The Lady Hermit (1971), starring Cheng Pei-pei, Shih Szu, Lo Lieh and Wang Hsia. Directed by Ho Meng-hua.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

FOR all the acting ability she showed in a variety of parts through the twenty-three pictures she did for Shaw Brothers, Cheng Pei-pei is best known for her wuxia movies, or, rather, one wuxia movie: Come Drink with Me. While opinions vary over King Hu's film (even its status as a classic), most agree her star turn as Golden Swallow is the model for the character of a strong swordswoman that Hong Kong screenwriters were inspired to copy (if not better) in future wuxias at Shaw and other studios. The way the Shaw experience went down, not one wuxia after CDwM could duplicate its success, including Golden Swallow, the sequel directed by Chang Cheh. Even the prescence of Pei-pei in these follow-ups didn't guarantee a good picture, demonstrating how much the arrangement of the young woman under the guidance of director Hu was one of those "blue moon" occurrences.

The Lady Hermit is among those select few Shaw wuxias that came close to the level of quality found in CDwM. While not as moody or "trippy", after energetic fighting scenes and a "love triangle" subplot, TLH is best remembered for Pei-pei working with the woman who'd try to replace her as Shaw's wuxia queen, Shih Szu.

Three years prior to the events depicted in TLH, the sword-wielding heroine known as Lady Hermit (Cheng Pei-pei) disappeared shortly after fighting the self-proclaimed Number One bad ass of the martial arts world, Black Demon (Wang Hsieh), who wounded her in the abdomen with his "Shadowless Claw" technique. As it turns out, Yeng Yushuang (her real name) has spent that time laying low in the town of Dungan, recovering from the injury while working at Da Am Security Service as a maid for Chief Wang (Fang Mien).

Arriving in town one day is Ciu Ping (Shih Szu), a young lady who knows how to handle a whip as well as she can a sword; she has come to visit her uncle Wang as she searches for LH in hopes of getting her as a sifu. When Ping mentions rumors that LH is in the nearby town of Baijiang, Wang arranges a ride there for her with a shipment driven by Chang-chung (Lo Lieh), a good-looking escort she develops a crush on. Once in Baijiang, she finds out LH is supposedly in Chung Kuei Temple, where the townspeople go to buy charms from her as protection from ghosts that are currently on a nightly murder spree. Ping is skeptical about the whole situation, and not long after she realizes the "ghosts" are flesh and blood, she and Chang-chung enter the temple, discovering this LH is a phony Black Demon is using to lure the real one into a trap. As LH eventually shows up to eliminate the imposter and rescue Ping and Chang-chung, the moment the two hear LH's voice, they realize the mystery woman is Yushuang.

With Yushuang's cover blown, she abruptly leaves the security service; Ping quickly finds her on the road and begs Yushuang to teach her kung fu. United by their common hatred of Black Demon, Yushuang agrees, and as they refurbish an abandoned house for shelter, Yushuang trains Ping, including showing her the "Flying Tiger" style, a countermove to the "Shadowless Claws" where (basically) landing on one's feet like a cat after after being thrown by an opponent may help one to gain the upper hand.

As several weeks pass by, Ping's attraction to Chang-chung has increased since she began teaching him the martial arts she's learned from Yushuang, but what Ping doesn't know is he's had feelings for Yushuang since she was working at the security service. In turn, Yushuang cares just as much for him, but she can't think about romance until she deals with Black Demon. However, when Chang-chung suddenly arrives at the hideout in a mutilated state after barely escaping from Black Demon's men at the security service (because of his ties to LH, they have slain Wang and burned the business to the ground), Yushuang helps him to recover while Ping is away collecting ingredients for some medicine, and in the process, she lets her guard down for him...a little.

When Ping comes back from a month's worth of gathering, she sees the two of them together, and jealousy clouds her mind in a hurry. Twenty-four hours later, her perceptions haven't changed, and on an impulse, she decides to handle the messy affair of killing Black Demon herself. Despite Yushuang's assertion she isn't ready, Ping rushes off to get him anyway. With Yushuang and Chang-chung trailing not too far behind, Ping defies the odds by overcoming all barriers along the way before finally arriving at Black Demon's head-quarters. Bottom line: if Ping can't stop him, can Lady Hermit (lingering injury and all) be there in time to save her and be able to deal with Black Demon on her own?

