Numerous documentary and public information films were produced by the Sài Gòn regime after 1954, and during the late 1950s a number of feature films were shot in the south and later completed abroad. Joseph L Mankiewicz's Hollywood film of Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American was filmed in and around Sài Gòn in 1957.

During the 1960s a number of private studios opened in Sài Gòn and by 1971 there were 40 registered production companies working in the southern capital, although prior to 1975 post-production for all films made in the south was carried out overseas. In contrast with the north, the feature film output of the south during this period was heavily influenced by Hong Kong action and martial arts pictures, which became extremely popular during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Leading stars of cinema during this period included Thẩm Thúy Hằng and the acclaimed Kiều Chinh, who also appeared in the American movie Commandos in Vietnam (1964, aka Year of the Tiger) opposite actor Marshall Thompson.