Crouching U.S. studios, hidden Chinese market – Bruce Wallace,

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Art Deco glory of the Cathay Theatre on Huaihai Zhong Road still beckons to those who love movies, a renovated bit of 1930s Americana in Shanghai that is a reminder of Hollywood’s long history of building dream palaces in China. War, a communist revolution and a capitalist reawakening have roiled the country since then, and modern Shanghai’s sky-piercing cityscape is more suited to Anakin Skywalker than to Clark Gable.

But this is still a movie town.

So it’s no surprise that the Walt Disney Co. is also hanging out in this city of 17 million that is once again China’s economic engine and its biggest film market.