Bullet Points: Lady Whirlwind
Over the past couple of years, Arrow Video has helped introduce me to numerous classic Kung Fu titles that I missed out from the Shaw Brothers vault. Now I have Arrow Video to thank for introducing me to a classic Golden Harvest film that I had never seen before, 1972’s Lady Whirlwind!
- Out of the Woods: As the movie begins, Hsuang Hsuang is walking through the woods where she witnesses Ling Shi-Hao fighting off Tung Ku’s and his Japanese mobsters. Ling puts up one hell of a fight against multiple attackers, but when the action moves to the nearby beach and Ling calls out Tung Ku for not fighting his own battle… Ling pays for those words and is left for dead as Tung Ku and his crew walk away. Hsuang Hsuang who watched the entire incident in horror, kneels down beside Ling’s near lifeless body.
- Luck Be a Lady: Three years later… Tien Li-Chun (Angela Mao, Enter the Dragon) rolls into town looking for Ling Shi-Hao. Her first stop is the local casino, where she out cheats the cheaters running the games. This gets the attention of the casino manager (played by Sammo Hung). Tien offers to trade all of her winnings if they hand over Ling Shi-Hao. This trade is not possible, which leads to Tien Li-Chin kicking butt inside and outside of the casino like some sort of Lady Whirlwind… It doesn’t take long for the casino manager to report to his boss (and sister) Madame Tiao Ta Niang. Madame Tiao is all kinds of pissed that one woman caused so much trouble for her casino and that her brother failed to do anything about it… something that nearly gets him killed.
- Mistaken Identity: Madame Tang’s main squeeze happens to be Tung Ku, who is really curious as to why anyone is looking for Ling Shi-Hao years after Tung Ku presumably took him out. So Tung Ku dispatches some of his men to the local inn, to see if the mysterious and dangerous woman is staying there. When the men get there they see a woman sitting at a table and assume that she is the woman they are looking for, but instead it is Hsuang Hsuang! Hsuang Hsuang is asked if she is in town looking for Ling Shi-Hao, she can’t help but wonder why anyone is looking for a man that has been dead for three years! Now, I should point out that Tien Li-Chun was staying at the inn and she heard what Hsuang Hsuang said about Ling Shi-Hao. So when Tung Ku’s men head back to Madame Tiao’s, Tien Li-Chun waits for Hsuang Hsuang to leave and follows her.
- Hate Triangle: Hsuang Hsuang returns to her place outside of town and wouldn’t you know who has been shacking up with her for the past three years!?!? Why Ling Shi-Hao, of course! Hsuang Hsuang was able to nurse Ling back to health after the brutal beating he received from Tung Ku and the two have become quite close. Ling feels like it is finally time for him to exact his revenge on Tung Ku and that’s when Tien Li-Chun shows up, ready to exact her revenge on Ling! Apparently years earlier, Ling knocked up Tien’s sister and then left her! Tien’s sister then killed herself as a result… which is why Tien Li-Chun has been trying to track down Ling so she could kill him! Ling and Hsuang beg Tien to give Ling time to take care of his Tung Ku business and then Tien can do what she wishes… Tien not only agrees, she eventually ends up assisting Ling, because ain’t nobody gonna kill Ling but her!
Lady Whirlwind is a double revenge tale with a bit of a twist. With no shortage of bad guys to beat up, Lady Whirlwind also has plenty of fighting action to go around. And it is only fitting that the Lady Whirlwind herself, Angela Mao’s Tien Li-Chun, is the standout fighter! It was also fun seeing Sammo Hung as one of the antagonists in one of his earlier roles.
Speaking of fun, here are some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Lady Whirlwind was released as Deep Thrust in the United States to take advantage of the hype surrounding Deep Throat.
- Bastard Count: I counted two “bastards” uttered in Lady Whirlwind.
- Familiar Face: According to HKMDB, the future Bruce Leung (Call Me Dragon and My 12 Kung Fu Kicks) played one of the thugs in Lady Whirlwind. I didn’t spot him on my first watch, but now I want to watch again to see if I can.
