{{short description|1931 film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Sam Pek Eng Tay <br> 山伯英台 | image =
| alt = | caption = | director =The Teng Chun | producer =The Teng Chun | writer = The Teng Chun | starring = | music = | cinematography = The Teng Chun | editing = | studio = Cino Motion Pictures | distributor = | released = {{Film date|1931|||Dutch East Indies|df=yes}} | runtime = | country = Dutch East Indies<br><small>(now Indonesia)</small> | language = Malay, Mandarin | budget = | gross = }} '''''Sam Pek Eng Tay''''' ({{zh|t=山伯英台|poj=San-pek Eng-tâi}}) is a 1931 film directed and produced by The Teng Chun and released in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It is based on the Chinese legend ''The Butterfly Lovers'', which follows the doomed love between a rich girl and a commoner boy. The film was a commercial success, inspiring The Teng Chun to direct several further films based on Chinese mythology. The name derives from the given names of the legend's two main characters, Liang Shanbo (Nio Sam Pek) ({{zh|c=梁山伯|labels=no}}) and Zhu Yingtai (Giok Eng Tay) ({{zh|c=祝英台|labels=no}}).
==Plot== Giok Eng Tay, the daughter of a rich man, falls in love with Nio Sam Pek, the son of a commoner. To ensure their family's well-being, Eng Tay's father insists that she marry Ma Bun Cai (Ma Wencai ({{zh|c=马文才|labels=no}})), the son of a regent. To ensure that this wish is fulfilled, Eng Tay is locked in her room while her father sends men to attack Sam Pek, who later dies of his wounds. After her marriage is arranged, Giok Eng Tay and her procession pass by Sam Pek's grave. A rain storm suddenly develops and Sam Pek's grave splits open; Eng Tay, wanting to be with her lover, runs to the grave and throws herself into it. The grave then closes and the storm dissipates.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Sam Pek Eng Tay}}
==Production== ''Sam Pek Eng Tay'' was directed and produced by The Teng Chun, the son of a Chinese-Indonesian merchant who had studied film in Los Angeles, US. He had made his directorial debut shortly before producing ''Sam Pek Eng Tay'', with ''Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang'' (''The Rose of Cikembang'').{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, The Teng Chun}} This film, a moderate success, gave him enough funds to improve his camera equipment: ''Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang'' had been criticised for its poor sound.{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=141}} However, unlike the earlier film – which was based on a best-selling novel by Kwee Tek Hoay{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Boenga Roos}} – ''Sam Pek Eng Tay'' was based on a Chinese legend, that of ''The Butterfly Lovers'' which was popular as a stage play at the time.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Sam Pek Eng Tay}} The story was adapted for a Dutch East Indies setting.{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=141}} The film's cast is unrecorded.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Sam Pek Eng Tay}}
==Release and reception== ''Sam Pek Eng Tay'' was released in 1931 by The Teng Chun's Cino Motion Picture to commercial success,{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=141}} mostly targeting ethnic Chinese audiences.{{sfn|Biran|2009|pp=147–150}} The Teng Chun would go on to release numerous films based on Chinese legends, including ''Pat Bie To'' (''Eight Beautiful Women''; 1932), ''Pat Kiam Hiap'' (''Eight Swordsmen''; 1933), and ''Ouw Peh Tjoa'' (''White and Black Snake''; 1934).{{sfn|Hutari 2011, Sejarah Awal}} These later films, emphasising silat, were generally profitable, and allowed The Teng Chun to dominate the industry until after the release of Albert Balink's ''Terang Boelan'' (''Full Moon'') in 1937.{{sfn|Biran|2009|pp=147–150}}
The film is likely lost. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost.{{sfn|Heider|1991|p=14}} However, JB Kristanto's ''Katalog Film Indonesia'' (''Indonesian Film Catalogue'') records several as having survived at Sinematek Indonesia's archives, and Biran writes that several Japanese propaganda films have survived at the Netherlands Government Information Service.{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=351}}
==Footnotes== {{reflist|30em}}
==Works cited== {{refbegin|40em}} *{{cite book |title=Sejarah Film 1900–1950: Bikin Film di Jawa |trans-title=History of Film 1900–1950: Making Films in Java |language=Indonesian |last=Biran |first=Misbach Yusa |author-link=Misbach Yusa Biran |location=Jakarta |publisher=Komunitas Bamboo working with the Jakarta Art Council |year=2009 |isbn=978-979-3731-58-2 }} * {{cite web | title = Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang | language = Indonesian | url = http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-b024-31-179814_boenga-roos-dari-tjikembang | work = filmindonesia.or.id | publisher = Konfidan Foundation | location = Jakarta | access-date = 22 July 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202203550/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-b024-31-179814_boenga-roos-dari-tjikembang | archive-date = 2 December 2013 | url-status = live | ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Boenga Roos}} }} *{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/indonesiancinema0000heid |url-access=registration |title=Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen |isbn=978-0-8248-1367-3 |last1=Heider |first1=Karl G |year=1991 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu }} * {{cite web |last=Hutari |first=Fandy | title = Sejarah Awal Industri Film di Hindia Belanda |trans-title=Early History of Films in the Dutch East Indies | language = Indonesian | url = http://www.jakartabeat.net/humaniora/kanal-humaniora/sejarah/item/684-sejarah-awal-industri-film-di-hindia-belanda?tmpl=component&print=1#.UMc9SndPP1I | work = Jakarta Beat | location = Jakarta | date=5 November 2011 | access-date = 11 December 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130928223044/http://www.jakartabeat.net/humaniora/kanal-humaniora/sejarah/item/684-sejarah-awal-industri-film-di-hindia-belanda?tmpl=component&print=1 | archive-date = 28 September 2013 |url-status=usurped | ref = {{sfnRef|Hutari 2011, Sejarah Awal}} }} * {{cite web | title = Sam Pek Eng Tay | language = Indonesian | url = http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s012-31-749323_sam-pek-eng-tay | work = filmindonesia.or.id | publisher = Konfidan Foundation | location = Jakarta | access-date = 22 July 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202200237/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s012-31-749323_sam-pek-eng-tay | archive-date = 2 December 2013 | url-status = live | ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Sam Pek Eng Tay}} }} *{{cite web |title=The Teng Chun |language=Indonesian |url=http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/name/nmp4b8501c11b793_the-teng-chun |work=filmindonesia.or.id |publisher=Konfidan Foundation |location=Jakarta |access-date=26 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719140036/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/name/nmp4b8501c11b793_the-teng-chun |archive-date=19 July 2014 |url-status=live |ref={{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, The Teng Chun}} }} {{refend}} {{The Teng Chun}}
Category:Films directed by The Teng Chun Category:Dutch East Indies films Category:Indonesian-language films Category:1930s Mandarin-language films Category:Chinese mythology in popular culture Category:Indonesian black-and-white films