Heroine Susan, Sister of Shantung Boxer (1973)

Heroine Susan, Sister of Shantung Boxer (1973)
Aka Sister of the San-Tung Boxer; Sister of Shangtong; Sister of the Shan-Tung Boxer; Last Karate
Chinese Title: 山東大姐
Translation: Shandong Eldest Sister

 

Starring: Wang Ping, Charlie Chin Chiang-Lin, Chao Chiang, Jack Long Shi-Chia, Tsai Hung, Shih Chung-Tien, Shih Ting-Ken, Chang Feng, Hsiang Chun, Chien Te-Men, Chin Tu, Sun Yueh
Director: Wang Hung-Chang
Action Director: ???

If we were to discuss the most famous women in the history of Chinese martial arts, the first name to come up would probably be Yim Wing Chun, despite the fact that her very existence is currently in dispute. Others may point to Fang Qiniang, the founder of the Fujian White Crane system. However, during the early 70s, the female martial artist who got the most attention was Ma Su Cheng, sister of Ma Yongcheng (or Ma Wing Jing in Cantonese), the famous Shantung Boxer. While much of that attention must have stemmed from the success of Chang Cheh’s Boxer from Shantung, Ma’s sister was the subject of at least five movies during the first half of the 70s, which is more than can be said of Wing Chun, who got only one movie during the entire 70s.

This movie starts out with a weak recreation of the final fight from the Shaw Brothers masterpiece. Ma Yongcheng arrives at a restaurant for an audience with the local Axe Gang. Before he knows it, one of the men throws lime powder in his face, rendering him partially blind. He’s soon fighting off a contingent of axe gang members with two hatches lodged in his body, and is quickly overcome and killed.

Some time later, Ma’s sister, Ma Su Cheng, is arriving in Shanghai to find out what happened to her brother. She discovers that he has been murdered, and that one of his friends, the owner of the local casino (Sun Yueh, the old baker in Pedicab Driver), didn’t get any flack from the Axe Gang whatsoever. Suspicious, Ma Su Cheng dresses up like a man and goes to the casino to check out the joint. As is wont to happen in these movies, Ma isn’t just a kung fu diva, she’s a great gambler. She’s about to break the house when casino workers invite her out back with the intention of stabbing her to death. ‘Tis much more primitive a reaction than giving her a free room at the casino in hopes she’ll gamble her winnings away. In any case, she kicks the snot out of them, as is to be expected.

Returning home, she discovers the casino owner and his cronies waiting for her. Teaming up with her brother’s other friend, now a drunk (and played by Chin Tu), they beat everybody to death, including to the traitorous casino owner. She goes back to the casino the next day, only to get involved in a huge fight that sees every last employee get beat to death. Helping her is a young fighter named Tan (played by Charlie Chin, of Winners and Sinners and My Lucky Stars) and his friend (Shi Kingten, who showed up in a stupid amount of Taiwanese martial arts films during the 70s—nearly 200).

By this point, the head of the Axe Gang (Chiu Keung of A Girl Called Tigress) knows that his days are numbered and sends some more men to ambush Su Cheng and her friends at her home. Another fight breaks out and a dozen more people are killed. That’s followed by yet another fight at a restaurant, that results in the deaths of the Axe Gang’s last lieutenants. Now, the only thing standing between Ma Su Cheng and her vengeance is the Axe Gang leader’s new bodyguards, a Japanese samurai (a young Jack Lung) and what appears to be an American Indian (Choi Wang). I thought the latter might be a Thai boxer, but then he starts whoop-whooping and brandishing tomahawks and I thought, “Oh wow, is he playing an Indian?”

Heroine Susan is almost non-stop action, from beginning to end. There’s so much action that there’s practically no story beyond the “Woman avenges brother” premise, no twists, little suspense, no character development, nothing. We never know who exactly Tan is and why the Axe Gang try to kill him in broad daylight early on. Nor do we know why the Axe Gang killed Ma Yongcheng at the beginning—the script assumes the viewer has seen the original film, or is familiar with his story. Nothing is explained beyond the basic, “He was Ma’s friend but betrayed him later.” Uh, okay. But why? Jealousy? Greed? A Rube-Goldbergian revenge plot involving pictures of someone naked with a goat? I dunno. Most of the dialog consists of Su Cheng declaring that she’ll get revenge on those responsible for Ma’s murder, or the Axe Gang boss telling one of his cronies to kill Su Cheng.

I suppose that would be a little more acceptable if the action was solid, but it’s not. It’s pretty obvious that actress Wang Ping is a limited martial artist at this point in her career. Her kicks are weak and most of her moves are ridge hand strikes and horizontal chops. She looks a bit better when she picks up a pair of daggers in the bloody finale, but she pales in comparison to Angela Mao and Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng, who were putting on better performances at the same time. Charlie Chin fares a little better—outside of Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he was the Lucky Stars troupe member who could fight (or fake it) the best. His kicks still aren’t that great, but he has a little more energy that Wang Ping does. Everything else is your typical early 70s arm flailing nonsense. It’s violent and brutal, but lacking technique-wise.

In the end, Heroine Susan isn’t a very good movie. It plays like an extended third act to a longer film in which the first two acts were comprised of the entirety of Boxer from Shantung. As such, it depends too much on the viewer’s familiarity with the story of Ma Yongcheng to be enjoyable as its own creature, and is just a forgettable fight fest in the end.