China: The Roots of Madness
About China: The Roots of Madness
Joseph Campanella narrates a Cold War television history of anti-Western feeling in China. The film moves from the late Qing, including the Boxer rising, through Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and the war with Japan, then to Mao Zedong, the split with the Kuomintang, and the Red Guards. Moscow's role in the party struggle is part of the argument. The pictures are archival: Empress Dowager Cixi, Soong Mei-ling, Joseph Stilwell, and Pearl Buck appear in the footage.
Cast & crew
More about China: The Roots of Madness
David L. Wolper produced. Mel Stuart directed. Theodore H. White wrote it. William T. Cartwright edited. Harry Freedman composed the music. John and Paige Curran paid the production cost, and Xerox sponsored the broadcast. It played on 101 stations in 41 states between 30 January and 5 February 1967. It was not given a commercial theatrical release.
Themes
Background
The broadcast window was the last week of January 1967, while the Red Guards were still the picture of China on American television.
Making
Wolper made it for television during the Cultural Revolution, with a journalist's script rather than a studio news department. Xerox's sponsorship paid for the station clearance.
Music
Harry Freedman wrote the music under Campanella's narration.
Preservation
Released under a Creative Commons license. Copies in circulation run shorter than the 90-minute broadcast.
Notes
- It won an Emmy in the documentary category.
- A circulating copy runs 77 minutes 54 seconds, against the 90-minute broadcast length.
- White's reporting access supplied rare footage, including Sun Yat-sen's funeral.
- IMDb also lists the title China: Century of Revolution.
- The film has since been released under a Creative Commons license.
- Interview and archive subjects include Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, and General Joseph Stilwell.
Awards
- Emmy Award, documentary category