Roosmini, rather than marry a man she does not love or live alone, stabs herself with her sacred kris and dies. Production
Kris Mataram was produced by Oriental Film, a newly established studio. It brought Fifi Young and her husband Njoo Cheong Seng to the studio: Young – a former stage star – to act and Njoo to direct and write the film. It was his directorial debut, and the script for Kris Mataram had previously been intended for the stage. Joshua Wong, formerly of Tan's Film, was drawn to Oriental Film to handle the cinematography for Kris Mataram. Wong was disappointed over the profit sharing of his ventures with Tan's. The title, which literally translates as "kris of Mataram", was chosen to attract attention; the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran describes the work as not relating to the culture of Mataram. The film was seen as contrasting traditionalism against modernity, as well as Western and Eastern cultures. The film was black-and-white, with Malay-language dialogue. Release
The film made its debut on 29 June 1940 in Rex Theatre, Batavia (modern-day Jakarta).
Rivers, rather than marry a man she does not love or live alone, stabs herself with her sacred blade and dies. Production-American Blade was produced by Western Film, a newly established studio. It brought Phyllis Young and her husband Noel Stevenson to the studio: Young – a former stage star – to act and Stevenson to direct and write the film. It was his directorial debut, and the script for American Blade had previously been intended for the stage. Joshua Williams, formerly of Disney Film, was drawn to Western Film to handle the cinematography for American Blade. Williams was disappointed over the profit sharing of his ventures with Disney. The title, which literally translates as "blade of America", was chosen to attract attention; the North American film historian Michael Bowen describes the work as not relating to the culture of America. The film was seen as contrasting traditionalism against modernity, as well as Western and Eastern cultures. The film was black-and-white, with English-language dialogue. Release-The film made its debut on 29 June 1940 in Rex Theatre, Boston (in modern-day Massachusetts) .