woman while Liu symbolically restores the conventional male role. Production Film production in late 1930s Shanghai was a tricky business. With most of the established talent having fled to Hong Kong and the interior after the Japanese invasion in 1937, one of the remaining production companies, the Xinhua Film Company, hoped to relaunch a "Hollywood of the East." The first step was the release of the costume epic, Diao Chan directed by Bu Wancang. The film proved to be an enormous success, a success that Xinhua's chief Zhang Shankun wished to replicate it with a second costume epic. By 1939, nearly all of Shanghai's big stars such as Jin Yan or Zhao Dan had fled to Chongqing. Zhang attempted to recruit Hu Die in Hong Kong for his studio's newest venture but failed. While in Hong Kong, however, he managed to sign with the playwright Ouyang Yuqian to pen his film, and Cantonese actress Chen Yunshang to star. Zhang very much focused on making the actress a fresh face for Shanghai, and publicity for Chen began before the studio even saw the script. Ouyang's script was based on the traditional story of Hua Mulan, a story that most of the Shanghai audience would have already been familiar with. At the same time Ouyang infused the film with subtle nationalist undertones. According to Ouyang, he added plot details based on his research into records from the Ming and Qing dynasty regarding stories of Mulan. Impressed with the script, Zhang and Xinhua invested heavily in both production and publicity of the film. To promote Chen Yunshang, the actress who portrayed Mulan, the studio drew an image of her as a Westernized persona in real life and on-screen. Reception Mulan Joins the Army was made during the Japanese occupation of China and the so-called "Solitary Island" period of Chinese cinema. Given the film's subtle patriotism, it proved extremely popular with domestic audiences. Premiering in Shanghai's newest theater, the Astor in February 1939, in time for the Chinese New Year, Mulan Joins the Army ended up being a critical success. It was moreover, a major commercial success, playing to full theaters in Shanghai and remained on-screen for 85 consecutive days, as well as making its lead, Chen Yunshang, into a bona-fide star. Mulan Joins the Army also premiered in Chongqing in 1940, but its release was opposed by the public due to the film's