Fei Mu 費穆 1906-1951

He was born in Shanghai and made his directorial debut in 1933 with Chengshi zhi ye 城市之夜 (Night in the city). Fei went on to make a series of successful feature films for the Lianhua Film Company. During the war, he remained in Shanghai and turned his attention to stage plays. He is best known, however, for his post-war masterpiece, Spring in a Small Town (1948). He also directed China's first colour feature film Shengsi hen 生死恨 (Remorse at death) in 1947. In the wake of the Communist revolution in 1949, Fei Mu moved to Hong Kong, where he died in 1951.

Li Tianji 李天濟 1921-1995

He was an actor and screenwriter. Li graduated from the Sichuan Experimental School of Drama and Music in 1940 and participated in the Anti-Japanese War (1937–45) effort as a dramatist and writer of reportage literature. In 1947, he collaborated with the acclaimed director Fei Mu in writing the script for Spring in a Small Town. He also appeared as an actor in several classic films before and after the Communist revolution in 1949, including Wuya yu maque 烏鴉與麻雀 (Crows and sparrows; 1948). Li remained active as a scriptwriter until his death.

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