Super Spies and Secret Lies – Eureka

Ian Fleming’s series of novels featuring the British secret agent James Bond, beginning with ‘Casino Royale’ in 1953, was a huge success, swiftly prompting numerous adaptations and spin-offs, including comic books and a TV special. It was the film adaptations, that began with Dr. No in 1962, that sent the series through the stratosphere though. The UK-US co-productions didn’t just do well in their home countries either. The Bond films were massive hits around the world, particularly the first wave, which featured Sean Connery as the central agent, code-named 007.

As you might imagine, given the success of the films, imitators were quick to follow. Production companies in every corner of the globe made their own spins on Bond, be it through straight rip-offs, parodies or movies inspired by their style.

Hong Kong was not immune to ‘Bondmania’, aided by it being a British colony back when the series was in its heyday, and Shaw Brothers Studio were one of the companies jumping on the bandwagon. They made several Bond-like movies in the 60s to cash in on the craze and Eureka are releasing a trio of these on Blu-ray in a set entitled Super Spies and Secret Lies. It contains the films The Golden Buddha, Angel With the Iron Fists and The Singing Thief.

It’s no mystery to regular readers that I’m a big fan of martial arts movies and I’m also a long-time Bond fan, so the Shaw-Bond crossover sounded too good to be true for me. As such, I eagerly snatched myself a copy of the set and my thoughts follow.

The Golden Buddha (a.k.a. Jin pu sa)

Director: Lo Wei
Screenplay: Shih Wai
Starring: Paul Chang Chung, Jeanette Lin Tsui, Lo Wei, Fanny Fan Lai, Fung Ngai, Chang Pei-Shan, Tien Shun, Wu Ma, Hao Ren
Country: Hong Kong, Philippines
Running Time: 106 min
Year: 1966

The Golden Buddha sees Paul Chang Chung play Paul Cheung, a suave businessman who, at the start of the film, boards a flight to Singapore and accidentally switches briefcases with his friend, Chung Cheung (Chang Pei-Shan), who is getting off in Thailand. When Paul arrives in Thailand to retrieve his briefcase, he finds Chung Cheung dead and discovers a small golden Buddha inside the briefcase. The Buddha contains a set of instructions, one of three parts needed to locate a hidden treasure.

Paul teams up with Chan Mei-nan, the beautiful sister of Chung Cheung, with her own reasons for finding the treasure, and they embark on a dangerous journey to obtain the other two Buddhas. They are pursued by the Skeleton Gang, a group of ruthless mercenaries, and a seductive femme fatale working for the gang.

I really wanted to like The Golden Buddha. A lot of the Bond ingredients I was looking for are there – the exotic locations, the extravagant sets (albeit cheaper-looking than their Bond counterparts) and the attractive female co-star and villainess. There’s a lot of campy fun to be had too, in the retro ‘60s style and the ridiculous lead villain (played by director Lo Wei himself) who wears a sparkly gold outfit with a Dracula-like cape.

However, it doesn’t combine into something altogether successful. Lo Wei is not known as one of the better Hong Kong directors and his corner-cutting, chucked-together approach is evident here. There are some lazy plot contrivances, such as a goon who always seems to be in the right place to hear our protagonists give away their plans. There are also some flat-out ridiculous moments, such as when our hero decides to get the secret code tattooed on his leg (though the sillier moments like this do give the film charm).

The fight scenes are pretty terrible too, which is a great shame given the reputation of Shaw Brothers. Punches and kicks are clearly not connecting and movements are robotic.

Most damaging though, is the fact that the film is slow. I was quite bored by the end, despite some fun, goofy, more Bond-like aspects appearing later on.

So, whilst the film does have a daft, retro charm, it’s too clumsy and slow-moving to fully engage or excite. A disappointing start to the collection, sadly.

Films:

Director: Lo Wei
Screenplay: Shih Wai
Starring: Lily Ho, Fanny Fan Lai, Tang Ching, Tina Chin Fei, Lo Wei, Fan Mei-Sheng, Chang Pei-Shan, Gam Tin-Chue, Wu Ma
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 118 min
Year: 1967

Angel With the Iron Fists sees Shaw Brothers go for a ‘Jane Bond’ approach, as the film follows the story of a mysterious woman known only as Agent 009 (played by Lily Ho). She infiltrates a dangerous criminal organization known as the Dark Angels, led by a ruthless female boss (Tina Chin Fei).