What immediately stands out about TLH is the superb cinematography by Lin Kuo Chiang, Li Yu Tang and Tsao Wei Chi. After King Hu's movies, such attention to the slightest of visual details is typical of director Meng-hua's best films, and TLH is no exception. Every last shot taken seems to have been given some significant thinking through, from the lighting to camera setups. In conjunction with Chang Hsing Lung's marvelous editing, every scene, whether a quiet one or full of swordplay and arterial spray, benefits from the craftsmanship of these talented guys. For the era, this is one of the best looking "old school" wuxias ever.

Yeh I-Fang's screenplay for TLH wisely reinforces the "less is more" argument with straightforward storytelling without a lot of psychology. (I imagine his version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be called "Tiger and Dragon", for a start.) He keeps the action and Black Demon off at strategic intervals in order to focus more on the sisterly bond between Ping and Yushuang, which is only threatened when Chang-chung (innocently) enters the scenario. As sufficiently developed the low-key soap opera is, the looming prescence of Black Demon should've been emphasized more. As it is now, he comes off as just a big bully. Further, if anyone attempted to bring an end to his reign of terror in the past, no previous contenders are mentioned; this implies only LH (Ping comes later) has stood up to him, which is pushing the limits of all plausability. (Possibly, a more physically imposing actor other than Wang Hsieh could've been cast, but this would've solved only half the problem.)

The acting (aside from what Hsieh brings to the production) does not disappoint at any level. Cheng Pei-pei easily gives style and substance to LH, and the well-written part is in synch with her usual good performance, and this wasn't always the case with some of the wuxias she did after CDwM. Lo Lieh appropriately underplays Chang-chung, the "eye in the hurricane" for the film, whether quietly pining for Yushuang or charming the lovestruck Ping. Among the supporting players, more than a few familiar faces pop up as Black Demon's men; keep watch for Chuan Yuan (The Thunderbolt Fist), Cliff Lok, Yeung Chak-Lam (The Shadow Boxer), Kok Lee Yan and Sammo Hung.

Even though it's Pei-pei's movie, the other reason TLH exists is to showcase Shaw's rising star, Shih Szu, the designated heir apparent to Pei-pei. So it goes she does a lot more in TLH (her third Shaw picture) than Pei-pei, but to her credit, she doesn't upstage Pei-pei. She portrays Ping as a young woman who shows maturity with a sword and whip but is still immature to many ways of the world and life. The acting range she displays is as impressive as the kinetic fighting action (supervised by Leung Siu Chung) and two sequences of elaborate stuntwork (involving a bridge and a pagoda) she participates in. I also get a kick out of the light moments she shares with Lieh where Ping practically swoons over Chang-chung; whenever the lovely Szu acts bashful and flirty, no fan of hers is immune to her charms (especially Brother Fang).

Funimation's last Shaw DVD release (until we hear otherwise) is consistent with their previous reissues. It has a fine anamorphic picture (stemming from a proper transfer with no "combing" in the playback), and the two soundtrack choices (English and Mandarin audio in their original mono, the latter with optional English subtitles) both sound great. The only "extras" found on the disc are advertising.

Through the May '70 issue of Hong Kong Movie News (thanks to venoms5 over at Cool Ass Cinema for the info), we know Pei-pei left Shaw to get married, and move to the US to retire from moviemaking, after finishing work on Lo Wei's The Shadow Whip. Had TLH been her last film, it would've made her exit from Hong Kong that much sweeter; unfortunately, seven months after TLH's January '71 opening, Shaw let TSW drop, an uninspired piece of work in which Pei-pei's character brandished a whip much like Szu did in TLH. (Hindsight is 20/20, but Shaw would've been better off leaving TSW in the vault or putting it out before TLH.) As the business of cranking out motion pictures at Shaw went during the early 1970s, they were staying the course, right down to thoughtlessly giving their departed star one more raw deal.

(Two years later, Golden Harvest would coax Pei-pei out of retirement, but that is a story best saved for another time.)

Brother Fang says... "Fans of Cheng Pei-pei, Lo Lieh and Shih Szu are already sold on this, and all lovers of Shaw Brothers' wuxia films should follow suit. It's a good, affordable DOMESTIC copy of a hard-to-find import; need I say more?"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

The Thunderbolt Fist (1972), starring Shih Szu, Chuan Yuan and Nan Kung-hsun. Directed by Chang Yi-hu.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

OFFBEAT casting, a plot with a measure of actual details and one of the more unusual endings found in any martial arts movie lifts The Thunderbolt Fist a notch above the "usual" Shaw Brothers product. Make no mistake, this is as derivative as these flicks can get, but most of the good films in any given genre are not innovators. (This picture owes its existence mainly to earlier Shaws like One-Armed Swordsman, The Chinese Boxer and King Boxer.)

