Win Them All (1973)

Win them All (1973)
Chinese Title: 大小通吃
Translation: Big and Small Take All

 

Starring: Woo Gam, Wong Yuen-San, Hsu Feng, Yasuaki Kurata, Tien Feng, Chan Wai-Lau
Director: Kao Pao-Shu
Action Directors: Wong Wing-Sang, Got Siu-Chong

 

Win Them All  is a little-known early 1970s oddity that basically comes across as a prototype for the sort of kung fu comedy that would become popular starting in 1978. While the story is typical of your early 1970s (and onward) basher-type chopsockey opus, many of the fight scenes that involve lead actress Woo Gam are played for laughs. I'm always interested in these early 70s movies that seemed to have beat  Snake in the Eagle's Shadow  to the punch, despite the fact that nobody ever cites them as being influential or at least predecessors on that movie.

When the chief of security (Tien Yeh) of a town discovers that the Madam of a local casino is cheating her clients out of their money, she dispatches Iron Fingers Fan Shang (Yasuaki Kurata) to remove him from the equation. She then packs up her bags and sets up shop elsewhere. A year later, his daughter, "Fiery Phoenix" Tien Feng (Hsu Feng), is looking for the man responsible, with the help of two con artists (Woo Gam and Chan Wai-Lau). The trio have become famous bandits, which I guess would make sense. I can't expect a woman in Republic-Era China to have a whole lot of resources, especially if she's unmarried and her dad is dead.

So hooking up with these two, who spend their time cheating people *and* casinos, is a good way to guarantee the funds food and board. They eventually arrive in a town that is run by Boss Chen (Tien Feng), who just so happens to be pupil of Iron Fingers. The trio eventually teams up another government agent, Wen (Wong Yuen-San), and his feisty-but-useless sister (Cindy Tang), to bring down the bad guys.

I think the big problem is that there are far too many protagonists in this movie, and the antics of some (Woo Gam, Cindy Tang) end up detracting from the fight scenes of others. Take Cindy Tang, who allows herself to get captured twice by Tien Feng in almost rapid succession (she tries to fight, but anything more than one lackey is too much for her). Even in her dubbed form, Woo Gam has that sexpot-even-though-there-are-more-attractive-girls-out-there quality that Mae West possessed and helps keep the film afloat during the lulls in the action. The fights themselves are long, but the finale is disappointing in that Hsu Feng is promptly forgotten about after she takes her initial licks from Kurata and switches over to Tien Feng (re: their fight isn't shown).

The action was choreographed by Wong Wing-Sang, best known for his work on the classic Mystery of Chess Boxing, and Got Siu-Chung, who has one choreographer credit and a few "Presenter" credits, including the Angela Mao classic  Lady Constables. For the most part it's pretty good, although sometimes the choreography conventions of the time limit the players. Some of Bruce Lee's influence can be seen  in Wong Yuen-San's fighting in the form, with some short, quick and economical moves being performed with snap and power.

However, during the latter half of the final fight, his blows become more flaily-armed than before (one could argue that the beating he's received and his fatigue is causing that). Wong, a frequent collaborator of Bruce Leung Siu-Lung,  is certainly a more talented screen fighter than other early 70s staples like  Jimmy Wang Yu, Pai Ying, or fellow Bruce Liang collaborator Larry Lee. He gets in a few good aerial kicks, which his contemporaries never could do. He's matched by Hsu Feng, who may not have the moves of Angela Mao, but she has the same intensity and steely-eyed glare, which helps her to sell her more simpler moves: lots of ridge hands and reverse punches in her style.

Of course, the standout is Yasuaki Kurata as the main villain. He gets three long fights, including one against Tien Yeh, another against Sit Hon, and finally the end, where he manhandles Hsu Feng before dueling with Wong Yuen-San. Kurata gets to use more aikido, with its throws, take downs, and wrist manipulation moves, than he does in most of his other movies. His kicks are a lot crisper and higher, executed with more speed and power, than Wong   Yuen-San or anybody else in the cast. I find it interesting how Bruce Leung Siu-Lung claimed to have taught him how to kick at about the time they made Call Me Dragon, but here, a year ealier, he was already kicking as good as Bruce Lee and Angela Mao.  His signature move is to jab his fingers into his opponent's face, which he does a few times. But yeah, fighting-wise, Kurata is easily the highlight of the movie, as he was wont to be in many of these early 70s flicks.