Origin The
Shaw brothers had established a chain of cinemas in Malaya and Singapore by the 1930s, and were interested in producing films for the local market after they saw the success of a Malay film titled
Laila Majnum by Indian director
B. S. Rajhans in 1934. They announced plans for film production in Malay in 1937, and a site in
Gopeng,
Perak was reported to have been found as studio to make a film titled
Jula Juli Bintang Tiga. Equipment was imported from Hong Kong, and film directors were recruited to make films with a local Malay cast in Malaya, although it is unclear if any films were released in this period. In 1940, a studio was set up on Moulmein Road in Singapore, and the first Singapore-made Malay film,
Mutiara, was produced by Shaw with Malay actors and Chinese directors Hou Yao and Wan Hoi Ling. The location on Jalan Ampas was originally a warehouse occupied by Indian washermen, who were ejected from the premises by 31 August 1941. The film studio facility was initially named Singapore Film Studios, before becoming the Malay Film Productions (MFP) in 1943, but it was not formally incorporated until 23 August 1949. Instead of Chinese directors previously used, the Indian director
B. S. Rajhans was chosen to lead the studio, and he was its only film director until 1950, with eight films produced in this period. Rajhans made films based on Indian myths and folklore as well as on contemporary societal issues. The first film released by the studio in 1947 was '''' ("Night Time in Singapore"), a film which explores the social issues of Malay youths who left the
kampongs for the city. The early films of Rajhans proved successful, and the success led to further recruitment of two more Indian filmmakers:
S. Ramanathan and . Many of the films by Indian directors had strong Indian influence, and the Indian directors were better suited to Malay culture, furthermore their song-and-dance film style was also popular with audience of different ethnicities.
Heyday The MFP had a virtual monopoly of Malay films in the early days, and film production increased rapidly. The studio reached its peak in the 1950s, when it was producing over 10 films a year, with the most being in 1952 when it made 13 films. The increase in production in the 1950s led to the expansion of the studio into neighbouring plots of land for the construction of new
sound stages, with quarters on Boon Teck Road where its employees were housed. The original studio on 8 Jalan Ampas were also rebuilt. Several Malay directors including and scriptwriters were also employed to direct films that were more attuned to Malay culture, although the first film by a Malay director,
Permata Di Perlimbahan by Haji Mahadi, was not a success. Rao popularised the supernatural and horror genre with the film
Roh Membela ("Revenge of the Spirit") in 1955.
Hang Tuah was nominated for the
Golden Bear at the
7th Berlin International Film Festival, and won best musical score (P Ramlee) at the Asian Pacific Film Festival. and
Kasma Booty, 1950 P Ramlee quickly became the most important star of the MFP. Ramlee appeared in his first leading role in the 1950 film
Bakti ("Devotion"), which was Krisnan's first Malay film, with story based on
Wuthering Heights and
Les Misérables. In his following films such as
Juwita in 1951 and
Ibu ("Mother") in 1953, he firmly established himself as a major star. Ramlee directed his first feature film ''
("Trishaw Man") in 1955, which was a success. He also started the Bujang Lapok comedy series in 1957; one of these, Pendekar Bujang Lapok'', won the Best Comedy award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival.
1957 labour strike In 1954, many of the employees of the studio formed Persama (
Persatuan Artis Malaya, the Malayan Artists Union), with P Ramlee its first president. In 1957 they demanded increases in their wage, payment for overtime, half-day work on Saturdays with Sundays off, as well as bigger bonuses for each completed film. The leading actors at that time were paid on average $250 a month, and leading actresses were paid $150 a month, with a bonus of $400–500 for each completed film, while supporting actors and actresses were paid between $80–120 a month, and were given a bonus of $150 for each completed film. However, Shaw did not respond to the list of demands submitted by the union. In March, five employees of the studio,
Syed Hassan Al-Sahab, , , and , all of whom were part of the union, were dismissed. Ramlee asked for
Tunku Abdul Rahman to intervene, while 120 employees of the studio went on strike on 16 March 1957, despite warnings from management that anyone who went on strike would be laid off. A concert, the "Malam Suka Duka", was held at the
Gay World Stadium to raise funds for the strike. Following the strike a meeting for a negotiation, which was advised by the Tunku, was held, during which the Shaw Organisation revealed that it had not been making a profit from producing movies in years. The union made an appeal to the
Menteri Besar of the nine Federation states for support in the dispute over the dismissal over the five employees. The strike ended on 8 April 1957, after the reinstatement of the five actors and actresses. Following the end of the strike, work on the film '''', which had been put on hold due to the strike, resumed. An agreement for the new wage for 36 employees was reached in April 1963. In November 1964, the union gave an ultimatum to the studio, stating that it had to settle the wages of 70 technicians employed at the studio. Following this, employees of the studio went on strike again on 8 December 1964. The strike ended on 29 January 1965, after the mediation of a third party resulted in agreements made during negotiations.
Closure In the 1960s, the studio suffered heavily from the increasing wages of employees, competition from the Cathay-Keris Studio, popularity of foreign films, and an increasing public interest in television. Film production slowed down, and several stars, such as P. Ramlee and
Kasma Booty, also moved to
Malaysia in 1964 to seek better opportunities. The Shaw Organisation moved its headquarters to Malaysia in 1964, and by October 1965, 105 actors, actresses and technicians had been retrenched. In 1967, the Jalan Ampas studio was closed down, and the company voluntarily liquidated. The last film made at the Jalan Ampas studio by MFP,
Raja Bersiong released in 1968, was a lavish production that nevertheless failed at the box office. Three Malay films were shot in Hong Kong after the Jalan Ampas studio closed. By the time the studio ceased production, 162 Malay films had been produced. ==Filmography==