Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman

Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman(Malay for Pah Wongso the Righteous Warrior) is
Pah Wongso Pendekar
a 1941 detective film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). The first
Boediman
production by Star Film, it was produced by Jo Eng Sek and features camerawork by
Cho' Chin Hsin. Starring Pah Wongso, Elly Joenara, and Mohamad Arief, it follows
the social worker Pah Wongso as he investigates a murder to clear his protégé's
name.

The first film of its genre to be produced in the Indies, Pah Wongso Pendekar
Boediman was made to capitalize on the popularity of Wijnhamer and Hollywood
characters such as Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto. Released in April 1941 to popular
acclaim, it had a mixed critical reception; the reviewer Saeroen suggested that its
success was entirely because of its star's renown. A sequel to this film, which is
possibly lost, Pah Wongso Tersangka, was released later that year.

Contents
Plot
Production
Release and reception Poster

Legacy Produced by Jo Eng Sek

Explanatory notes Starring L. V. Wijnhamer
Footnotes Jr.
References Elly Joenara
External links Mohamad Arief
Cinematography Cho' Chin Hsin

Plot Production Star Film

company
Pah Wongso is a nut seller, social worker, and schoolmaster who lives inBatavia and Release date 1 April 1941
takes care of the local poor. One day, his young protégé Wisnoe saves the life of a
(Dutch East
young woman named Siti when she is almost hit by a carriage. In thanks, her father
Indies)
Haji Abdullah gives Wisnoe a job at his rice mill. Wisnoe's zeal and diligence
quickly make him stand out from his fellow employees, and he begins to woo Siti,
Country Dutch East
who returns his affections.
Indies
However, Wisnoe's cousin Bardja is envious of his newfound success. A gambler Language Indonesian
who frequents prostitutes, Bardja is smitten with Siti, who does not love him.
Hoping to eliminate his competition, Bardja hires some thugs to kill Wisnoe; this attempt fails, and Bardja's financial situation
becomes increasingly desperate. He decides to steal from his rich uncle, but is caught in the act. In the ensuing struggle, he kills the
older man, then frames Wisnoe for the murder.

Wisnoe is arrested, and soon Pah Wongso – warned by Siti of Bardja's previous treachery – begins to investigate the case. Ultimately
he discovers that Bardja is the true murderer and confronts him, resulting in a battle to the death. Wongso emerges victorious, and
Wisnoe's name is cleared.[a]
Production
Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman was produced by Jo Eng Sek, a businessman who
had produced the film Si Tjonat in 1929. Cinematography on this black-and-white
film was handled by Cho' Chin Hsin, who had recently immigrated from
Shanghai.[1] The film was the first production of Star Film, a studio which Jo and
, Jakarta).[2]
Cho' had established in Prinsenland, Batavia (now Mangga Besar

At the time, the Hollywood characters Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto were popular in
the Indies, as were imported detective films in general; however, no films in that
genre had yet been produced domestically.[3] This led Jo to make a detective film
which he thought would be successful with ethnic Chinese audiences.[4] For this, he
approached L. V. Wijnhamer, Jr., an Indo man who was popular within the ethnic Pah Wongso teaching, in a scene
Chinese community for his social work; Wijnhamer, better known as Pah Wongso, from the film
helped educate abandoned children, ran an employment office, and raised funds for
Red Cross aid in war-torn China. Wijnhamer accepted the role.[4]

To support Wongso, stage actress Elly Joenara was cast as Siti, making her film debut, while Mohamad Arief appeared as Wisnu.[5]
Other cast members included Djoenaedi, R. Sukran, and Miss Satijem.[6] To ensure that fight scenes went smoothly, Jo hired
members of Primo Oesman's silat and boxing group to perform as criminals;[4] Oesman, a professional boxer, also appeared in the
film.[6]

Release and reception

Pah Wongso Pendekar Boedimanwas rated for audiences over the age of 17.[7] It premiered at the Rex Theatre in Batavia on 1 April
1941, following a short speech by Wijnhamer.[8] It had reached Surabaya by June, where it was advertised as a film of intrigue, life,
and death.[7] Although intended predominantly for domestic consumption,[8] it was also screened in China, Singapore and British
Malaya.[9] When the film reached Singapore in July 1941, it was touted as a "thrilling Malay detective story ... full of thrills and
excitement from beginning to end".[10]

The Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran records Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman as a commercial success.[9] Critical
reviews, however, were mixed. An anonymous reviewer in theBataviaasch Nieuwsbladpraised the quality of the film, particularly its
cinematography, acting, and story.[8] In the Malayan magazine Film Melayu, a reviewer considered the film of similar quality to
Hollywood productions and praised its casting of a South East Asian as the titular detective.[b][10] The critic and filmwriter Saeroen
expressed concern that the film's success was not because of its quality, and opined that it was only popular because of Wijnhamer's
fame.[11]

Legacy
By September 1941,[12] Jo had begun production of a second – and final – film starring Wongso, titled Pah Wongso Tersangka (Pah
Wongso Becomes a Suspect). Directed by Wu Tsun, this late 1941 release featured Pah Wongso in four roles and showed him
attempting to clear his name after being framed for a crime.[13] Arief, Primo, and Sukran were also recast in this film, which was
billed as the colony's first comedy film.[14] Although Joenara did not return for Pah Wongso Tersangka, she acted in three further
[15]
films for Star; her acting career continued into the 1950s, and she became a producer in the early 1970s.

Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman may be lost. Movies in the Indies were recorded on highly flammable nitrate film, and after a fire
destroyed much of Produksi Film Negara's warehouse in 1952, old films shot on nitrate were deliberately destroyed.[16] Thus, the
American visual anthropologistKarl G. Heider wrote that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost.[17] 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 theNetherlands Government Information Service.[18]
Explanatory notes
a. Plot summary derived fromSoerabaijasch Handelsblad 1941,
Sampoerna.
b. This despite Wijnhamer's Eurasian descent Barnard
( 2010, p. 65).

Footnotes
1. Biran 2009, p. 233; Filmindonesia.or.id, Pah Wongso Pendekar
Pah Wongso (left) with S. Waldy and
2. Biran 2009, p. 233.
M. Sarip in the sequel Pah Wongso
3. K. H. & Budiarto 2006, p. 193.
Tersangka
4. Biran 2009, p. 246.
5. Biran 2009, p. 246; Filmindonesia.or.id, Pah Wongso Pendekar
6. Soerabaijasch Handelsblad 1941, Sampoerna
.
7. Soerabaijasch Handelsblad 1941, (untitled).
8. Bataviaasch nieuwsblad 1941, Pah Wongso.
9. Biran 2009, p. 247.
10. Barnard 2010, p. 65.
11. Biran 2009, p. 247; Filmindonesia.or.id, Pah Wongso Tersangka
12. Pertjatoeran Doenia dan Film 1941, Warta dari Studio, p. 27.
13. Soerabaijasch Handelsblad 1942, (untitled).
14. S. 1941, pp. 14–15; Soerabaijasch Handelsblad 1942, (untitled)
15. Biran 1979, p. 159.
16. Biran 2012, p. 291.
17. Heider 1991, p. 14.
18. Biran 2009, p. 351.

References
Barnard, Timothy P. (February 2010). "Film Melayu: Nationalism, Modernity and Film in a pre-W
orld War Two Malay
Magazine". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Far Eastern Publishers.41 (1): 47–70.
doi:10.1017/S0022463409990257. ISSN 0022-4634.
Biran, Misbach Yusa, ed. (1979). Apa Siapa Orang Film Indonesia 1926–1978[What and Who: Film Figures in
Indonesia, 1926–1978] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Sinematek Indonesia.OCLC 6655859.
Biran, Misbach Yusa (2009). Sejarah Film 1900–1950: Bikin Film di Jawa[History of Film 1900–1950: Making Films
in Java] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Komunitas Bamboo working with the Jakarta Art Council.
ISBN 978-979-3731-58-2.
Biran, Misbach Yusa (2012). "Film di Masa Kolonial" [Film in the Colonial Period].Indonesia dalam Arus Sejarah:
Masa Pergerakan Kebangsaan[Indonesia in the Flow of Time: The Nationalist Movement] (in Indonesian). V.
Jakarta: Ministry of Education and Culture. pp. 268–93.ISBN 978-979-9226-97-6.
Heider, Karl G (1991). Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen
. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
ISBN 978-0-8248-1367-3.
K. H., Ramadhan; Budiarto, Nina Pane (2006).Pengusaha, Politikus, Pelopor Industri Film Djamaludin Malik
[Djamaludin Malik: Businessman, Politician, and Film Industry Pioneer
]. Jakarta: Kata. ISBN 978-979-1056-02-1.
"Pah Wongso op de film" [Pah Wongso on Film]. Bataviaasch nieuwsblad(in Dutch). Batavia. 2 April 1941. p. 3.
"Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from
the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
"Pah Wongso Tersangka". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived fromthe
original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
S. (October 1941). "Tidakkah Indonesia Dapat Mengadakan Film Loetjoe?" [Can't Indonesians Make Comedies?].
Pertjatoeran Doenia dan Film(in Indonesian). Batavia: 14–15.
 "Sampoerna: Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman". Soerabaijasch Handelsblad(in Dutch). Surabaya. 19 June 1941.
p. 7.
"(Untitled)". Soerabaijasch Handelsblad(in Dutch). Surabaya. 16 June 1941. p. 14.
"(Untitled)". Soerabaijasch Handelsblad(in Dutch). Surabaya. 2 February 1942. p. 7.
"Warta dari Studio" [Reports from Studios].Pertjatoeran Doenia dan Film(in Indonesian). Batavia.1 (4): 26–28.
September 1941.

External links
Pah Wongso Pendekar Boedimanon IMDb

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