The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (1976)

The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious (1976)
Chinese Title: 南拳北腿活閻王
Translation: Southern Fist, Northern Leg and Living Hades

Starring: Don Wong Tao, Tan Tao-Liang, Tommy Lee (Gam Ming), George Wang, Sun Chia-Lin, Wan Chung-San, Yeo Su-Jin, Wan Lei
Director: Lee Tso-Nam
Action Director: Tommy Lee (Gam Ming), Lung Fong

Despite the success around Asia that Secret Rivals enjoyed, the creative team didn’t last. Upset that director Ng See-Yuen had gone back on his word to make him the sole protagonist, Wong Tao left Seasonal Films and took fight choreographer Tommy Lee with him. This turned out to be a smart move on Wong’s part, as his return to his native Taiwan paid off and the man became one of the most important leading men in martial arts films for the rest of the decade. Likewise, Tommy Lee set the standard for Taiwanese fight choreography until the early 80s, when he retired from filmmaking. 

Whatever uncertainty the men may have felt after heading to Taiwan was probably allayed by their teaming up with Lee Tso-Nam. Lee has since become known as one of the most important martial arts directors in all of Asia. He’d worked on a handful of movies in the first half of the 1970s, and had found considerable international success that same year with the Brucesploitation film Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger. Interestingly enough, the first collaboration of Don and Tommy with their new director was a variation on Secret Rivals, the very film that had jumpstarted Wong Tao’s career. Instead of John Liu, Wong’s co-star would be Liu’s own teacher, Dorian Tan Tao-Liang. With that sort of talent—two tae kwon do champions, a seasoned fight choreographer, a successful director—it’s little wonder that the resulting film turned out to be better than its inspiration in a number of regards.

Tan Tao-Liang plays Captain Lu Tung-Chun, head of the “security force” of a small village during China’s Republic Era sometime after 1911. The place is run by Mr. Yuen (George Wang, the film’s producer and  Don Wong Tao’s dad), the richest man in town and Lu’s benefactor. Although Lu is doing a good job of maintaining order in those parts, a conflict of interests arises when Mr. Yuen’s wastrel son (Wang Chun-Shan, of Dragon Inn and Moonlight Sword and Jade Lion) tries to rape Lu’s fiancée (Wan Lei) and ends of killing her mother. Although neither Yuen Jr. nor his flunkies are any match for Lu and his kicking skills, he at least has daddy and his money to keep him hidden until it all blows over.

Enter Southern Fist Bai Yu Ching (Don Wong Tao, of Secret Rivals and Iron Swallow), an infamous fighter who’s just gotten out of the slammer for murder. Although Bai claims to be just passing through, Mr. Yuen seizes the opportunity to hire some extra muscle to deal with Lu. This is especially important once Mr. Yuen strips Lu of his rank and the latter refuses to leave town. But Bai Yu Ching isn’t interested in killing a local lawman; he has other motives, motives which involve some curiosity about his new boss’s dealings. And just who is this “Mr. Lung” that Yuen and his men always talk about?

In addition to having a title that sounds like a play on the Sergio Leone classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, this movie feels very Spaghetti Western in terms of the plot and storytelling. You could replace the kung fu with six-shooters and you’d a classic old west tale: a cattle baron controls the town; his son or nephew commits a dastardly crime like rape; the local sheriff wants to bring him in; the cattle baron’s men are no match for the sheriff so he hires a mysterious gunslinger to deal with him; said gunslinger has his own agenda; etc. While we’re perfectly fine with rival kung fu styles, rebel name lists, evil opium dealers, and evil Japanese occupiers, the plot to The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious feels like it could happen in real life. It’s far more grounded in reality—at least a reality whose internal logic reflects our own—than most kung fu movies, which is indeed refreshing.

A good story with equally-solid storytelling is buoyed by a strong cast. Don Wong Tao is not only a great martial artist, he’s a good actor. He’s one of the more charismatic male leads to highlight Taiwanese kung fu cinema, and his jumps between happy-go-lucky and determined do-gooder are believable. Tan Tao-Liang is far more limited as an actor, but “unwaveringly righteous” falls well within Tan’s range. Both men receive ample support from the other characters: Yeo Su-Jin, who played the Korean love interest in Secret Rivals, plays the seductive inn owner who may be hiding a secret or two; Sun Jia-Lin (Against the Drunken Cat’s Paws) as a woman with a bone to pick with Captain Lu; George Wang is the scheming Mr. Yuen. On top of that, we have Tommy Lee as Mr. Lung, our protagonists’ final opponent. Tommy Lee is no Hwang Jang Lee and Tommy knows not to try to be him. Instead of trying to out-kick the Silver Fox, he out-quirks him, portraying the final boss as an albino hunchback with a gimp leg and a particularly powerful Mantis fist.

Tommy Lee’s choreography is also a lot more grounded, save a handful of superhuman leaps which were unavoidable in kung fu movies in 1976. Lee opts not to speed up the footage, something that even Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung did a little in their best films. This gives the action a further sense of realism. The bulk of the fighting is hand-to-hand—one vs. many, one vs. one, two vs. one—with the only weapons being used being a couple of sticks and knives here and there. I feel like Tommy Lee had matured as a choreographer after working on Secret Rivals and the two-on-one choreography of the finale is a lot more complex, if less manic, than the Wong Tao and John Liu facing off against Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee in that film.

Don Wong Tao’s original martial arts training was in tae kwon do, and he started training in hung gar under Tommy Lee’s tutelage. Both styles are worlds apart: tae kwon do emphasizes fancy footwork and high stances, while hung gar is all about the handwork, low stances and animal forms. Watching Secret Rivals, you can tell that Wong Tao’s hung gar skills were still nascent and that he often fell back on his original tae kwon do training in his fights. In the months that elapsed between finishing Secret Rivals and filming The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious, Wong had progressed quite handily in his hung gar training. He uses the low stances and tiger claw strikes without any of the kicking flourishes he used before. Very impressive for what amounted to a year’s worth of training.

Tan Tao-Liang is his usual dependable self. His bootwork doesn’t reach the intensity of his Sammo-choreographed efforts from that yeah, but he still kicks high and kicks often. Although Tan tends to focus on his left left for his usual roundhouse, spinning and side kicks, he does manage to balance it with a fair amount of bootwork from his right leg, too. He does a few jumping kicks here, too. Both he and Don Wong Tao are ultimately shown up by Tommy Lee as the physically-disabled villain. Lee is a maniac with the mantis style and even gets in a few impressive aerial kicks, too. At one point, Lee fights with a blade hidden in his sleeve, much like how Lam Ching-Ying would do three years later in The Magnificent Butcher. And any movie in which the albino hunchback villain with a bum leg can convincingly hold his own in a seven-minute battle royale with two tae kwon do champions in bound to achieve some degree of classic status.