Why did Hong Kong movies like to speak Shandong dialect in the past?

Hong Kong’s early movies were mainly in Mandarin, and then switched to Cantonese in the 1970s. Until now, 90% of Hong Kong residents are from the Pearl River Delta, and they are all mainly in Cantonese. Hong Kong movies They have always been Cantonese-language movies, and there have never been any movies in Shandong or other languages. All Hong Kong movies released in China are dubbed, and of course they can also be dubbed in Shandong. So some people misunderstand and think that Hong Kong movies are in other languages ??besides Cantonese. language movies.

During the Gengzi period, the British troops stationed in the Weiying Concession in Weihai recruited local Chinese to form the Huayong Camp. The Huayong Battalion went north with the British army and participated in the battle to relieve the siege of Dongjiao Minxiang. Later, the Manchu Lafayette surrendered and the war was suspended. The Huayong Battalion faced disbandment as a combat force. Because the Chinese warriors were loyal and brave, with strict military discipline and high morale, they were highly appreciated by their employers. Therefore, a small number of old and weak men were repatriated on the day of disbandment. Most of the strong men were retained by the British authorities and went south to Hong Kong, becoming the earliest land and sea police officers. Police officers were arrogant when dealing with lower-class people and had a poor reputation. Therefore, those with Shandong accents who appeared in later Hong Kong movies were often vilified.

The city gates of Tianjin were built by Weihai people on behalf of the British Empire, and the Queen of England also awarded them a medal. Because Weihai people were honest and loyal, they were sent to Hong Kong to work as police officers, and they were often seen in old Hong Kong movies. I saw a Hong Kong policeman speaking Weihai dialect! Thieves from Shandong? The thieves do mean bandits, but why are bandits outside Shandong called bandits? This is because the horses ridden by Shandong bandits have bells hanging on their necks. As long as the bandits ride out to rob, the bells on their necks will ring to remind uninvolved people to get out of the way to avoid accidental injuries. So thieves also mean righteous bandits. This also reflects the benevolence and righteousness of Shandong people at that time. Even if they become bandits, they must be righteous. The original version of the bald man in "The Best Partner" spoke Taishan dialect, but the dubbed version became Shandong dialect, and so on. The dialects that appear most frequently in Hong Kong movies include Chaozhou, Hakka, Toishan, Shanghainese, and Hokkien (especially Hokkien). Shandong is almost non-existent in the original Cantonese version.

On the other hand, Taiwan has most of the descendants of veterans who crossed over to Taiwan from Shandong, so many Taiwanese stars can speak Shandong dialect, such as Big and Little S. At that time, the people of Shandong were tall and strong, and Shandong had the largest number of policemen in Hong Kong at that time. At that time, Shandong people were very famous in Hong Kong. So many movies have Shandong accents.

Many Hong Kong superstars are also from Shandong. Most of the Hong Kong movies we watch are works after the Hong Kong New Wave. They are all cutting-edge directors born in Hong Kong. They are all dubbed in Taiwan. There are many Shandong people in Taiwan, so it is normal for Shandong accents to appear in them. thing. However, only the northern accents that appeared in films in the 1960s and 1970s are native to Hong Kong films. That is because the older batch of filmmakers were basically from the north and came south. Li Hanxiang and Hu Jinquan were born in Beijing, and Zhang Che is from Zhejiang. Even Wang Jing and his father Wang Tianlin are from Zhejiang. In addition, Taiwan was a big box office at that time, and Mandarin films were very popular at that time.

Old Hong Kong films are basically dubbed by Taiwanese. There are many Shandong people in Taiwan, and it is normal for a few Shandong dialects to appear. It was not until after the return of Hong Kong that they had their own dubbing personnel. Hong Kong movies were directly grafted onto Shanghai movies after the 1949 generation. In 1949, Shanghai filmmakers withdrew to Hong Kong in large numbers and became the source of Hong Kong movies. In Shanghai movies and folk arts, the roles played by Shandong accents are usually fixed roles such as warriors, policemen, and government officials. Therefore, characters with Shandong accents in Hong Kong movies today often have this type of character, which basically continues the tradition of old Shanghai.

I have seen an interview with Mai Jia before, and he has said the reason is that the dubbing in Cantonese and his dubbing are in Taishan dialect. Although he is from Taishan, he did not know Taishan when he came back from the United States. I learned it later, because Taishan dialect is more funny and interesting, and it also represents the meaning of country dialect. Because there are more overseas Chinese in Wuyi area of ??Jiangmen and many people work hard in Hong Kong and Macao, anyone who can speak Cantonese will understand some Taishan dialect. The dubbing is only in Cantonese with some Taishan dialect words, not the whole sentence in authentic Taishan dialect, but also to let the audience understand the meaning, and then the Mandarin dubbing is in Shandong dialect. He said that the funniest thing in the country is Shandong dialect. It is also for the purpose of being funny and interesting. In fact, it is just a little dialect accent. If it is too strong, people from other places will not understand it. It is to increase the humanistic interest of the movie.