First Film Organisation (), also known as First Films (H.K.) or First Organization, was a Taiwan-based film production and distribution company founded in 1967 by Hong Kong producer Wong Cheuk-hon. The company produced over 200 films between 1967 and 1994, becoming the fourth largest film institution in the Hong Kong–Taiwan region during the 1970s, trailing only Shaw Brothers Studio, Golden Harvest, and the Central Motion Picture Corporation.
First Film Organisation is best known for producing King Hu's Legend of the Mountain (1979), which won six Golden Horse Awards, and Jimmy Wang Yu's Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976), which became one of the most influential cult martial arts films in the West. The company pioneered a vertically integrated, cross-border business model—registered in Hong Kong while maintaining its production base in Taiwan—and operated cinema chains across Asia and North America.
History
Predecessor companies (1952–1966)
First Film Organisation was the third production company founded by Wong Cheuk-hon, building on infrastructure and talent relationships from two predecessors. Liberty Film Co. (自由影業公司, 1952–1958) produced Mandarin-language films and established Wong as the first Hong Kong filmmaker to shoot in Taiwan. Lan Kwong Film Company (嶺光影業公司, 1959–1966) produced 53 Cantonese titles and pioneered Hong Kong–Korean co-productions, including The Flaming Mountain (火焰山, 1962), the first Hong Kong Cantonese film shot in Eastmancolor widescreen.
These earlier ventures established distribution relationships across Southeast Asia, a talent pipeline including stars Helen Li Mei, Jeanette Lin Tsui, and Alan Tang, and production experience in Taiwan that First Film would inherit.
Founding and early years (1967–1970)
When King Hu's Dragon Inn (1967) ignited Taiwan's wuxia craze at Union Film, Wong recognized the commercial opportunity and established First Film Organisation in 1967, permanently relocating his production base to Taiwan. The company was registered in Hong Kong to access colonial-era banking infrastructure and established Southeast Asian distribution channels, while production occurred primarily in Taiwan, where costs were lower and the Kuomintang government actively courted filmmakers.
Wong himself wrote and directed the company's inaugural production, Crazy Swordsman (大瘋俠, 1968), which helped establish the wuxia film trend in Taiwan. The early output was prolific and almost exclusively wuxia and action films.
Peak years (1971–1979)
The 1970s represented First Film's commercial zenith. By 1971, Wong began recruiting major stars to elevate the company's profile. Jimmy Wang Yu—"the biggest star of Asian martial arts cinema until Bruce Lee"—became a cornerstone talent, driven partly to Taiwan-based work by a legal injunction from Shaw Brothers' Run Run Shaw. Chen Sing, known for commanding villain roles, joined alongside Polly Shang-kuan Ling-feng, whom Wong reportedly secured with a HK$100,000 deposit after her Union Film contract expired in September 1971. Japanese martial artist Yasuaki Kurata rounded out the stable.
A 1977 survey by critic Tony Rayns published in Sino-Cinema identified First Film and Goldig as "the most enterprising" independent companies in Taiwan. The company's vertically integrated business model encompassed production, distribution, and exhibition, with Wong purchasing the Kuotu Theatre (國都戲院) and Huasheng Theatre (華聲戲院) in Taipei, and eventually building the Huasheng cinema chain across six cities in the United States and Canada.
Jimmy Wang Yu partnership
Jimmy Wang Yu, formerly Shaw Brothers' biggest male star, had broken his contract with Shaw in 1970 and was effectively banned from making films in Hong Kong after Shaw won a lawsuit against him. He relocated to Taiwan, where First Film Organisation became one of his primary production partners.
The partnership's defining achievement was Master of the Flying Guillotine (獨臂拳王大破血滴子, 1976), produced by First Films (H.K.) and Cheng Ming Film Co., with Wong Cheuk-hon as producer and Wang Yu writing, directing, and starring. The film's international martial arts tournament format—featuring fighters from different countries with distinct styles—and its unauthorized use of German Krautrock bands (Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk) for its soundtrack created a surreal atmosphere that deepened its cult appeal.
King Hu collaboration
Wong Cheuk-hon's most critically acclaimed collaboration came with director King Hu in the late 1970s. After Hu's two Golden Harvest co-productions (The Fate of Lee Khan and The Valiant Ones, 1975) underperformed commercially, Wong provided financial backing for an ambitious double production filmed over eleven months in South Korea (1977–1978).
Legend of the Mountain (山中傳奇, 1979) was produced by Hu's own Feng Nian (豐年) company with Wong Cheuk-hon as executive producer, while Raining in the Mountain (空山靈雨, 1979) was produced through Lo & Hu Company Productions Ltd. Both films were shot at Korea's Bulguksa Temple and surrounding locations, exploiting South Korean government subsidies that required producing two films. The Hong Kong Film Archive biography states Wong explicitly "supported King Hu" (支持胡金銓) in making these films, providing a patron-producer model that gave the auteur resources without studio interference.
Legend of the Mountain swept the 16th Golden Horse Awards, winning six prizes: Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Recording, and Best Original Score. Its original 191-minute version was cut to 105 minutes for general release without Hu's approval; the complete version was not seen until the 2016 4K restoration.
