Cutthroat Turncoat

Robert Lee, Bruce Lee’s younger brother, claimed that two seemingly unrelated events in June 1973 made Bruce realize that something was terribly wrong. When Bruce returned to Hong Kong after his medical trip in Los Angeles, he learned that his childhood friend Unicorn Chan was going to be sent by the Golden Harvest film company to work on a film in the Philippines. This was after Bruce sent a business proposal to a rival film studio called Shaw Brothers. There is an even greater mystery, and it concerns the stuntmen who were supposed to be loyal to Bruce. Due to a combination of Chinese books, Chinese magazines and the Hong Kong Movie Database, I figured out the truth. Before I get to the mystery, I have to establish the history.

The making of Enter the Dragon officially came to an end in late March. The Americans returned to America, and Bruce’s favourite stuntmen were free to work with actor/choreographer Sammo Hung in Thailand on a movie called Bloody Ring. In the first week of April, Bruce was recovering from a severe laceration to his right leg that happened on March 29. Strangely, in an April 3 memo to a fellow colleague at Warner Brothers, co-producer Paul Heller only referred to Bruce’s groin injury when describing Bruce’s intent on wanting to film extra footage before the April 20 deadline. In mid-April, Bruce managed to get Sammo and stunt double Yuen Wah to film the opening fight scene. Perhaps because of his leg injury, Bruce only does two kicks - one from each leg.

After the filming of Enter the Dragon had finally come to an end, Bruce Lee told Golden Harvest founder Raymond Chow that he wanted certain stuntmen to work exclusively for him and he wanted to be informed of their whereabouts at all times. In late April, an insurance policy was ordered on Bruce. It came into effect on May 5. On May 10, Bruce suffered a collapse at the G.H. studio because of an event that was a combination of food poisoning and cannabis poisoning. He fell into a coma and almost died. He was in medical care from May 10 to May 13. By the time that it was May 25, Bruce was in Los Angeles for a detailed check-up. In the interim, he was more concerned with his health and insurance than on film-making. Bruce returned to Hong Kong on June 8. In the interim, he couldn’t keep track of his favourite stuntmen.

There is a mysterious Kung Fu movie called End of the Wicked Tigers. It stars Charles Heung, and was made in 1973 but most sites refer to it as a 1976 release. In the Chinese zodiac, 1976 was the year of the dragon. As such, Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss was re-released in H.K. cinemas. End of the Wicked Tigers does not get reported on Chinese sites even though it has the novelty of Charles fighting Sammo Hung. Too many Chinese articles make a big fuss over the fact that these two men never acted together, so it’s a fairly obscure movie. Charles and Sammo never talk about it in interviews. Outside of the December 1973 issue of Cinemart, there have been no anecdotes about the making of the movie despite the sheer pedigree of the cast including some of the stuntmen who Bruce had intended to poach for his final return to the United States. The mystery is when did his loyal stuntmen stab him in the back?

After Bruce Lee had collapsed in May, a rival movie star named Alan Tang began filming a movie called Iron Bull. This featured some of the stuntmen who Bruce had intended to poach: Mars, Lam Ching-Ying and Wilson Tong. These men had previously appeared in Enter the Dragon as did a boy named Meng Hoi and an old man named Hao Li-Jen. Iron Bull was written and directed by Tang Ti, who Bruce Lee wanted to sue for incorporating his image into Fist of Unicorn. According to a Chinese article, Tang produced Iron Bull even though he’s not credited. This makes sense since the movie features two actors from Fist of Unicorn i.e. Meng Hoi and Kitty Meng Chui (who were siblings). Wilson Tong also worked on Iron Bull as the fight choreographer. He also appeared in End of the Wicked Tigers, where he has a similar hairstyle. Wilson and Tang worked together a few more times over the years: Land of the Brave (1974), My Darling Gals (1978) and Dirty Angel (1982).

End of the Wicked Tigers was produced by an actor named Lui Ming, whose company was named after himself. Lui Ming and Tang Ti previously worked on many of the same films as actors. The director, Law Kei, also shares this common denominator with Tang Ti. Surprisingly, Law Kei only worked with Lui Ming on End of the Wicked Tigers. Although Alan Tang didn’t act in this movie, he was previously directed by Law Kei in The Rats. As actors, they had worked on two films: Miss Not Home (1970) and The Invincible Iron Palm (1971). However, Alan’s number one collaborator was a director named John Lo Mar who directed him seven times before he was directed by Tang Ti in Iron Bull. Tang had previously acted in The Bloody Fight, which Alan was in. It should be noted at this point that Alan was a gangster. In 1975, John Lo Mar directed a Bruce Lee biopic starring Betty Ting Pei. It was titled Bruce Lee & I.

