Lau Kar-leung (also known by the Mandarin pronunciation of his name, Liu Chia-liang) was born in the mid-1930s in Hong Kong. His father, Lau Charn, was a master of the Hung Gar kung fu style that he had learned from a certain Lam Sai-wing, who in turn was a student of the style's creator, the real-life Wong Fei-hung. Lau senior had been persuaded by his teacher to appear as Lam himself in the popular films about Fei-hung, including the first one, The Story of Wong Fei-hung, Part I. Kar-leung began studying Hung Gar under his father at a young age and by the early 60s was also working in the business as a fighter and stuntman. Lau soon became an in-demand action choreographer, starting a fruitful partnership with fellow choreographer and Peking opera veteran Tong Gaai. The pair complemented each other perfectly: Lau was an expert in intricate, traditional style fight scenes and weapons while Tong specialised in crowd scenes and fanciful, esoteric swordplay. The duo worked on influential films like the classic Wuxia Pian The Jade Bow and King Hu's Come Drink with Me.

Soon the pair found work at the mighty Shaw Brothers studio, becoming the choreographers of choice for the great director Chang Cheh. Lau steered Chang away from the 'lone fighter seeking revenge' plots he often relied on, towards the myths and traditions of the Shaolin temple, leading to projects like Men From the Monastery, Five Shaolin Masters and Heroes Two. However the director and choreographer later had a disagreement and Lau never worked for Chang again.

And thank goodness he didn't, because this began a period of Lau's career unmatched in Hong Kong cinema history. in 1975 Lau directed for the first time, a movie named Spiritual Boxer. This was the first film to combine comedy and kung fu, some time before Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung tried the same thing. Along with a series of brilliant collaborators and protégés (real brother Lau Kar-wing, 'kung fu brother' and student Lau Kar-fai, kung fu actress Lily Li Li-li, girlfriend Kara Hui Ying-hung and young kung fu stars Wong Yu and Hsaio Ho), Lau created a series of the best martial arts movies ever made:

Lau even had time to make a couple of films with established Shaw stars; Shaolin Mantis with David Chiang and Cat Vs. Rat with Adam Cheng and Alexander Fu Sheng, as well as a sequel, Spiritual Boxer II: The Shadow Boxing. He also managed to serve as action choreographer on other directors’ films, including Jimmy Wang Yu’s Master of the Flying Guillotine (with brother Lau Kar-wing), Lau Kar-fai's directorial debut Shaolin & Wu Tang and Lo Lieh’s Clan of the White Lotus. However by the time 8 Diagram was released in 1983, Hong Kong audiences had fallen out of love with period kung fu flicks. The same year saw Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung reinventing high-impact stunt action with Project A and Winners and Sinners, and when Lau's last full film for Shaw Brothers, Disciples of the 36th Chamber, came out in 1985 it was up against the two best entries in the Lucky Stars series as well as Michelle Yeoh's action debut Yes Madam! and Jackie Chan's Police Story. The old-fashioned kung fu antics, brilliant as they were, must have seemed like very old hat indeed. Shaw Brothers closed down film production in 1986, and Lau had to look elsewhere for work. That year he was drafted in for the final part of the mainland-produced Shaolin Temple series, Martial Arts of Shaolin, and though the clash of styles between the Hong Kong crew and the Maoist locals (including star Jet Li) led to an uncomfortable shooting experience, the resulting film was the best of the series.

