In 1947, Tang Xiaodan, a director who was selecting a location for the preparation of a new film in Beiping, specially invited the young writer Huang Zongjiang to visit his alma mater " Yenching University " , accompanied by Huang Zongjiang 's Fa Xiao and Sun Daolin , an alumnus of the university.
Sun Daolin when he was a student at Yenching University
Tang Xiaodan was deeply impressed by the young and handsome Sun Daolin and felt that he had good conditions as an actor. Later, in his diary, he wrote: "Sun Daolin is a college student with a scholarly demeanor, he is knowledgeable in world literature and art, fluent in English, as long as he works hard in the future, he will certainly make great achievements." ”
It didn't take long for Tang Xiaodan to see Sun Daolin's first screen image in Shanghai. In this film "Reunion" written by Huang Zongjiang, Sun Daolin plays Tan Haoran, who is immersed in reading, loves literature and art, and later became a translator.
Sun Daolin in "The Great Reunion" with Lan Ma, Shi Yu, and Wu Yin
The story describes the vicissitudes of an ancient extended family in Beiping in the course of the War of Resistance Against Japan. After Watching the film happily, Tang Xiaodan felt that Sun Daolin had a good performance when he first appeared on the screen, which was really valuable.
After liberation, Tang Xiaodan and Sun Daolin became colleagues at the Shanghai Film Studio, and the friendship between the two grew day by day.
Tang Xiaodan
At the end of 1952, the Shanghai Film Studio decided to organize a group of actors to experience life on the front line of North Korea. The motivated actors in the troupe have asked for battle. After careful consideration, the party organization selected 13 comrades, including Sun Daolin and Feng Zhe.
Sun Daolin (back row 3 from right) Feng Zhe (back row 1 left) and others in North Korea
Months of baptism of fire have allowed the actors to get exercise. Sun Daolin, who returned triumphantly, delivered a speech at the whole factory conference:
"We carried sixty or seventy pounds of things, walked more than a dozen roads, rested for two or three minutes, stipulated that we should complete 200 miles of the journey within three days, the first day, we could still do some agitation and propaganda during the break, the next day it was not OK, but thinking of the farewell before departure, seeing the heroism of the fellow soldiers, I also came to the momentum, did not fall behind, followed everyone's pace to the destination, and immediately put into the fortifications ..."
It was this speech that was still fresh in memory that made Tang Xiaodan accept the directorial task of the film "Crossing the River Reconnaissance" and boldly use Sun Daolin to play li Company Commander in the play. However, the factory leaders expressed concern, because Sun Daolin exuded an intellectual temperament from the inside out, and suddenly let him play a soldier, and there was no certainty of success.
Sun Daolin
And director Tang Xiaodan insisted on his point of view: Sun Daolin had experienced it on the real battlefield, which was the basis for playing this role well. Moreover, his own youth and intelligence are more conducive to showing the bravery and wit of soldiers.
Finally, the factory leader listened to Tang Xiaodan's elaboration, and finally nodded in agreement, but added a few heavy instructions:
"We respect the director, but you have to take full responsibility for the character of Li Lianchang."
"Rest assured, I am responsible for all the characters in the show."
As a director, Tang Xiaodan is still calm despite great pressure. Not only did he invite the company commander of the Hero Company to be the military adviser of the film, but also explained to the actors the professional thinking and personality characteristics that scouts should have when performing their duties. He also asked Sun Dao to come to Shanghai Island and send troops to eat, live, and train with the soldiers.
"Reconnaissance of Crossing the River" is adapted from the deeds of the "Heroic Company of Crossing the River in Advance", which tells the story of the reconnaissance squad led by Li Company Commander of a certain UNIT of the People's Liberation Army on the eve of the Battle of Crossing the River to find out the enemy's river defense deployment and assisted the large troops in achieving successful battles.
Kangtai plays Zhou Changxi
In 1953, the film officially began filming, and the film crew took a train to the location of Wuhu, Anhui. Just in the face of continuous rain, as the head of the cast of Sun Dao came to the forefront, and together with the group from the train to the machine, costumes, props on the big truck, the whole pile of things five big cars, because the rain in the middle of the road slipped into a mud man, everyone to have fun with each other, but also interesting.
Sometimes the work meal is delivered late, and when the hungry person sees the food, he rushes forward to grab a few steamed buns, wolf-it-down and stuff them in, and the steamed buns are robbed. Tang Xiaodan and Sun Daolin, several actors, stood still and had to continue to work with hunger.
Li Lingjun plays Liu Sijie
Soon after, another earthquake occurred at the film crew's station, and heavy water flooded the embankment. In order to seize the time to shoot the river crossing shot, all the film crew wore shorts and soaked in the water, as little as three or four hours, and most from morning to night. Tang Xiaodan and Sun Daolin's legs were soaked with swelling and pain, but they had no complaints.
In the film, Qi Heng, Statement, Sun Yongping, Zhongshu Huang, Zheng Min, and Kang Tai
After a long period of high-intensity work, Sun Daolin finally exhausted his physical strength, the high fever did not go away, and he could only work with illness in order to catch up with the progress. Although I was injected and took medicine, my condition increased unabated. In desperation, he was taken to the hospital. But the next day, Sun Daolin dragged the sick body to the shooting scene.
Sun Daolin in "Southern Expedition and Northern War"
Sun Daolin recalled the creation of the film: "Although he played a flash of THE COMMANDERy of the People's Liberation Army in "Southern Expedition and Northern War". As a reconnaissance company commander, I not only made a fuss about the speed of speech, the agility of my movements, and the sharpness of my eyes, and drew closer to them. ”
The harsh shooting conditions did not stop people's enthusiasm for creation, and after months of hard work, "Reconnaissance of Crossing the River" finally met with the audience in the Spring Festival of 1954. Sun Daolin's image of the People's Liberation Army, which is resourceful and has a confucian temperament, has been recognized by everyone. Of course, this is inseparable from Tang Xiaodan's insight. It was together that they made this classic film "Reconnaissance of Crossing the River".