To penetrate the gang, 009 must get friendly with the Dark Angel agent Tieh Hu (Tang Ching), but this riles up another Dark Angel, Dolly (Fanny Fan Lai), who doesn’t trust this newcomer.

On the surface, I thought Angel With the Iron Fists was a big improvement over The Golden Buddha. The story, initially, moves along faster, there are stronger Bond influences (including some goofy gadgets), slightly more convincing fight scenes and even a cool psychedelic title sequence, clearly inspired by Maurice Binder.

However, once again, the film dragged by the end. I was enjoying it a great deal initially, but it’s about half an hour too long. There’s not a strong enough narrative to hold your interest for 2 hours, even if individual scenes are a lot of fun.

The story, generally, isn’t very clear, with plenty of mystery and intrigue that never amounts to much. In fact, once you learn what the villain is plotting, a detail delivered in a throwaway fashion, it doesn’t actually sound that bad. She’s just creating a wonder drug that rejuvenates and provides an energy boost. I’ll have a lifetime’s supply, please.

So, whilst Angel With the Iron Fists trumps its predecessor in several ways, it still falls short thanks to a lacklustre script and lazy direction from Lo Wei. Given a decent trim, the film might have been a lot of fun though.

Films:

Director: Chang Cheh
Screenplay: Chiu Kang-Chien
Starring: Jimmy Lin Chong, Lily Ho, Lo Lieh, Essie Lin Chia, Mui Yan, Chu Gam, Erh Chun, Lan Wei-Lieh, Man Lei
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 91 min
Year: 1969

The Singing Thief follows the story of a reformed jewel thief, Diamond Poon (Jimmy Lin Chong), who now pursues a career as a popular singer. However, his past life catches up with him when a series of jewel thefts occur, mirroring his own past heists.

Given the similarities, the police, led by Detective Pao (Mui Yan) suspect Poon of the new crimes. So, he must clear his name while also dealing with the mysterious copycat thief. Along the way, he’s supported by his old friend, Wang Guoji (Lo Lieh) and Guoji’s wife, Tien Xin (Essie Lin Chia), as well as Fang Darling (Lily Ho), an attractive, wealthy woman with a curious interest in Poon’s activities.

Now this was more like it. The Singing Thief is much less Bond-riffing than the other films in the set. Our hero is a former thief, now singer, for starters, and references are only fleeting. However, the film is leaner, slicker and much more enjoyable than its predecessors, possibly because it has more of its own identity. Though it must be noted that the film bears more than a striking resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, so it’s not entirely original.

Surprisingly, given the campy, musical nature of the film (most notable in the back-to-back pair of numbers that open it), The Singing Thief was directed by Chang Cheh. Yes, the director famous for his manly, period-set, bloody tales of brotherhood made this film that begins with our hero dressed as a pirate crooning about how much he loves diamonds before singing and dancing in a nightclub (though the homoerotic undertones of his action films are well known, to be fair).

What Chang Cheh brings to the film is a greater sense of cinematic craftsmanship. The film looks great, with superb use made of depth and movement. Colour and light are beautifully played with too, though the final showdown is perhaps a little too dark – literally speaking.

On the topic of the film’s climax, the final act takes a surprisingly sharp turn. What begins as a light caper, with a hero that is often close to winking at the camera, later becomes a brutal action film. Chang Cheh’s roots show here, as our hero unflinchingly dispatches numerous bad guys in various eye-opening ways.

Also aiding these later scenes in particular, are fight choreographers Lau Kar Leung and Tang Chia. Having two of the best action directors in the business handle the fights makes these scenes much more effective than those that came before and much more in line with Hong Kong cinema, rather than trying to mirror their Hollywood counterparts.

The film still sags a little in places but, with a much shorter running time, visual flare, some kick-ass action and a few groovy musical numbers, The Singing Thief was the swinging ‘60s caper I was hoping for.

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