Shum Lo
Birthday: 1925-03-01 Place of Birth: Hunan Province, China
Synopsis
Acting
Roving Swordsman
Traveling swordsman Shen Sheng-yi (Ti Lung) and his lady friend match wits and swords with the last surviving member of the once great Murung family who is determined to rule the martial world by stealing plans to crafting firearms.
The Fake Ghost Catchers
This delightful action comedy came out a full two years before Ghostbusters premiered. Coincidence? You be the judge. Whatever the inspiration, nothing can compare to this amazing showcase of wushu and wizardry as one of the best all-star fighting casts take on spectres, spirits, and phantoms as well as each other.
Challenge of the Gamesters
A forerunner to the new wave gambling films, this is one of Wong Jing's first hits--before he would go on to dominate Hong Kong cinema for the next two decades. Although rife with Japanese spies, Shanghai tycoons, beautiful starlets, and enough intrigue to keep 007 happy, Bond himself would be no match for the heroes' skill at mahjong and other games Hong Kong gamblers play--proving that the cube is often mightier than the baccarat card.
Emperor Chien Lung and the Beauty
The year is 1756 and the Emperor journeys to Soochow, where he encounters a famous courtesan and gets involved with in all sorts of un-emperor-like activities.
The Shadow Boxing
Lau Kar-leung returns to the success of his first directed film, "The Spiritual Boxer," which also stars the original film's bumbling ghost controller, Wong Yu. Hoping to make the lightning of success strike in the same place, Lau had his two brothers Lau Kar-Wing and Gordon Liu not only act but also help with the fights. The end result is a martial arts film masterpiece filled with breathtaking action and set pieces.
Monkey Kung Fu
A small-time crook goes in search of the other half of a wooden keepsake which will lead him to the legendary kung fu technique of the Gibbon Clan Fist.
Swordsman and Enchantress
Asian fans of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon recognized that its director Ang Lee was actually inspired by director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung's wonderful tales of a "martial art world" where all wushu warriors try to attain the "Deer Sword" and escape from the insidious maze-like "Toy Land." Master kung-fu choreographer Tang Chia leads the king and queen of Shaw's swordplay, Ti Lung and Lily Li, in a fascinating and entertaining adventure of consummate swordmen and sorceresses.
Executioners from Shaolin
A couple unite - she is fluent in the crane style of kung fu, he in tiger style. They have a son, but the boy's father is killed by the evil eunuch Pai Mei. Disguised as a girl, his mom trains him in crane style while he secretly learns tiger style from his father's training manual.
The Condemned
Chiang plays a righteous character who helps an unjustly imprisoned swordsman accused of stealing. Together they break out of prison and serve notice to all the evil men in their lives that a new deadly duo is in town.
Fearful Interlude
Accompanied by his old manservant, scholar Sung Li Ho (Hong Hoi) is on his way to the capital for the imperial exam. They spend a night in the house of Mrs. Yuan and Li Ho takes a fancy to her pretty daughter, Pei Fang (Dana). Li Ho is discovered by a maid peeping at Pei Fang as she takes a bath. He slips and falls into the bathtub, creating a most embarrassing situation. His old servant is also implicated and both are beaten up before being thrown out. Continuing their journey in the desolate countryside, they come across woodcutter Hsi Hsueh Kuei who puts them up for the night. Captivated by the beauty of the owner’s two daughters, who are vampires, he spends a night with them and turns into a skeleton. Chased by the vampires, Shun Lai makes a narrow escape.
The Empress Dowager
This dragon lady of the Ching Dynasty was the power behind the throne for 50 years, and hew vast tapestry of palace intrigues is vividly brought to the screen in this memorable epic.
The Taxi Driver
It stars David Chiang, as the taxi driver whose adventures reveal Hong Kong's verve with wit, compassion and loads of action.
The Thunderbolt Fist
A small village is taken over by the nasty Japanese, who kill the town's top kung fu fighter in order to scare the populace into submission. Escaping the wrath of the Japanese, the son of the master flees into the hills, where he trains with a group of rebels led by Gam Kei-Chu. Fast-forward ten years, and Chuen returns to the village armed with his father's secret technique of the Thunderbolt Fist with the hopes of killing the leader of the Japanese.
Finger of Doom
This creepy kung fu film fight-fest centers on the evil Madame Kung Sun and her poisonous "Finger of Doom", a unique supernatural power which allows her to transform normal, everyday people into horrifying zombies! In the face of this devastating talent, only one person has the guts to stop Madame Kung Sun in her chilling bid for martial arts supremacy - the villainess' own sister. But it's not something she can do alone, so this heroic young woman joins forces with three world-weary martial artists, The brothers-in-arms were actually looking to retire from the world of Jiang Hu, but now find themselves thrown back into the mix, embarking on one last mission to save the world from machinations of the venomous Madame Kung Sun!
The Magnificent Swordsman
Lone swordsman Jiang Dan-Feng (Wong Chung-Shun) is ambushed by a pair of bandits and quickly despatches them. One of them, as he is dying, asks Jiang to take his personal effects to his sister. This being a Wuxia film, our hero is bound by a strict code of honour, and he agrees. The bandit’s sister, Xiu Xiu (Shu Pei-Pei), is surprisingly forgiving and tells him that he got mixed up in a bad crowd of robbers before he died. As it happens, these self-same bandits are threatening to tear up the village at any moment, and Jiang prepares to defend it despite being despised by the town folk for killing Xiu Xiu’s brother.
Blue Skies
Hsiao Yun's rise to fame all results from a lucky break, as she's forced to substitute for another singer at the last second. The girl makes the most of her fortuitous opportunity, creating a huge splash in her debut as an entertainer, a fact which forever changes her life! However, this newfound meteoric rise to fame begins to take a toll on her personal life. For one thing, it starts to complicate her burgeoning romance with her pianist lover. And secondly, she soon finds herself the receiver of some sexual overtures from the producer of her show. What will poor Hsiao Yun do? And will blue skies be smiling at her by story's end?
The King with My Face
THE KING WITH MY FACE (1967) offers a well-produced Shaw Bros. variation on Alexandre Dumas' famous tale, "The Man in the Iron Mask."
The Pearl Phoenix
Huangmei Opera movies like The Pearl Phoenix are unique to 1960's Hong Kong culture, a product of the Swinging Sixties but considerably more in touch with their Chinese roots. This one is complete with a gender-bending tale where the male lead is played by female and the female lead poses as a man, plus movie queen Li Ching and the singing voices of Ivy Ling Po and Jing Ting. Sit back and enjoy!
Madam Slender Plum
Before director Lo Wei helped to discover Bruce Lee and the king of kung-fu comedy Jackie Chan, in Madam Slender Plum, Lo perpetuates the career of yet another Shaw's non-action, femme fatale starlet; the sleek and sexy, puppy-eyed Eurasian Jenny Hu. It's a melodrama with a touch of murder-mystery in the vein of an old Alfred Hitchcock movie where Diana Chang plays the mother with Jenny playing her oldest daughter.
Till the End of Time
Jenny Wu is a singer who charms the well-to-do Peter Chen, but his parents object to a union between their only son and a lowly cabaret singer. He ignores their advice and marries her anyway, and for a time, they find some manner of wedded bliss. But the years are not entirely kind. He works hard to make ends meet, but his health pays the price.