Considering the initial reason I got this DVD was only because one of the background players was Fu Sheng (briefly visible in two scenes), I give credit to the star turn of Shih Szu for making me come back for repeated visits. Though her part is in a supporting capacity, she has top billing; it's her picture to steal, and she does it well.

Brother Fang reminds you Shih Szu is HOT!

A sizeable band of Japanese ronin invade a town in northeastern China, terrorizing the citizens into submission and siezing control over the local ginseng trade; people can sell it only to the Japanese. When a group of farmers led by Gin Chi (Gam Kei Chu) resist this, they rough it up with some of the ronin, killing one. With the elders of the town (including the mayor) afraid to take any action against the Japanese, Gin and his friends make their escape to the mountains, vowing to take care of the ronin themselves after a period of extensive training.

The ronin are so itching to show their superiority to the Chinese, they've even built a fighting ring in the town upon which they intend to make spectacles of the "sick men of Asia". Before leaving, Gin Chi suggests if Ping Bai (Feng Mien) of the Jinxian School of martial arts defeats the ronin leader, Gu Lan (Chan Feng Chen), in the ring, they may get rid of the Japanese for good. Gu himself delivers this challenge to Ping, and they eventually have at it; despite some injury to himself, Ping defeats Gu, killing him.

Chan Feng Chen and Feng Mien.

The ronin go after Ping, killing him in retalation; Ping's friend, Old Wang (Wong Ching Ho), flees with Ping's son, Tie Wa, to the mountains where Gin Chi is hiding out. In their haste, they leave behind Ping's manual on the "Thunderbolt Fist" technique in the care of Tie's childhood sweetheart, Feng Niou.

Shih Szu and Chuan Yuan.

Ten years later, the kung fu of the older Tie Wa (Chuan Yuan) is pretty good, thanks to his being trained by Gin and his daughter, Die Er (Shih Szu), but it's now time for Tie to retrieve the manual, the book that holds the key to getting the ronin out of their lives. He departs for town to find Feng Niou (Wong Chin Feng) and guage how tough the ronin forces are.

Wong Chin Feng and Chuan Yuan.

Tie finds out Feng has married his old friend Da Xiong (Tung Lin), who rescued her from the clutches of Gu Gang (Nan Kung-hsun), the son of Gu Lan who now leads the ronin. (By catching a glimpse of him in action, Tie knows Gu's martial arts skills are even better than that of his father's.) Gu Gang, having dealt with Tie and Da when they were all younger, knows these two working together will bring him unwanted hassles; he has innuendo spread around town that Tie has been fooling around with Feng. Soon enough, Da tries to mix it up with Tie over the misunderstanding, but Feng intervenes, telling them it's a ploy by the Japanese to turn them against each other. A battered Tie wisely retreats, taking the manual with him.

Having barely started to learn the Thunderbolt Fist, Tie impulsively sets off to town again to deal with Gu, staying under wraps at the closed-up Jinxian school. Against Tie's wishes, Die Er sneaks off after him, arriving to see firsthand how the townspeople are getting shaken down by the ronin, including having to pay protection money. Figuring out where Gu resides, she sneaks in at night, steals a large quantity of currency from his vault, and redistributes it to the people who need it more.

Upon discovery of the theft, the ronin think Tie is the one responsible for it, and Gu sends off a challenge to Tie to meet him at the ring for a duel. Da Xioung intercepts the note, and having realized his misjudgement in accusing Tie of adultery, goes to fight Gu in his place in hopes of making up for his mistake. Gu fatally wounds Da, and he's left to slowly die.

Wong Chin Feng and Nan Kung-hsun.


Once Gu discovers where Tie's been hiding in town, he goes off with some men after him. Tie has yet to be a match for Gu, and he gets captured, as is Feng not long after her husband passes on. Tie is tortured by the ronin, the worst of it being a disabling of his right arm while a horrified Feng watches on. Only her agreement to submit herself to Gu's sexual appetite saves Tie from death, and he gets released. After Tie is gone into the night, Feng commits suicide before Gu can lay a hand on her.

