonese, Mandarin and Chaozhou and Amoy dialects. In 1973, he joined TVB as a producer and his credits include various notable TV dramas such as Twins (1974), The Legend of the Book and Sword (1976), The Romantic Swordsman (1978), Chor Lau Heung (1979), The Shell Game (1980) and Love and Passion (1982). In his later years, Wong made occasional appearances in film and television. In 2002, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hong Kong Film Critics Association.