Super Spies and Secret Lies

In the wake of 1960’s ‘Bond-Mania’ there was never any chance that the lucrative Hong Kong film industry would sit back and just watch…no! Thanks to the prolific Shaw Brothers, numerous tales of Bond-like shenanigans would soon conquer the native market. Three movies are now available on Blu-ray in their world-wide debut – presented as a Limited Edition box-set release.

First up is THE GOLDEN BUDDHA (Dir: Lo Wei) from 1966, a tale of switched briefcases, which leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and of course, murder and mayhem. At the helm of the action is Paul Cheung (Paul Chang Cheung), a businessman who – luckily for him - happens to be a bit of a karate expert as well. A routine flight from Hong Kong to Singapore turns out to be much more than he bargained for when not only an old buddy of his, Chung Cheung (Cheung Pooi-Saan) happens to sit at the aisle next to him and Chung carries with him a briefcase practically identical to the one Paul has. When the friendly stewardess places Paul’s briefcase next to his friend’s in the luggage corner, we know even before they know that a mix-up is inevitable.

While Chung’s destination is Bangkok, Paul soon learns that he too will have to spend the night there thanks to his connection flight to Singapore being delayed due to bad weather. Checking into his hotel room, he is surprised when, after opening the briefcase, not only does he find the wrong documents but a small golden Buddha statue with a mysterious inscription. Attempting to trace his friend to return the wrong briefcase, instead he discovers him murdered and suddenly it dawns upon Paul that somehow, the golden Buddha might be the reason. His instincts prove to be correct as in no time, he finds out that his dead friend’s brother Chan Chung Tai (director Lo Wei) and his sister hold the remaining two statues which are useless unless he gets the third one, as only the summary of all three inscriptions reveal the secret to a treasure at the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya. Chung’s sister Chan Mei-nan (Jeanette Lin Tsui) tries to avenge the murder. Before Paul Chang and Chan Mai-nan join forces (as they are constantly chased by the notorious Skeleton Gang), at first, one of their female members (Fanny Fan) pretends to be Chan Mai-nan.

The fun really kicks in when Paul, Chan Mai-nan and her brother are captured by the Skeleton Gang. Wait until you see the main villain in his super-camp, gold-satin outfit… not to mention the gang’s lair itself. An army of around 80 people are in his employ holed up in a huge state of the art underground multi-complex; to say nothing of the locations. Ceaseless action and a fast pace throughout maintained by director Lo-Wei (who also appears in the film in a very integral part as you will see) make this movie an enjoyable thrill-ride with a nifty and pretty surprising climax. Admittedly, The Golden Buddha is not exactly 'deep' (and since when have our own Bond movies been deep?) but that isn't quite the point. Composer Wang-Chu-Jen seems to have utilised a number of similar riffs to the western counterparts as well as his own and it’s great fun from beginning to end. Oh, there is a bit of romance, naturally, for our hero Paul with his murdered friend’s delightful sister…

Next up is ANGEL WITH THE IRON FISTS from 1967, also directed by Lo Wei (who, once again appears in the film). With more than a just a few nods to James Bond (both visually, musically and in terms of plot), this espionage adventure is unusual for its time in so far as both hero and villain are in fact female – what am I saying, the entire concept was ahead of its time. Plot-wise more simplistic than the Golden Buddha, things get off to a murderous start when a young man (who later on is identified as an Interpol agent) frantically attempts to place a call in a public phone box before being ruthlessly gunned down by male members of the notorious Dark Angel gang. Oh yes, another gang! Enter Lorna (Lily Ho), who soon after arrives at Hong Kong airport and looking every bit like a model for Mary Quant couture. She carries a cache of diamonds and as we soon find out, is on the run from a mobster called ‘Baldy’ (Shun Tien). What’s with the diamonds and why is Lorna on the run? Purely by chance (or is it?), a suave and gallant young lad comes to Lorna’s rescue when killers belonging to Baldy’s gang are after her. He introduces himself as Tieh Hu (Tang Ching), a jewel-dealer. If you think such coincidence is too good to be true then it is, because Tieh, together with his girlfriend Dolly (Fanny Fan), a nightclub singer, secretly is a member of the Dark Angel gang. Tieh introduces Lorna to the gang’s leader, Madame Jin (Tina Fei Chin) who, during the course of the film, is a shining example of the old adage that the female of the species is deadlier than the male. Surrounded by Chinese Bond-girl lookalikes, most male gang members seem merely reduced to the status of underdogs although when one female gang member is found out to have embezzled money, Madame Jin not only sentences her to death but swiftly dispatches of her with the aid of a bizarre decapitation machine! She also dispatches of a male gang member who had the audacity to drug Lily (with the intention of rape) in true Rosa Klebb style – the deadly assassin in the James Bond flick ‘From Russia with Love’ who kills her opponents with poison-laced blades hidden in her shoes. Anyway, while Tieh develops a bit of a thing for Lorna (causing his girlfriend Fanny to grow increasingly jealous), Madame Jin soon recognises Lily’s special skills in all things espionage and so on, thus enlisting her as her new special agent 009. Of course, Madame has no idea that Lily is in fact a very skilled undercover agent, also working for Interpol… Just like megalomaniac Blofeld in the Bond flicks, Madame Jin too has plans to conquer the world with her ‘invention’: a wonder-drug which not only energizes but rejuvenates. However, with 009 aka Lily on the team, Madame had better not set her goals so high… Boasting gorgeous and hugely inventive set designs (not to mention all those swinging sixties outfits), the film’s occasional sexist undertones are outweighed by pre-feminist overtones.

The final offer in this set is THE SINGING THIEF (1969), the only film not directed by Lo Wei. For this rather peculiar production, Chang Cheh sat in the director’s chair. Peculiar in so far because the film is actually a caper with plenty of music, though not a musical in the traditional sense. Centre stage is taken by Taiwanese singer Lin Chung in the role of Diamond Poon, a reformed jewel-thief now carving out an honest living as a singer. To demonstrate just how popular a singer he is, the opening sequence sees him performing a song dressed in full pirate regalia (think Adam Ant) before the scene cuts to the nightclub in which he now performs. The club is managed by his good mate Fu Kuei (Au-Yeung Kwong) and life would be ok for Poon were it not for an imposter hell-bent on impersonating Poon’s former daring jewel robberies to such an extent that Detective Pao (Mui Yan) and his colleagues are certain that Poon has had a relapse and is up to his old tricks again. The imposter even leaves Poon’s signature in the shape of a red carnation after every theft. Briefly taking shelter at the abode of another good mate, Wang Guoji (Lo Lieh) and his wife Tian Xin (Essie Lin Chia), the three speculate as to why someone clearly wants to set up Poon, who by the way has served six years in the slammer for his robberies. The whole scenario is not only made worse by bumbling Detective Pao, who is convinced that Poon is behind the latest break-ins and tries to catch Poon using every tactic there is, but a mysterious and beautiful admirer of Poon, ultra-rich Darling Fang (Lily Ho) has her own plans for Poon… As fun and as wonderfully kitsch (and it is) it all sounds, THE SINGING THIEF is a bit of an unbalanced mess what with a rather light-hearted and occasionally even humorous first half, only for the second half to turn heavy-handed and nasty, with seemingly endless fight scenes (though there’s still room for musical interludes). Other viewers might disagree but the concept didn’t work for this reviewer.

The first 2000 copies of SUPER SPIES AND SECRET LIES are presented in an O-card slipcase with Collector’s booklet and other bonus material includes audio commentaries, new interviews, reversible sleeve and so on.