Happy New Year to you, Hai!Karate fans! It's been a minute, but rest assured the time has been well spent looking at some gems - and some dirt rocks - of martial arts films just so you can get the scoop on what to watch and what to avoid to be a martial arts movie master! This first entry of the new year is dedicated to a somewhat obscure flick starring the flawless fighting actor Chen Kuan Tai, Hero Of Shanghai! This film stands out in the actor's career for a couple of reasons we'll get into later on. Hero Of Shanghai is a slight 'who's who' array of actors you may know from other movies - Kam Kong, Woo Gam, Shut Chung Tin and Cheng Kang-Yeh the more recognizable. The well known Pao Hsueh-Li is in the director's chair for this film for Shen Chuen Film Limited.
The film opens with Hsueh Ao-Lin(Kuan Tai)
arriving in Shanghai, circa 1921. He's
looking a man named Fong. He stumbles
across a rickshaw driver(Kang-Yeh) who
offers him a quick lift. Just as he does,
they both see a man attacked in the street
and killed. The driver takes Ao-Lin to a
restaurant where he asks about Fong. But
he's confronted by an associate of Fong
who shows him a dead body - Fong's. After
a speedy fight, the driver(only called
'Loser' here - why I don't know)is beaten
and brought to the restaurant where he
vouches for Ao-Lin. Ao-Lin then swears to
get revenge and reveals that he and Fong
were comrades.
Ao-Lin attends the funeral of Fong, and
sees each member of the business underground
and other fighters in attendance. He then
begins to investigate, starting with the
known pugilist Yu Tu Tai(Cheung Paang).
In his search, Ao-Lin learns of another
important figure, Miss Nine(Sally Chen).
She is cloaked in intrigue - intrigue that
thickens as bosses start being murdered
left and right. Add to that another motive
for finding Fong's killer being that he
might have had info on Japanese agents
throughout Shanghai. Ao-Lin presses on,
despite double-crosses and other twists.
Can he get his revenge?
Hero Of Shanghai, when it was first released
in 1977, was actually the first film
that Chen Kuan Tai made after an
impressive string of films for
Shaw Studios that made him a legit
actor in Asian cinema. As such, it
seems that the company made sure
to bank on his matinee success with
this picture. (Side note: Lay Out
was the alternate title this film
was marketed overseas under. No
explanation as to why.)Kuan Tai
does the job as a staunch fighter who
navigates the Shanghai crime world. Even his
outfit change early in the film lends
to this persona. He acquits himself
nicely with the fighting scenes he
does have here. The main thing with
Hero Of Shanghai is, said fighting
scenes aren't numerous. In fact,
a good part of the film is devoted to
weaving the plot together. It may
not appeal to those who want high
levels of action as the film can
get into 'Clue' like levels of mystery.
Woo Gam does add a bit of liveliness
here, no doubt a continuation of her
previous roles as erotic temptress
for certain Shaw pictures. Shut Chung
Tin holds court as the noble second
boss to Fong. Sally Chen as Miss Nine
is just okay. Even her dramatic reveal
doesn't really do much towards the
end.
That's not to say Hero Of Shanghai
overall isn't worth your time. The
fight scenes that are enclosed are
decent, and peppered with a couple of
'oh s--t' moments. Kuan Tai would go
from this film to direct and star in
the FIRST Iron Monkey film later that
year. So this is an interesting flick
to take in to see his dramatic growth.
It's available on DVD and online.
RATING: 2.5 OF 5 DRAGON PUNCHES
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