Bullet Points: Chinatown Kid
I started down another movie rabbit hole late last year when I reviewed Alexander Fu Sheng in The New Shaolin Boxers.
I decided to continue my Fu Sheng journey with another Shaw Brothers film regarded as a classic by many, 1977’s Chinatown Kid…
- Freshly Squeezed: Dong (Alexander Fu Sheng, The New Shaolin Boxers) has just arrived in Hong Kong where he finds himself living with his grandfather in a flop house and looking for work. The job hunt proves to be a difficult task for the uneducated and undocumented Dong. Dong eventually resorts to starting his own freshly squeezed orange juice business without a license and it is on the street selling OJ where Dong has his first encounter with a member of the Green Tiger gang, Hao. Hao is intrigued by Dong’s skills and Dong is intrigued by Hao’s digital watch. Hao challenges Dong to a fight… if Dong wins, Hao agrees to give Dong his watch. Not only does Dong win… he thrashes Hao. But it is a bittersweet victory for Dong… the watch he was supposed to win was broken during the fight. So both parties end up leaving the fight salty, Hao because he was embarrassed and Dong because he didn’t win the watch he was promised. After Dong confronts Hao again the next day, Hao manages to get some revenge on Dong by planting some cocaine on him and then calling the cops. Dong is in hot water now and on the run. It is clear he needs to get the hell out of Hong Kong…
- Back to School: Yang (Sun Chien, Five Deadly Venoms) has just returned to Hong Kong after having served in the military for the past few years. Yang plans on studying abroad in the United States. Yang’s friends and family are super supportive of Yang’s plans for the future and it isn’t long before Yang is getting the hell out of Hong Kong…
- Coming to America: Both Dong and Yang find themselves as new arrivals in San Francisco at the same time and despite the disparity in their backgrounds and how they got there, both men also find themselves looking for work at a restaurant in Chinatown owned by Chen. The two become fast friends, co-workers and even roommates as they share a small room in the attic of the restaurant. But things take a dramatic turn when the Chinatown chapter of the Green Tigers led by Hu (Lo Meng, Crippled Avengers) show up and intimidate Chen into paying them more protection money and try to recruit Yang, who Dong affectionately refers to as College Kid. Dong steps in and invites the Tigers to join him outside where we are treated to some street fight action. Observing the action from afar is the leader of the White Dragon gang, Long (Phillip Kwok, Invincible Shaolin).
- Living the Good Life: Chen is pissed with Dong for causing trouble with the Green Tigers and fires Dong immediately… with no place to go, Long of the White Dragons swoops in and takes advantage of Dong’s desperate situation and naivety. Long paints a picture for Dong, where the White Dragons are the good guys and the Green Tigers are the bad guys… Dong becomes a pawn for the White Dragons and helps them run the Green Tigers right out of Chinatown. And just like that Dong goes from the poor house to the penthouse… gone is his denim vest and blue jeans and he is now seen cruising around Chinatown in his car, wearing a suit and smoking fancy cigarettes. But when Dong bumps into his old buddy Yang, it ends up being a wake up call for both men…
- War on Drugs: Dong gets the heads up from Yang that the White Dragons are drug dealing gangsters, Dong doesn’t want to believe Yang at first… but when Dong learns that Yang is about to veer off his squeaky clean road and is tempted to shoot up cocaine to give him the energy to continue his grueling schedule of going to college during the day, then busting his hump at the restaurant after school and studying all night with little time for sleep… Dong makes it his mission to rid Chinatown of drugs… something that does not sit well with his employers the drug dealing White Dragons. And you get a feeling that this can’t possibly end well for Dong.
After watching Chinatown Kid one word came to mind… WOW! Equal parts story and martial arts action with a star in Alexander Fu Sheng who could handle both and make it look easy.
Now let me try to wow you with these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Extended Cut: After watching the 86 minute version of Chinatown Kid on Prime Video, I learned that there was actually an extended cut of the film and I won’t lie the thought of more Chinatown Kid is intriguing.
- Lips and Assholes: After Dong first arrives in San Francisco, Xiang (a friend of Dong’s grandfather) treats Dong to a hot dog and a beer. Dong takes the “dog” portion literally and mentions that he thought only the Cantonese ate dogs. An understandable mistake for someone new to American culture. But for any of use who have seen The Great Outdoors, we know that hot dogs aren’t sausages made out of dogs, but pig lips and assholes.
- Jenny: Alexander Fu Sheng’s wife, Jenny Tseng played Dong’s pseudo love interest in the film, Yvonne. Jenny Tseng was credited as simply “Jenny” a singular name she earned from her days as a pop star in Taiwan and Hong Kong. As best I can tell, there is no truth to the rumor that her phone number is 867-5309.
