This new entry of 'Assorted Bits & Pieces' contains a treasure trove of old gossip news, information and pictures of rare Shaw Brothers movies that never made it to DVD as of this writing. I hope you enjoy this edition.
The first piece of news information is from the November 10th, 1979 issue of Saturday Weekly. It deals with the famous married couple, Jenny Tseng Yen Lei and the late actor, Alexander Fu Sheng....
***CLICK A PIC TO READ THE ENGLISH NEWS BITES***
Jenny had her own TVB variety show and had planned to go on an international tour (including America). Fu Sheng was supposed to have accompanied her. The troubled actor suffered several accidents while shooting movies at Shaw Brothers....Fu Sheng and his wife appeared on screen together in several Shaw productions. These include BOXER REBELLION (1975), NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS (1976) and CHINATOWN KID (1977).
Second is an article from International Screen number 184 from August 1971. It involves the marriage of superstars, Chin Han to Ivy Ling Po. What makes this article interesting is that Ivy was apparently engaged to the recently departed Paul Chang Chung who passed away February 5th, 2010. All three performers were under contract at Shaw Brothers at the time...
Chin Han was a popular Wuxia and martial arts film actor at the time. He was the wisest brother in Chang Cheh's classic production of THE HEROIC ONES (1970) and the star of THE KILLER (1971) directed by Chu Yuan, another announced, but not released to DVD. Ivy Ling Po was a hugely popular singer/actress. She was the star of THE LOVE ETERNE (1963) and also one of the 14 AMAZONS (1972) in Cheng Kang's massive swordplay production. She was also prone to doing her own dubbing.
Next is a brief snippet of interesting information regarding Ti Lung and his wife appearing in a movie together for the first time. The film in question is listed as GOLDEN SWORD. However, this is a curious production...
Ti Lung had just recently been given permission to freelance from Shaw's. They appeared in at least two known films together, THE REVENGER (1980) and THE KUNG FU EMPEROR (1981). Judging by the brief synopsis given in the above news bite, neither film fits this description. The only one that comes reasonably close is the former. Shi Szu (in both films) does fall in love with Ti Lung's character, but the story doesn't pan out the way it's described in the article. Possibly GOLDEN SWORD was never made, or completed, or that plot device was altered to fit into THE REVENGER, a Wuxia action drama from Chang Cheh protege, Pao Hsueh Li. It should be noted there was a Shaw Brothers film entitled THE GOLDEN SWORD (1969) directed by Lo Wei.
Here we have a news piece on frequent media magnet, Tony Liu Yung. This is in regards to his often tumultuous love life....
Liu Yung was one of Shaw's best actors. He was originally with Golden Harvest in all of Bruce Lee's pictures. He found fame in a series of films playing the character of Emperor Chien Lung. His martial arts weren't very smooth when compared with other more capable performers, but Liu more than made up for it with his acting. Some of his best movies include the ultra violent HK crime movie, BROTHERHOOD (1976), CONVICT KILLER (1980) with Ti Lung and SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT (1984) where he vied for screen supremacy against Liang Chia Jen in one of the Shaw's best of their latter output.
Now on to the pics of rare, unreleased Shaw Brothers movies. This first pic (from Southern Screen June 1972) is from IMPERIAL TOMB RAIDERS (1973) which initially had a spread showcased here. What makes this picture of interest is the way the film is described...
Here's a spread on Ho Meng Hua's THE BLACK ENFORCER from 1972. The film itself is quite good. It wasn't released on DVD, but is available in collectors circles in a bootleg of old VHS releases. There are at least two versions floating around. One from King Video and another of unknown origin without the video stamp in the upper corner....
Women were still big draws at the box office so Wang Ping is mentioned first in the page above. Wang Ping was an actress possessing exceptional beauty. She appeared in a handful of Shaw Brothers action pictures like Chang Cheh's VENGEANCE! (1970) and THE DUEL (1971). She also played Lo Lieh's love interest in the huge international moneymaker, KING BOXER (1972). Interestingly, these two pages above and below are from the October 1969 issue of Southern Screen magazine. THE BLACK ENFORCER bears a '72 release date. Considering it's a Korean co-production and was shot there (as was THE SHADOW WHIP around the same time), it's possible the film wasn't even released in Hong Kong, but I don't have that information.
Tang Ching is the main star in this movie. He plays a wronged constable, the Black Enforcer of the title. He's placed in prison after a group of killers he was escorting to the Capitol escape his grasp. Having to watch his family butchered in front of him, the Black Enforcer seeks out his enemy (played efficiently by ace villain actor, Tien Feng) only to find him living in solitude up in the mountains. Tang Ching was a leading actor at Shaw's during the 60's and very early 70's. He was visible in a lot of their James Bond style movies. In his later Shaw career, he played a lot of elder roles in Shaw Wuxia drama features.
Next is a spread of an unreleased to DVD oddity from 1972. This is Kuei Chi Hung's THE GOURD FAIRY....
I have some other magazines with pictures from this production, but these are the two I chose. This spread mainly shows off the characters and the stars that play them. These two pages are from the September 1971 issue of Southern Screen magazine.
An interesting cast is assembled here including then heartthrob Tsung Hua and Bolo Yeung in one of the lead villain roles. Yang Chi Ching is featured above. At the time, he was often featured as a main villain, or sometimes as an old teacher. At his age, the fact he was getting lead fighting roles was amazing. It's obvious, though, in many of these fighting movies that Yang is doubled. Nonetheless, he was with Shaw Brothers for some 30 years in a variety of roles.
Finally, we take a look at a rather intriguing production. It's award winning director, Chang Tseng Chai's REDBEARD from 1971....
You'll notice from the pictures above and below that the costumes are unusual and quite different from the normal attire seen in countless action films of the time. The director helmed a nice number of Shaw Brothers productions during his relatively brief tenure there. These include productions like THE FUGITIVE, THE CASINO (both 1972), RIVER OF FURY (1973) and two additional unreleased to DVD titles, GAMBLING SYNDICATE and QUEEN HUSTLER (both 1975).
The late, great Chen Hung Lieh is among the cast in this ambitious production. There was an additional two pages showcasing the various characters in this film. This spread is from the October 1971 issue of Southern Screen. Shaw's were seemingly banking quite a bit on Chang's film. Sadly, it was released in the summer months of 1971 and only managed to accrue 473,393 HK dollars. There is a bootleg in collectors circles of this title. It was one of the more anticipated titles that didn't get a restored release from Celestial Pictures through IVL.
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
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