
Commander-in-Chief Lu Dahai and the majority of shipbuilders strongly demanded that the 10,000-ton cargo ship Dongfang be should be produced with all domestically produced parts. As the leader at the time, Chen Zongjie, a member of the Party Committee of the Sinotrans Bureau of the Communist Party of China, believed that the quality of domestically produced main engines and navigation instruments was not good, and ordered them to be replaced with imported goods, otherwise no trial voyage would be allowed.
Directed by Lin Nong, Yan Dingxian, 试航 leans on a strong ensemble — Fengxiang Zhang, Chunying Wang, Zhou Wenbin — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 1959.
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An American Merchant Marine captain, rescued from a Chinese Communist jail by local villagers, is "shanghaied" into transporting the entire village to Hong Kong on an ancient paddle steamer.
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