Lau worked only sporadically after 1986. That year he acted in supernatural horror Evil Cat, and directed an exciting cop action film, Tiger on the Beat starring Chow Yun-fat and Conan Lee, in 1988. Lau took charge of part 5 of the popular Aces Go Places series a year later, but 1990's Tiger on the Beat 2 lacked both Chow Yun-fat and the box office success of its predecessor. One notable appearance was in Sammo Hung's 1989 film Pedicab Driver. Though he only appeared onscreen for a few minutes, his pole fight with Sammo (to my mind the only action choreographer to rival Lau as the best ever) is breathtaking. Another memorable role was as a kung fu master in David Lai's 1992 new-wave classic Operation Scorpio. In 1994 Lau was approached by Jackie Chan to direct and appear in Drunken Master II. Unfortunately Lau and Jackie clashed over the direction of the film, and Lau left the project - but not before contributing some fantastic fight scenes and giving luminous leading lady Anita Mui a far stronger role than she'd ever got from Jackie himself. Unfortunately Lau didn't take being removed from the film  well, and rushed into production with the ill-advised Drunken Master III.

Lau didn't work again until 2002, when he tried to revive the old-fashioned kung fu movie with a period piece entitled Drunken Monkey. Despite the return of some old favourite stars of the Shaw Brothers studio and spectacular fight scenes (performed brilliantly by Lau, in spite of being over 60 and just having recovered from cancer!), the film tanked utterly at the box office. The script, which owed much to the plot of Drunken Master II, suggested that Lau was still bitter about the earlier movie.

Since then very little was heard from Lau, until he was recently invited to act and action direct in Tsui Hark's forthcoming Seven Swords. The current buzz on the film (which also stars Leon Lai and Donnie Yen) is that it will mark a stunning return to form for Hark after several very poor projects, and hopefully it might prompt a renewed interest in the greatest martial arts filmmaker of them all - Lau Kar-leung.

Notable regulars

Not only was Lau Kar-leung an extraordinary filmmaker in his own right, he also introduced several other extremely talented performers to kung fu fans. Here are the most important ones.

The younger brother and student of Lau Kar-leung, Kar-wing also had quite a career in Hong Kong action films. Learning kung fu from his father and brother, Wing followed Kar-leung into movies as a stuntman and bit-player. Like Kar-leung (with whom he often worked), Wing found his way to the Shaw Brothers studio as an action choreographer, notably on the Lo Lieh classic King Boxer a.k.a. Five Fingers of Death. Although he remained a frequent player in his brother’s films after that (he was superb as the pipe-smoking bad guy in Shaolin Mantis), he quit Shaws and went out on his own. He became a regular collaborator with Sammo Hung on films like Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog, His Name is Nobody and seminal weapons movie The Odd Couple, which he also directed. He teamed up with his brothers again to direct independent films such as Dirty Kung Fu, Fists and Guts, He Has Nothing But Kung Fu and Warrior from Shaolin. He returned to Shaw Brothers briefly to direct Treasure Hunters and The Fake Ghost Catchers, and to appear in Kar-leung's film Legendary Weapons of China. The final-reel fight between the two of them as they duel with all of the traditional 18 Chinese kung fu weapons is nothing short of incredible.

As the kung fu era ended Wing worked less. He occasionally cropped up as a henchman in Sammo's 80s action comedies, including the Lucky Stars series and Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon, which he directed. Other latter-day projects included helming the Cynthia Rothrock vehicle City Cops and being one of several action choreographers on Once Upon a Time in China. He had a nice cameo as the kung-fu fighting dad of Chiu Man-cheuk (along with Shaw Brothers swordplay goddess Cheng Pei-pei as his mum) in 2000's Fist Power. He worked behind the scenes on his brother's comeback movie Drunken Monkey, but now seems to have retired.

Born Xian Qixi, the future Gordon Liu would play truant from school to sneak into Lau Charn's kung fu school to watch the students train. In a plot twist worthy of a chopsockey flick, he was discovered but allowed to stay on and study at the school. The young Xian was popular with Lau Charn's wife and became almost like a member of the family. He became a 'kung fu brother' of Lau Kar-leung (one of his teachers) and Lau Kar-wing and was given the name Lau Kar-fai. The charismatic youth, also a talented musician and dancer, was given small acting roles by Lau Kar-leung, before getting a meatier part in Challenge of the Masters. In this film Kar-fai played a younger, more impulsive version of his great-great-grand-sifu Wong Fei-hung, something Jackie Chan also did in Drunken Master but not until some 2 years later. It was a few films on, with The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin, that Kar-fai truly 'arrived.' As the bald Shaolin monk San Te, Kar-fai became a huge star and his bald head was transformed into an iconic image. In fact films where he sported a full head of hair tended to be less popular with fans!

