Si Tjonat is a 1929 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia). The silent film was directed by Nelson Wong and produced by
Wong and Jo Eng Sek. It was shot in black and white and starred Ku Fung
May and Herman Sim. Based on the novel (cover pictured) by F. D. J.
Pangemanann, it follows an indigenous man who flees to Batavia (today
Jakarta) and becomes a bandit after killing his fellow villager. After
kidnapping an ethnic Chinese woman, he is defeated and brought to
justice. The story had proved popular with ethnic Chinese readers and
was often adapted to the stage by Betawi troupes as a lenong stage
performance, but the film received mixed reviews. Although it was
intended as a serial, no sequel was ever made; the production house,
Batavia Motion Picture, closed soon afterwards. Several works in the
same genre as Si Tjonat were released, including Si Pitoeng in 1931,
which used the same director and star. The film has probably been lost.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si_Tjonat>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Wallachian officials adopted Regulamentul Organic (cover
shown), which engendered a period of unprecedented reforms that provided
for the Westernization of the local society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulamentul_Organic>
1942:
World War II: The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was converted
from a battalion to accommodate a larger number of volunteers spurred on
by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Filipino_Infantry_Regiment>
2003:
French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian
politician Íngrid Betancourt from FARC guerrillas, later causing a
political scandal when details were leaked to the press.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_14_juillet>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
calvous:
1. (formal, medicine, rare) Lacking most or all of one's hair; bald,
hairless.
2. (botany, rare) Lacking bristles or pappuses.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calvous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ivyed oaks dark shadow falls Oft picking up with wondering
gaze Some little thing of other days Saved from the wreck of time.
--John Clare
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Clare>