There may have been a backdoor handshake between Golden Harvest and Lui Ming International Film Enterprises since Jackie Chan didn’t work on End of the Wicked Tigers. For those who don’t know, Jackie left G.H. after getting into a violent dispute with the director of When Taekwondo Strikes. This was filmed in South Korea from late April to mid-May before production resumed in Hong Kong where it finished filming on July 6. Wilson Tong worked on this movie as a stuntman. From mid-May to early July, director Lo Wei went to Thailand to film a movie called The Tattooed Dragon. This co-starred James Tien, who Bruce still needed to film The Game of Death for exterior shots in South Korea. My theory is that Bruce probably wanted to go to South Korea in mid-May while those stuntmen were still there.

The star of End of the Wicked Tigers, Charles Heung, starred in his own TKD movie in the first half of June. This was titled The Big Showdown, and it was financed by Filipinos. It didn’t involve any of the G.H. stuntmen, so Bruce Lee was not aware of its existence (especially since it was mostly filmed in Macau). It’s significant that Jackie Chan didn’t work on End of the Wicked Tigers because not only did he previously work with Sammo on many an occasion but they attended the same Peking Opera school. Han Ying-Chieh was the son-in-law of their teacher, so they worked under Han initially when it came to making martial arts movies. Sammo was supposed to inherit the stuntmen from him before Bruce Lee came along. Curiously, End of the Wicked Tigers uses a lot of music cues from Enter the Dragon. There are even a few cues from Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury thrown in for good measure.

After Jackie left Golden Harvest in 1973, he didn’t work with Han again until 1975 where they worked with Sammo on a G.H. film called The Himalayan. This marked Han’s return to G.H. since 1973 too, which makes me think that he was only doing it for Jackie’s sake. Jackie worked with Han again but for Lo Wei’s film company on the sequel to Fist of Fury i.e. New Fist of Fury. Both films were directed by Lo, who belonged to the Sun Yee On Triad like Charles Heung. Bruce Lee died on July 20 - two weeks after he had threatened Lo with a belt buckle knife. After July 20, Bruce’s mistress Betty Ting Pei went with Charles to the Philippines to star in a film called Evidence. They got married in 1976. It’s really saying something that, regardless of how prolific he was as a stuntman, Jackie never appeared in a movie starring Charles. It should be noted that, despite sharing common ground (such as being a gangster), Charles never made a movie with Alan Tang (neither did Sammo or Jackie for that matter).

It should also be noted that Han Ying-Chieh didn’t exclusively work for Golden Harvest, so Jackie could easily have worked with him again between 1973 and 1975. Han appeared in Iron Bull. He is primarily known for working as both actor and fight choreographer on Bruce’s first two martial arts movies: The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972). Although Han was contracted to choreograph the movies which made up Bruce’s two picture deal for Golden Harvest, Bruce took control of his own fight scenes. In Chinese culture, loss of face is taken seriously. Han was originally meant to play Han the villain in Enter the Dragon but was rejected in favour of Shih Kien. Both men worked with each other many times in the sixties but never again in the ensuing decades.

In Hong Kong film culture, it’s common for a Triad gang to have multiple companies because it makes it easier to hide money laundering and tax fraud. One of Tang Ti’s companies was Sing Hoi, who produced Fist of Unicorn. Sing Hoi were part of the same network as a company called Hong Kong Kai Fa. Actor/gangster Michael Chan Wai-Man was affiliated with both companies, as was director John Lo Mar. The latter directed Michael three times from 1972 to 1973. Photos can be seen of Michael being cordial with Bruce at the pre-production press conference for Fist of Unicorn in May 1972. This was the same month when Bruce’s The Way of the Dragon began filming. From 1972 to 1992, Michael did seven films with Alan Tang.

John Lo Mar had his own film company, named after himself, where he produced and directed two 1973 films featuring an actor who co-starred in Bruce Lee’s The Game of Death during the fall of 1972. This actor, Chieh Yuen, acted in Black Guide and Tiger. These two movies star a Hapkido expert who attended Bruce’s funeral, Kim Jin-Pal. After Bruce died, Kim made a movie with the mistress who was linked to his death. Yes, this was Betty Ting Pei in Evidence. With all these connections, you really have to wonder why Bruce’s friend Bob Baker would agree to be in Kim Jin-Pal’s Valley of the Double Dragon. I suppose one could assume that Bruce may have wanted Kim to replace the disappointing Ji Han-Jae for the role of the Hapkido guardian in The Game of Death.

Despite his reputation in Hong Kong, Kim wasn’t cast in Golden Harvest’s Hapkido (1972) or in Bruce’s pet project for Jhoon Rhee - When Taekwondo Strikes (1973). Every film that Kim did was made by the Chinese mafia including a 1973 film titled The Mandarin. This was distributed by the Hong Kong Kai Fa company. Bruce’s widow, Linda, was aware of them because she sent an October 4, 1973 letter to Baker which was addressed to the company’s location in Taiwan. She wrote: “Dear Bob, I was so glad to hear from you. I tried to contact you but I could not find you. It sounds like you are doing well and new things are happening for you. I tried to call you at the Plaza Hotel but you had left. I don’t want to write too much, I would rather talk to you. Please call me. The number is 378118 n 378585 (Kowloon). Call collect. I’ll be leaving Hong Kong in a few days, so call as soon as you can. I have missed not seeing you for so many months. Love, Linda.”