Kar-fai is best known in the west as Gordon Liu, from the Mandarin pronunciation of his name, Liu Chia-hui. 'Gordon' took an English name right before the Shaw Brothers banned their contract players from doing so - they felt this was too common for their lavish productions, especially since upstart arch-rival studio Golden Harvest encouraged its performers (including Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung) to do just that. Gordon worked steadily as the leading man for both of his brothers, and thus starred in many of the finest films of the era. Like both Kar-leung and Kar-wing his stock dropped at the end of the kung fu era, but he still found memorable roles in films like Tiger on the Beat (he has the awesome chainsaw duel with Conan Lee), The Peacock King, Ghost Ballroom and Last Hero In China opposite Jet Li. More recently his international profile has been revived by appearing in Kill Bill as both bad guy Johnny Mo and vicious monk Pai Mei - a character he fought against in Clan of the White Lotus.

Kara Hui Ying-hung was born in 1960 in China. Her siblings all went to Peking opera school - one even going on to work at Shaw Brothers - but Kara wasn't allowed. Instead she taught herself dancing and contortionism, which she performed on the street for money. At 17 she was spotted by Lau Kar-leung and offered a contract at Shaw Brothers. Lau used her subsequently in many of his films, including Dirty Ho, Return to 36th Chamber, Legendary Weapons of China, Martial Club and 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. He also pushed Shaws (despite resistance from notoriously jealous producer Mona Fong) to cast her in other films in both fighting and straight acting roles, including The Brave Archer I and II, Clan of Amazons, The Voyage of Emperor Chien Lung, Invincible Shaolin, The Deadly Breaking Sword, Clan of the White Lotus, Emperor Chien Lung and the Beauty, Tiger and the Widow, Return of the Sentimental Swordsman, Journey of the Doomed and more. But her biggest break came in Lau's 1981 classic My Young Auntie, a project tailored specifically for Kara. She was named Best Actress at the inaugural Hong Kong Film Awards as well as gaining the nickname 'Auntie,' which stuck with her for the rest of her career. Lau and Kara's follow-up The Lady is the Boss wasn't up to the standards of My Young Auntie, though it was an enjoyable movie in its own right.

After Shaw closed the doors on film production, Kara found work in the new 'girls with guns' genre. She appeared in several of the Inspector Wears Skirts movies, added some high-impact action to Naughty Boys and They Came to Rob Hong Kong, and starred in G.W.G. highlights like That's Money with Yukari Oshima, Madam City Hunter with Cynthia Khan and Angel Terminators with fellow old-school kung fu queen Sharon Yeung Pan-pan. She has worked steadily ever since in a variety of roles. Surprisingly, some years ago Kara did a shoot for the HK edition of Playboy, not something a 'respectable' actress would normally consider. However it didn't seem to do her career any harm and (sadly, perhaps) she never disrobed onscreen. One of the great fighting females of the Jade screen.

Born in Hong Kong, Lily Li Li-li was educated in a Christian school until she was fourteen, when her partiality for acting led to a place at the Shaw Brothers studio’s training school. In 1966 she was rewarded with her first screen role in Knight of Knights, and other supporting parts followed. But it wasn’t until the 1970 Chang Cheh film The Wandering Swordsman that Lily really broke through as a leading lady. Her combination of great kung fu skills, depth and range of acting ability and good looks made her a firm favourite with audiences in both fighting and dramatic roles. The same year she appeared in another Chang Cheh film, The Heroic Ones, and from then became a favourite of Shaws’ top directors Cheh, Chor Yuen and Ho Meng-hua, starring in The Delinquent, The Bastard, Police Force, The Iron Bodyguard, Black Magic and Hammer co-production Shatter.