Qiong Yao adaptations
First Film diversified beyond martial arts into romance, producing adaptations of popular novelist Qiong Yao's bestselling works. Fantasies Behind the Pearly Curtain (一簾幽夢, 1975), directed by the distinguished Pai Ching-jui and starring Charlie Chin and Patrick Tse, exemplified this commercially astute strategy—Qiong Yao adaptations were reliable box-office performers in Taiwan throughout the 1970s.
Transition period (1980–1989)
The decade after 1979 proved existential for Taiwan's commercial film industry. Hong Kong's New Wave (featuring directors such as Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, and Alex Cheung) rendered traditional martial arts films dated, while Taiwan's own New Cinema movement, launched with In Our Time (1982), redirected critical and audience attention toward realistic, literary filmmaking. Home video proliferation undercut theater-dependent studios. For First Film, built primarily on wuxia and kung fu, this transformation was devastating.
Wong adapted through three strategies. First, he established Han Hua Film Co. (漢華影業社) in 1981 specifically to distribute Western (Hollywood) films in Taiwan—a pragmatic pivot leveraging his cinema circuit for imported content rather than struggling domestic production.
Second, he shifted the production company's identity entirely, pivoting from martial arts to historical prestige filmmaking. The Story of Dr Sun Yat Sen (國父傳, 1986), directed by longtime collaborator Ting Shan-hsi, assembled an unprecedented ensemble of Hong Kong and Taiwan stars—reportedly the most Hong Kong actors ever gathered in a Taiwanese production. The cast included Alex Man as Huang Xing, Derek Yee as Lu Hao-dong, Kara Wai as revolutionary Qiu Jin, Deanie Ip, Lau Kar-leung, Moon Lee, Chin Siu-ho, and many others, each paid a modest HK$5,000–10,000 honorarium plus airfare. The film grossed NT$46 million in Taiwan and received theatrical releases in Italy, France, and Spain. As a patriotic biopic about the ROC founder, it aligned with Taiwan's government-supported cultural agenda.
Third, Wong's son Wong Hoi (黃海) established Golden Flare Films Co., Ltd. (金韻電影有限公司) in the late 1980s, effectively succeeding First Film Organisation as the active production entity.
Taiwan's lifting of martial law on 15 July 1987 further transformed the industry by enabling cross-strait cultural exchange and allowing previously censored material, opening new co-production possibilities with mainland China while intensifying foreign competition in Taiwan's market.
Final years (1990–2004)
By the 1990s, the Wong family's corporate structure had settled into a clear hierarchy: First Film Organisation served as the legacy umbrella and presenter; Golden Flare Films handled active production under Wong Hoi; and First Distributors (HK) Ltd. managed distribution and the growing film library.
This arrangement produced the company's final—and arguably finest—film. Red Rose White Rose (紅玫瑰白玫瑰, 1994), directed by Stanley Kwan, adapted Eileen Chang's 1944 novella with Joan Chen, Veronica Yip, and Winston Chao, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and a budget of approximately $3 million. Varietys credit line revealed the family enterprise at work: "A First Distributors/Warner Asia release of a First Organization (Hong Kong)/Golden Entertainment (Taiwan) presentation of a Golden Flare Films Co. production. Produced by Hoi Wong [Wong Hoi]. Executive producer, C.H. Wong [Wong Cheuk-hon]." The film was shot in Shanghai studios—itself a testament to the post-martial-law era's cross-strait openness.
Red Rose White Rose won five awards at the 31st Golden Horse Awards: Best Actress (Joan Chen), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score. It screened in competition at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival and was hailed by Variety as Kwan's "most emotionally resonant and deeply realized work since Rouge."
Wong Cheuk-hon received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural 30th Golden Horse Awards ceremony in 1993, recognizing his contributions through First Film and its predecessors. He published his memoir 《電影人生：黃卓漢回憶錄》 (A Life in Movies) in 1994, which has since become a primary source for the company's history.
Wong died in Hong Kong on 8 October 2004 at age 85, and First Film Organisation was dissolved. The bulk of the film library was donated to the Hong Kong Film Archive—over 200 films plus more than 10,000 items of production materials. The distribution arm, First Distributors (HK) Ltd., continues operations under Wong Hoi.
Filmography
First Film Organisation produced over 200 films between 1967 and 1994. The following tables document confirmed productions organized by era and genre.
Founding era (1967–1970) + First Film Organisation productions, 1967–1970 Year Title Chinese title Director Genre Notes Ref 1967 Tigress Is Coming Martial arts 1968 Crazy Swordsman 大瘋俠 Wong Cheuk-hon Wuxia Wong's directorial debut; company inaugural production 1968 Super Swordsman Martial arts 1968 The Terrible Killer Martial arts 1969 The Flying Swordgirl 女飛俠 Martial arts 1969 The Young Avengeress Martial arts 1970 Million Dollar Bride Drama 1970 The Infatuated Persons Romance 1970 Hate Me Not Drama 1970 The King and Queen 歌王歌后 Musical Sing-song film 1970 Way Ching Killed the Dragon Martial arts
Peak era: Martial arts films (1971–1979)