Besides Iron Bull, Han Ying-Chieh appeared in another Alan Tang movie which he also choreographed. Titled Unsubdued Furies, it was released on September 7, 1973. This was Han’s final collaboration with Alan. Although made by seemingly different production companies, both movies have a man named Wan Sing credited as being involved with the planning. Wan would later plan another movie featuring Han: Fists for Revenge (1974). The Alan Tang connection is very important because, following Bruce’s death, Alan went to America with several of the stuntmen who Bruce had intended to poach. Alan starred in an American film called The Dynamite Brothers. Although shot in English, it was financed by the Chinese mafia according to executive producer Samuel M. Sherman. Some of the stuntmen who worked on this (Lam Ching-Ying, Peter Chan Lung, Billy Chan Wui-Ngai and Lee King-Chu) had also worked together on When Taekwondo Strikes prior to that, and Bloody Ring before that.

Actor/choreographer Sammo Hung didn’t work on The Dynamite Brothers. Han Ying-Chieh also didn’t work on it but he, too, worked on End of the Wicked Tigers - as both actor and martial arts consultant. Sammo was the main choreographer, with Chan Chuen as his subordinate. From 1972 to 1974, Chan had worked in this specific capacity in correlation to Sammo on several Golden Harvest productions: The Devil’s Treasure (released in September 1973), When Taekwondo Strikes (also September), Stoner (August 1974) and The Tournament (September 1974). It may not be produced by G.H. but End of the Wicked Tigers could easily be mistaken as being such a production. It even features Eric Tsang, who is a close friend of Alan Tang. Eric was also in Stoner, which starred the man who wanted to work with Bruce Lee: George Lazenby.

The Dynamite Brothers began filming on August 6, 1973. Peter Chan Lung is the main fighting foe in this, and he was last seen in footage of Bruce Lee’s Hong Kong funeral on July 25. This footage can be seen in Golden Harvest’s October-released documentary, Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend. Sammo and some of the other stuntmen can be seen in this. Peter’s hair is long like it is in End of the Wicked Tigers. This is especially worthy of note since his hair was considerably shorter in Enter the Dragon where he didn’t get to do as much as the other stuntmen. The director of End of the Wicked Tigers, Law Kei, had worked with Han Ying-Chieh twice before and twice afterwards. Perhaps not feeling comfortable with the backstabbing, Yuen Wah didn’t work on either End of the Wicked Tigers or The Dynamite Brothers. But he did work on Stoner, which went into production before 1973 came to an end.

Weirdly, Yuen Wah didn’t work on When Taekwondo Strikes either. I suspect that Bruce couldn’t risk him being injured since he needed him as a stunt double. Let’s take a look at the full list of stuntmen who worked on both End of the Wicked Tigers and When Taekwondo Strikes. These are Lam Ching-Ying, Peter Chan Lung, Billy Chan Wui-Ngai, Lee King-Chu, Wilson Tong, Chan Chuen, Hsu Hsia, Yeung Sai-Gwan, Tam Bo and Chan Ming-Wai. If we were to deduce the timeframe of the productions, they had to have been made around the same time. Remember that Hong Kong was not like Hollywood where you make one film first and then another one. The way that it worked in Hong Kong is that you would film a fight scene for one movie while a director is filming a dialogue scene for another movie that you’re working on. From May 25 to June 7, Bruce Lee was in America for 14 days. That’s enough time to film scenes for another movie behind his back.

According to a Japanese webmaster who translated Chinese newspaper articles, End of the Wicked Tigers was filmed almost immediately after Bruce died. On August 3, it was reported that the film might resume filming in September because there were complaints about a rape scene that takes place in the first reel. The production was currently under investigation, which would imply that there was unsimulated sexual penetration. Also, there was a “bed scene” filmed between Charles Heung and Rainbow Ching Ho-Wai on the previous day. On August 19, it was reported by the Industrial and Commercial Daily Press that Charles had yet to complete the movie. It was previously reported that he would be leaving for Australia to film The Magnificent Boxer. This other movie was also mentioned in the August issue of Cinemart.

Director Law Kei really enjoyed exploiting Bruce Lee. He directed a 1977 film called The Dragon Lives Again and a 1978 film called Bruce Lee The Invincible. Sammo isn’t entirely innocent, either. He seemed to be a close friend of Law. Both men acted in three Golden Harvest movies: The Blade Spares None (1971), Lady Whirlwind (1972) and Hapkido (1972). Law worked with Sammo in front of and behind the camera for a Korean co-production called The Life for Sale (which was released in February 1973). This film was planned by the aforementioned Wan Sing. Just when you think that things couldn’t get any more shadier, Sammo’s final movie by Law Kei (My Darling Gals in 1978) featured Betty Ting Pei and Tang Ti. Law even made a cameo appearance in Sammo’s collaboration with Jackie Chan: Project A (1983).