In 1976 she appeared in Lau Kar-leung’s early Wong Fei-hung film Challenge of the Masters, before more films with the best of Shaws’ creative talent. In quick succession she starred in The Magic Blade, Swordsman and Enchantress and Web of Death for Chor Yuen, and Oily Maniac and Black Magic Part II for Ho Meng-hua. She also appeared in one of a handful of films directed by Shaw star David Chiang, The Condemned; This would prove to be the start of a fruitful relationship. 1977 saw another team-up with Lau Kar-leung (and one of her best roles) in Executioners from Shaolin. Lily and another of Shaw’s big stars Chen Kuan-tai played the kung-fu-expert parents of Wong Yu, who by the end of the movie has to fight killer monk Lo Lieh. The film contains some of Lily’s best kung fu and introduced chopsockey fans to Lo Lieh’s character of Pai Mei, the seemingly indestructible renegade Shaolin monk.

In 1978 Lau cast Lily alongside David Chiang in Shaolin Mantis, and the next year when her Shaw Brothers contract expired she hooked up with Chiang again for two cracking independently-produced kung fu movies, The Challenger and the absolutely brilliant The Loot a.k.a. The Bloody Tattoo. More indie kung fu pictures such as One Foot Crane and Daggers 8 kept her busy, and in 1980 she was specially requested by Jackie Chan to appear in his first film after escaping his contract with Lo Wei, The Young Master. Lily still worked with the Lau family from time to time, starring in Warrior From Shaolin and The Fake Ghost Catchers for Kar-wing. Kar-leung also had a couple of plum roles left for her, as the mother of Gordon Liu and Fu Sheng in the magnificent 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and as another mum, this time Hsiao Ho’s, in Disciples of the 36th Chamber. Since the mid-1980s Lily has worked in films less and less, but she still appears in the occasional movie and is a popular draw on Hong Kong and Taiwanese TV. An extraordinary actress and fine addition to Lau Kar-leung’s circle of regulars.

These days Jackie Chan is often considered to be the first kung fu comedian. But in fact he was beaten to the punch by several years by another of Lau Kar-leung’s prodigies, Wong Yu. It must have rankled after the success of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master when Wong was describes as ‘Shaw Brothers’ answer to Jackie Chan’ when in fact the reverse was true. Wong’s origins in the business are somewhat murky, and what we do know is possibly largely apocryphal. The story goes that Sir Run Run Shaw was so angry when his number one star Jimmy Wang Yu quit Shaw Brothers in 1970, he found a kid with a similar name and who also somewhat resembled his errant leading man to take Jimmy’s place. A few parts in Shaw productions followed, but when Lau Kar-leung made his directorial debut in 1975, he picked Wong as the lead. Spiritual Boxer was the tale of a young kung fu fighter who's actually faking his incredible supernatural skills. The film was also the first kung fu comedy, before Sammo, Jackie and co. managed to swipe all the credit. Though he wasn’t a martial artist, Wong was flexible enough that with Lau’s help he could pass as a kung fu expert onscreen.

Roles followed in Lau’s Challenge of the Masters with Gordon Liu, and then a major role in Executioners from Shaolin. As the son of Chen Kuan-tai and Lily Li, Wong spends the movie learning complex kung fu moves before an impressive final showdown with Lo Lieh as Pai Mei. Outside of Shaw Brothers, Wong appeared in He Has Nothing but Kung Fu and Dirty Kung Fu for Lau Kar-wing. As the kung fu comedy boom got into full swing Wong slipped happily into many productions both for and away from Shaws, including Spiritual Boxer Part II, Kung Fu Instructor, Proud Youth, The Kid with a Tattoo and The Young Avenger for one of Kar-leung’s stunt team, Wilson Tong Wai-shing. In 1979 he appeared in another of Kar-leung’s best films as the title character in Dirty Ho. He continued to work steadily in kung fu pictures and comedies, appearing in Lau’s films Lady is the Boss and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter.

