Career
In the film, Lai played the role of the wife, partly due to the reluctance of women to participate in show business at the time. He was an active director during the golden years of the Shanghai movie industry from 1921 to 1928. In 1930, he co-founded one of the "Big Three" studios of the 1930s, Lianhua Film Company, with Law Ming-yau.
Lianhua, together with other leading Shanghai studios, was destroyed when the Empire of Japan attacked Shanghai in 1937.
Lai returned to Hong Kong in 1938 and retired. His story was documented in Lai Manitoba-wai: Father of Hong Kong Cinema by Choi Kai-kwong in 2001.
Lai Manitoba-Wai is portrayed in Stanley Kwan"s 1992 biopic of actress Ruan Lingyu, Centre Stage by Hong Kong actor, Waise Lee.
