In the early period of China's movie development, foreign films were the mainstream despite of some short films made by Chinese forerunners. At the end of 1923, An Orphan Saves His Grandfather was launched by Star Film Company, which ushered in a movement advocating China-made films.

An Orphan Saves His Grandfather is a film on family ethics presenting a comparatively fine ideology and artistic quality. It portrays a man of wealth who lends a ready ear to the slanders perpetrated by his nephew. He suspects the chastity of his widowed daughter-in-law and drives her out of the house. After leaving the family, the daughter-in-law devotes all she has to bringing up the rich man's grandson. Later, when the rich man is about to fall victim to a plot by his nephew, the grandson steps forward to save him. The truth has been brought to light, and the family is reunited. To a certain extent, the film laid bare the contradictions within feudal families and the monetary relations among the people, which were covered up by a system of seniority in human relationships. The rich man, his daughter-in-law, and his nephew each have a distinctive disposition. The cinematographer tried his best to make the film close to actual life, and the film caused a great sensation.

The contemporary review said: The film makes a big success in box office and wins unprecedented praises. The film is regarded as bringing audience stronger excitement than foreign ones. In a word, it was the first successful China-made film in terms of business and arts.

The success of An Orphan Saves His Grandfather marked the beginning of a movement advocating China-made films, a big event in the 1920s. The movement is featured with the mushrooming film making companies. For example, in the years around 1925 new film companies came out each month resulting in a soaring number of new films. Five films were made in 1923, 16 in 1924, 51 in 1925 and 101 in 1926. Another feature of the movement is that China-made films attracted a large audience and became a success in market.

The last but the most important feature of the movement is that creative atmosphere in arts was prevalent in filmmaking. Companies were competing in films' art styles and employing a lot of excellent filmmakers. Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Liqiu were the representatives of flappable-style films; Hong Shen, Shi Dongshan and Dan Duyu are of cool-style films. Their creations outlined the basic rules for later film arts.