But on July 2^nd, 1983, Wong was travelling in a car with his friend Shaw legend Alexander Fu Sheng when it crashed. Fu Sheng was killed, affecting Wong deeply. This, plus the closure of his ‘home’ studio, probably fuelled his descent into drink and drug addiction. His career faltered and he made only a few more movie appearances, eventually winding up in a couple of category III soft porn flicks. Though he is these days apparently clean and sober, it was a sad end to the career of one of Lau’s greatest prodigies.

At one time Hsiao Ho (usually referred to by the Cantonese version of his name, Siu Hau) was called the best acrobat in Hong Kong film history. Whether that’s true or not, he was certainly an impressive screen fighter. Born in 1958 in Henan, he studied at the Peking opera academy of Madam Fan Fok-fa, also the training ground for kung fu movie stars like Lam Ching-ying, Sharon Yeung, Meng Hoi, Fung Hak-on and Lee Hoi-san. A sometime student of Lau Kar-leung, he started out in the film business with small parts in several of the Lau family’s films. His first starring role was in Kar-leung’s 1979 classic Mad Monkey Kung Fu. Primarily a monkey kung fu stylist in real life, Hsiao’s onscreen recreation of the monkey fist was a joy to behold. He subsequently showed up in virtually all of Kar-leung and Kar-wing’s films in parts of varying size, the standouts being My Young Auntie (where at the end of the film he fights an army of goons alongside Kara Hui) and Disciples of the 36th Chamber (where he plays legendary young warrior Fong Sai-yuk, who's every bit a match for Gordon Liu's monk San Te). Outside of Shaws he had a nice part in Kung Fu Genius, a film directed by and starring Wilson Tong. Once Shaw Brothers stopped producing films, Hsiao moved behind the scenes as a choreographer and occasional guest fighter.

There may be more famous kung fu movie villains than Johnny Wang Lung-wei, but there are very few as good. Lung-wei (which literally means “as mighty as the dragon”) battled the best fighters Shaw Brothers had to offer, and though he almost always lost - he did play bad guys after all - almost nobody looked better doing it. Wang made his debut in the Shaw production Shaolin Martial Arts in 1974 alongside Gordon Liu and future Golden Harvest/independent star Leung Kar-yan. The director of the film, Chang Cheh, was so taken with Wang that he used him (invariably as a bad guy) in a further 18 films. The action choreographer on the project was of course Lau kar-leung, who was also impressed enough to select Wang as an opponent in 7 of his movies. Lau and Johnny fought blistering duels at the end of My Young Auntie and The Lady is the Boss, while in Martial Club Wang got a rare opportunity to play a positive character; a proud kung fu master who merely wishes to test his skills against Gordon Liu as Wong Fei-hung. The final duel between the two in an increasingly narrow alley is sheer physical poetry, and was an obvious influence on Tsui Hark; the character of Iron Robe Yim in Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China owes a lot to Wang’s character in Martial Club. In Dirty Ho Johnny may have been a secondary villain to Lo Lieh, but he really impressed as a debonair assassin. Lau Kar-wing as usual followed his brother’s lead and cast Wang in The Fake Ghost Catchers and Treasure Hunters.

Johnny rarely got to step away from Shaw Brothers; a couple of examples are an independent film he made with Sammo Hung called Two Toothless Tigers and another with Phillip Ko and Leung Kar-yan, Two on the Road a.k.a. Fearless Dragons. After Shaw Brothers closed he tried directing, doing well with several urban action movies. The last of these was the infamous Cat III movie Escape From Brothel - yes, that’s the one where Billy Chow kick-boxes against a completely nude Sophia Crawford! These days Wang works mostly in TV, but fans still remember him as the ultimate kung fu bad guy.

