On the morning of 12 November 1933, several trucks filled with the infamous Blue Shirts of the KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party) spilled out in front of Yi-Hua Studios in Shanghai, destroying everything inside. The thugs left in their destructive wake right-wing pamphlets signed by “The Association for Eradicating Communists in the Chinese Film Circles.” The violent message to leftist filmmakers in Shanghai was obvious. But the warning was, in many ways, beside the point. Box office returns already indicated the public were more interested in light romantic comedies that stirring ideological dramas.