One of Shaw's darlings of the screen, Lily Ho (Casino, The Water Margin) gives a heart-warming performance as Chef-chi, in this Cinderella comedy and romance. At a party, Chef falls in love with the son (Lin Feng) of a rich man that her father (Cheng Chun-mien, Hong Kong's answer to Elvis Presley) works as a chauffeur for. Being from such a poor family, Chef can't reveal who she is or what her father does for a living. Her father is furious that she has fallen for the boss' boy; does she have no class conscience? Mayhem, drama and a run of hilarious circumstances ensue. This asks us, can love truly cross class boundaries?
Accomplished film director Ching Siu-tung not only received international acclaim for his A CHINESE GHOST STORY film trilogy, but is also considered one of Hong Kong's top action directors and is regarded to be the father of the outlandish wire stunts and sight gags that Hong Kong film is so recently noted for. In MONKEY KUNG FU, Ching plays Wei Chun, a wayward underachiever that is given the key to unlock the secret of the gibbon fists tactic. Besides being the film's martial arts instructor, bearing first hand witness to Ching's remarkable martial arts skills on screen makes this movie a once in a lifetime catch.
Julie Yeh Feng plays a devoted wife and a mother dying of an incurable illness. Her goal now is to find a new mother for her child and a new wife for her husband before she dies. Because of all her personal tragedies and on-going hard life off-screen, audiences connect with Julie on a personal level, hence making her one of the most beloved actresses of her time.
Like many of the swordsman films of the sixties, The Magnificent Swordsman centers on the hero vowing vengeance against evil bandits that killed his family when he was a child. Influenced by Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, the hero (played by Huang Tsung-shun who starred in Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury), recruits several friends to help peasants rid their village of marauding bandits, the leader of course being the man that killed his family.
Shu Pei-pei, Huang Tsung-hsing, Tien Feng, Ching Miao
Betty Loh Ti displays an ethereal loveliness that earns her the nickname "Classical Beauty" in this classic tale that combines a very contemporary comic sense with traditional Mandarin opera tunes. Add on a score by celebrated composer Yao Min and a script by future super director King Hu (a.k.a. Hu King-chuan) and you have a perfect showcase for subtle humor and legendary beauty - one of the Hong Kong's most legendary screen personalities. Betty is a perky maid who helps manage the love life of her young mistress (Ting Ning). The task isn't as easy as it sounds, with gender-bender twists such as a young scholar masquerading as a woman (Chiao Chuang), and a bandit's voluptuous sister (Chang Chung-wen) disguised as a man.
A year before Lo Wei directed Bruce Lee in Fist Of Fury, he wrote and co-starred in this tale of a treacherous devil who wants nothing less than supreme power...and doesn't care if he has to murder the Emperor and use his own daughter as a deadly dupe to get it.
Chiao Chiao, Pai Yin, Tsung Hua, Wang Hsieh, Lo Wei
Li attempts to make a fortune at the horse-racing tracks, but is subsequently entangled with loan sharks. Li becomes debt-laden while his sons are harassed by debt collectors, when more heart-wrenching events begin to unfold.
Lau Chong-yan, Huang Kun-hsuan, Cheng Pak-lam, Ng Man-tat
Thirty year film veteran Yueh Feng cast almost equally experienced heroine Li Li-hua as a swordswoman out to reclaim her murdered husband's "Green Sword" the sharpest blade in the world. Li Ching, a lovely new star, plays the role of Li Li-hua's student, who must take up the fight when her teacher falters. Action fans and art film lovers alike will appreciate this "woman warrior" epic, which premiered more than thirty years before the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon resurrected the same themes.
Li Li-hua, Li Ching, Chiao Chuang, Wu Ma, Chen Hung-lieh
The roguish scamp Zhen and his best friend Chia collects proof of corruption from the officials in this comedy-drama. After a string of blackmailing, they end up in positions of power, but what is to happen next?
After making superstars of Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Chen Kuan-tai, and others, esteemed martial arts movie master Chang Cheh decided it was time to cement the stardom of soon-to-be international favorite Alexander Fu Sheng. This film - following the director's SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS, FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS, and DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN - was clearly Fu's showcase. Rather than sharing the screen, as he had in the previous Shaolin trio, here he was clearly the sole hero, and took full advantage of that fact. He gives both a great dramatic and martial arts performance as an honorable carriage driver who finds love and death when he comes to the rescue of a girl being harassed by particularly venal, homicidal punks. This fight-filled thriller was made even more special by its introduction of the unusual 'Tsai' 'Li' 'Fu' kung-fu style - for which it had its own separate off-stage instructor (Yen Yat liang).
Alexander Fu Sheng, Jenny Tsang, Wang Lung-wei, Liang Chia-jen
Veteran director Lu Chun-ku leads handsome Liu Yung, pretty Liang Yun-hsin, and “Thundering Mantis,” Liang Chia-jen on a madcap mixup filled with cons, double crosses, and triple plots. It’s starts in sickly comic style as the trio’s fathers are poisoned by Lady Wu so she could steal the rare artifact known as the Double-Faced God. Extracting a deathbed promise from their wives to train their children to take back what is rightfully theirs, the siblings grow up to exact a vengeance that is more hilarious than horrific.
It's the Sung Dynasty versus the Chin invaders as the "Iron Triangle" of director Chang Cheh and stars David Chiang and Ti Lung truly hit their stride with this crowd-pleasing kung-fu epic. When a handsome Prince is taken captive and guarded by a martial arts master, it's up to two powerful patriots to fight overwhelming odds to pull off the impossible: rescue the royal son and get out of the Chin stronghold alive. It's action as only Chang can film it, with supremely charismatic acting and fighting as only Chiang and Lung can perform it. From the first fascinating minute to the final desperate battle to the death -culminating in an unforgettably evocative conclusion - this duo is dynamic as well as deadly.
When Ti Lung left Shaw Brothers, he dropped his stereotyped "lone swordsman" persona from the past six years and has since ventured into films with social themes. In his directorial debut, Young Lovers On Flying Wheels, Ti Lung replaces the "sword" with a motorcycle and then chooses the girl and happiness instead of dueling and a lonesome existence.
The Manchu Emperor employs top Manchu boxers to smash up the Shao Lin Institute. Almost all the Shao Lin disciples were killed, but the fortunate survivors gather together to seek revenge…
Fu Sheng , Irene Chen I-ling , Chi Kuan-chun, Liu Chia-hui