Indonesian-born actor Lo Lieh is a true kung fu movie legend. In the 1960s he signed on at Shaw Brothers as a leading man, getting an early break in 1965’s Temple of the Red Lotus alongside a debuting Jimmy Wang Yu. Lo then became a staple of the 60s swordplay genre, working often with Chang Cheh and thus choreographer Lau Kar-leung. In 1972, Lo took the lead in King Boxer, better known in the west as Five Fingers of Death. The movie, action-choreographed by Lau Kar-wing, was the first Hong Kong martial arts movie to be released in the west. As age turned his youthful looks into a more intimidating countenance, Lo began increasingly to be cast as the bad guy. He mixed modern-day exploitation fare like The Kiss of Death and The Bamboo House of Dolls with period martial arts pictures for many of Shaw’s top directors.

In 1977 he took the villain role in Executioners from Shaolin as Pai Mei, the beard-stroking white-eyebrowed monk with indestructible kung fu who had the ability to rearrange his organs at will. Lo reprised the role in Clan of the White Lotus, which he also directed. Lau stalwarts Kara Hui and Gordon Lui co-starred, with Kar-leung handling the fight choreography. Lo also played villains in Dirty Ho, The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin (he has the superb final fight pitting twin swords against Gordon Liu’s three section pole) and Mad Monkey Kung Fu (he’s thwarted by the impossibly acrobatic Hsiao Ho). Lau Kar-wing once again took his brother’s lead and cast Lo as the villain in Fists and Guts. In this period the only way Lo could get good guy parts was seemingly to work away from Shaws; the enjoyable indie film Killer From Above, directed by noted chopsockey master Joe Law, is one such example.

Lo worked all through the 1980s and into the 90s. He was even tipped to reprise his Pai Mei role for the fourth time in Kill Bill (the third occasion, Abbot of Shaolin, is best left unmentioned), but sadly passed away aged 60 in 2002 from a heart attack. The character was ultimately played by his old opponent Gordon Liu, who did his best to mimic Lo’s scowling, beard-tweaking demeanour. It’s a great shame that as his classic films were finally becoming available to a new audience on DVD, Lo wasn’t around to enjoy his revived popularity.

Where it all (well, mostly) happened: Shaw Brothers

Shaw Brothers' Movietown studio, complete with standing sets and staff apartment blocks

"The four Shaw brothers were Shanghai theater owners who expanded into production in the 1930s. Around 1933, Runde Shaw (Shao Cunren) transplanted the family studio to Hong Kong and made Cantonese movies there. After the war, the company turned to Mandarin production in order to supply the growing chain of Shaw theaters dotting Southeast Asia. In 1958 Run Run Shaw (Shao Yifu) came from the company headquarters in Singapore to head Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd. A firm believer in integrating production, distribution, and exhibition ("Just as in the golden age of Hollywood," he explained), Run Run left another brother (Renmel, or Runme) to handle the local theater chain while he took over moviemaking.

Run Run modernized production on a massive scale. In 1961 he finished building Movietown, a studio complex on Clearwater Bay in the then sparsely developed New Territories. By 1970, according to the company's promotion, Movietown held thirty outdoor stages (including a lake), twelve sound stages, a color laboratory, a dubbing studio, a training school, three canteens, four dormitories for workers, and blocks of apartments housing performers and directors. Shaw plunged into color and widescreen production. He introduced exclusive contracts for personnel, usually in the neighborhood of US$50 per week. The studio ran twenty-four hours a day, working 1,200 employees in ten-hour shifts. Run Run explained that allowing his workers to form unions would hurt them, since the best way for them to earn raises was to work harder. Over its first twelve years Movietown ground out 300 pictures."

David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong p. 63, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

References:

Hong Kong Actors’ Index, View From The Brooklyn Bridge

The Hong Kong Movie Database

Kungfufilms.nl

David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Baker & Russell, The Essential Guide To Deadly China Dolls, Eastern heroes Publications, London