As Tie recovers back at the mountain hideaway, he hears of Feng's ultimate sacrifice, reinforcing his determination to resume learning from the manual, despite his recent handicap. With one good arm and two legs, it's not long before he masters the technique, and he and all the other Chinese patriots finally ride into town, ready to take on the Japanese. Many ronin get slaughtered in a long, bloody struggle, and Tie manages well against Gu, much to Gu's amazement. He brings the battle to an abrupt stop, saying he and Tie should finish the fight the next day in the fighting ring; Tie agrees.

Gu uses one last dirty ploy to better his odds; he has a man try to slash one of Tie's legs hours before the bout. Even that's not enough to deter Tie, and come the morning, he goes to face off with Gu, hoping to bring an end to the ronin's hold over the town by bringing down their leader in the same ring where his father stopped Gu's father years ago....

After that...NO "SPOILERS"!

A cut scene from The Thunderbolt Fist.
(Nan King-hsun and Gan Kei Chu.)

As the story goes, scriptwriter Li Cho Chien throws in some specifics not always found in "revenge" pictures. Tie Wa, Feng Niou, Da Xiong and Gu Gang knew each other in childhood, as illustrated by the opening scenes and a flashback; their interactions with each other have a payoff (most of them not nice), which helps us to empathize with the good guys. (This extends to Tie Wa's initial training with Die Er, though the fact the girl playing a younger version of Shih Szu doesn't have the closest resemblance to her is a slight fault.) The rest of the "Chinese versus Japanese" storyline goes into Fist of Fury territory, but along with an air of Chinese patriotism, the final confrontation with the ronin is more believable as the hopes of all the Chinese doesn't rest on one person's shoulders.

This was South Korean director Chang Yi-hu's first film for Shaw; circumstantial evidence suggests he may have had some sort of assistance from Jeong Chang Hwa, director of King Boxer. Yi-hu could've been facing a language barrier (surrounded by people who spoke only Mandarin) during the making of TTF, so a fellow South Korean (who dealt with same when he started at Shaw) was brought in to help out! This could explain why more than a few personnel from both sides of the camera in KB are also found in TTF. Compare the credits to both movies at Hong Kong Cinemagic, then watch them both back to back (look at KB first), and you may see what Brother Fang does.

Chuan Yuan, best known for his role as the main heavy in the Chang Cheh movie The Duel, is effectively cast against type as Tie Wa. Some think he looks a lot older than Shih Szu; his facial hair and some of the lighting seems to emphasize this, but the chemistry he and Shih Szu have between one another more than compensates for any inconsistency. He does well in fighting, using two arms or one; he even gets a few unexpected, funny moments in a action scene (in fact, the light tone pops up in other fights) I never anticipated. He's an underrated actor who should've done more movies.

Nan Kung-hsun (who lost his eyeballs in KB) simply oozes nastiness as Gu Gang; he's as ruthless in his fighting as he is in under-handed tactics! As playing it in a one-dimensional sense goes, he's so deserving of having any of his blood spilt!

I do not exaggerate when I say Shih Szu enhances every moment she's on the screen. (No bias here, really; it's the first action role of hers I saw which sold me on this talented woman.) Her part is more lighter in nature than her turn in The Young Avenger, and she handles the martial arts (choreographed by Leung Siu Chung) with the same ease she brings to using swords. By comparison, she's no Angela Mao, but her performance is cute, dramatic and energetic when it needs to be. This is a necessary purchase for all Shih Szu fans, no arguments about it!

The remainder of the cast is just as good, with Fang Mien, Tung Lin and Gan Kei Chu (with a silly wig that makes him look like Rob Reiner as Mike Stivic, the "Meathead") notable standouts. In addition to Fu Sheng, look for cameos by Sammo Hung, Ricky Hui and Bruce Lee's pal Unicorn Chan.

This movie is available on DVD in two versions. The IVL disc is notable for having only the original Mandarin soundtrack as an audio option, plus within the stills gallery is a photo (see above) of a sequence left out of the final edit. (It must take place prior to the last meeting of Tie Wa and Gu Gang, based on what Nan Kung-hsun is wearing.) The anamorphic picture on the Image disc is not as sharp as it is on the IVL, but the US release does have the English dub, which is delirious fun. Whatever version you prefer to get, you will be entertained!

Nothing overly deep here, just pure, non-PC fun.

And that ENDING!

Recommended by Brother Fang!

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - Purchase it from Play-Asia by clicking on here.