Old School Kung Fu ’16: The Man from Hong Kong

You know it’s a successful co-production when both the Hong Kong and Australian leads are injured during the production. Reportedly, it was a slightly contentious set, but at least Jimmy Wang Yu shook off his hang-gliding injuries and George (one-and-done James Bond) Lazenby was not visibly scarred by his burns. The important thing is Ozploitation director Brian Trenchard-Smith got his shots. Fans will agree it was all worth it when The Man from Hong Kong (trailer here) screens during Subway Cinema’s Old School Kung Fu 2016 at the Metrograph.

Win Chan was busted smuggling drugs by Australia’s two most racist cops, but he clams up, playing the “No English” card. Inspector Fang Sing-leng of Hong Kong’s Special Branch will make him talk—and not just because he speaks Cantonese. The trip to Australia comes at an opportune time for Fang. It will give him a chance to hook-up again with Caroline Thorne, the hang-gliding bombshell who crashed landed on the Royal Police Academy grounds during the opening credits—and what credits they are, featuring some lovely aerial photography, Inspector Fang schooling a bunch of short short-wearing cadets in Kung Fu, and the infectiously smooth disco hit “Sky High,” performed by the British top-40 band Jigsaw, who would eventually evolve into the villain of the Saw franchise.

Even before Fang beats it out of him, everyone knows Win Chan was running drugs for the untouchable “reputable businessman” Jack Wilton. Unfortunately, Win Chan will not survive extradition (through no fault of Fang’s). Consequently, Fang will make it his business to create trouble for Wilton’s fronts, including his dojo.

Lazenby might have played 007, but Jimmy Wang Yu gets both girls in Man from Hong Kong, which was arguably rather progressive for 1975, considering they were played by Anglo-Australians Ros Spiers and Rebecca Gilling, both of whom were budding starlets who would have long and productive careers in Australian film and television. Spiers is particularly charismatic as Fang’s hang-gliding instructor.

When you combine the exploitation stylings of Trenchard-Smith, director of the original Turkey Shoot, with the fight choreography of Sammo Hung (who also appears as Win Chan), you know you are going to get plenty of action. Technically, it is several cuts above average, especially the sky high cinematography of future Oscar winner Russell Boyd and the appealingly 1970s trappings.

Jimmy Wang Yu does his thing, throwing it down with authority in the massive fight scenes. He also shows reasonably credible leading man chops, especially opposite Speirs. As Wilton, Lazenby and his moustache are entertainingly villainous. The ex-Bond seems to enjoy chewing the scenery in his second Golden Harvest production, but Stoner, his first Hong Kong outing with the awesome Angela Mao Ying, is far and away his best (whereas, he basically phones it in during Queen’s Ransom, co-starring both Mao and Yang).

To recap, Man from Hong Kong brought together Jimmy Wang Yu, George Lazenby, Sammo Hung, Brian Trenchard-Smith, and Jigsaw. It all comes together pretty much exactly as you would hope and expect. Highly recommended for martial arts fans, The Man from Hong Kong screens today (4/9) and tomorrow (4/10) as part of this year’s Old School Kung Fu at the Metrograph.

The Angela Mao Ying Collection: A Queen’s Ransom

In 1975, Hong Kong was a Crown Colony that wanted to stay that way. Therefore, do not expect them to have much sympathy for an Irish assassin. The HK police will do everything in their power to protect the Queen during her royal visit, but they are already stretched thin dealing with the massive influx of immigrants from Vietnam and Cambodia. There is also some business about a gold shipment in Ting Shang-hsi’s A Queen’s Ransom, which is included in The Angela Mao Ying Collection now available from Shout Factory.

Poor police chief Gao already has more than he can handle, but when Jenny the bargirl’s tip regarding a Filipino client pans out, he assigns Det. Chiang to watch over her. She is relentlessly cute, but also ethically flexible, so it is not just for her protection. It turns out her thuggish customer is part of a team recruited by IRA splinter-group leader George Morgan to assassinate the Queen during her state visit.

Meanwhile, in what seems like an entirely different film, a former Cambodian princess has arrived in a refugee camp, where she stoically accepts her fate. She hardly ever speaks, but she still has her dignity and martial arts skills. The latter will come as quite a surprise to Ducky, the working class HK laborer who befriends her.

Ransom was clearly conceived as a HK version of the 1970s Alistair MacLean film adaptations that usually featured dozens of tiny little boxes of cast photos running across the bottom of their one-sheets. True to form, Ting compulsively introduces new characters throughout the film. Yet, somehow he successfully ties up all his rangy subplots, but not exactly with an elegant knot a salty seafarer would admire.

Frankly, the first two acts are somewhat slow and the interconnectedness of many scenes is not readily apparent. However, it provides an intriguing time capsule of mid-1970s Hong Kong. As go-go as times then were, it probably still seems quaint to residents of today’s mega-mega HK. Ting also cleverly integrates archival footage of both the Queen and the real life refugee camps.

Just as notable is the assembled rogues’ gallery of evil, which one would not even see in American films of the era. In addition to his IRA roots, Morgan hires Jimmy, an HK expat who had become a specialist in guerilla warfare with the North Vietnamese. Like a good Viet Cong, he is only interested in money. Morgan also recruits an African American clearly inspired by the Black Panthers. To create sexual tension Judith Brown (a women-in-prison cult movie favorite) duly taunts him into some rough sex as Black Rose. However, the most ideologically driven members of the gang are unquestionably are the Japanese Red Army terrorists, who also turn out to be the dumbest.

At least Ransom finally delivers a showdown between George Lazenby and Angela Mao. Without question, it is the best choreographed fight of the film. Mao still brings all kinds of grace and presence as the Princess, but Ting criminally under-employs her. During Stoner, his previous Golden Harvest film, George Lazenby was clearly inspired to hold up his end by Mao and their fight choreographer-co-star Sammo Hung. In contrast, here he mostly just seems to be playing out the string as Morgan. Even legend-in-the-making Jimmy Wang Yu’s namesake seems a bit lost in the convoluted backstories and digressions. Still, there is no denying future HK horror maven (Tanny) Ni Tien lights up the screen as Jenny.

Ransom is an odd mishmash of elements, but it is likely to excite the curiosity of HK film fans. It is not a great showcase for Mao, but it is not a bad filler film to go along with more representative outings like the seriously cool Broken Oath, so it is sort of recommended as part of the value-packed Angela Mao Ying Collection, recently released by Shout Factory.