Chinese Stuntman, The (1981)

When one thinks of Hong Kong martial arts film pioneers, a balding gweilo (foreigner) with mostly obscure credits to his name generally doesn’t come to mind, that is unless you’re referring to martial arts master John Ladalski (ARMOUR OF GOD). Having earned an honorable place in the most demanding action industry in the world, Ladalski’s high point came in the late ’70s when he first conceived of a film to bring the true art of Jeet Kune Do into theaters as a genuine tribute to Bruce Lee’s legacy. He succeeded only in small measure due to circumstances beyond his control, but the finished product known as THE CHINESE STUNTMAN remains the finest moment in Ho Chung-tao’s rocky career, once built on impersonating Bruce Lee under the screen name of “Bruce Li.”

THE CHINESE STUNTMAN is the kind of film best seen when one has some appreciation for Jeet Kune Do and Filipino martial arts, the Hong Kong film industry or the stars involved. Like most low budget Hong Kong productions, the plot is elementary, the acting is poor and the broader action choreography is below standard. But the rare opportunity to see Bruce Lee’s friend and student Dan Inosanto in a featured role, in addition to Ladalski is too good to pass up. Their talents as real martial arts practitioners raises the bar on some of this film’s fight choreography and certainly aids Ho who shows more welcome signs of escaping Bruce Lee’s image.

According to Ladalski, THE CHINESE STUNTMAN was originally intended to be a film to promote Jeet Kune Do. A student enters the Hong Kong film industry and then we would have likely seen a strong contrast between the flowery arts of artificial screen fighting and Jeet Kune Do, an art that Bruce Lee intended to be a most practical and powerful form of kung fu, free of gimmickry or the restrictions of tradition. After several failed attempts to find support, Ladalski signed on an enthusiastic Ho Chung-tao who produced the film with his own Viking Film company and agreed to star. Ladalski’s teacher, Dan Inosanto joined, originally cast in a heroic role. But as the film began production, creative differences sent the whole thing in another direction. A real contrast between the flowery choreography of the Hong Kong actors and stuntmen versus the practical abilities of Ladalski and Inosanto created a rift that the film never recovered from. As a result, the finished product is confused in story and action.

While mentoring a live-in martial arts student (Ladalski), Chang Wei (Ho) is hired as an insurance agent. His unscrupulous supervisor and a film director (Paul Wei) concoct a plan to sign up a famous action star (Sze Ma-lung) for an expensive medical and life insurance policy, only to have him killed in order to collect the money. After Ma-lung is wounded while attempting a stunt, the insurance company sends Ho to supervise the production. He steps in to do a stunt himself and thereafter joins the film company as a stuntman.

His fellow stuntmen and even Ma-lung become resentful as Chung Wei’s popularity with the director and the investors grows. Eventually, Chung Wei is forced to contend with a newly-hired action director (Dan Inosanto) and ultimately with Ma-lung.

The whole murder for profit insurance scheme is very poorly executed as a plot device. It’s never resolved or fleshed out to any great detail and thus can be discarded. Dan Inosanto’s role is definitely a casualty of the changes made from Ladalski’s vision of the film. While he gets to have a couple of decent fights, his character is otherwise superfluous to the story. He’s a shady character hired on as action director for the film company, but doesn’t do much aside from stepping in for a couple of fights.

While his full talents as a martial artist are not fully utilized or showcased well, its still a treat to see Inosanto bust out moves. His close-quarter stick fighting scene opposite Ho Chung-tao is a highlight. In addition to being a master of Jeet Kune Do, Inosanto is also well known for his mastery of Filipino arts, particularly the use of Eskrima sticks. His other noteworthy film appearance in GAME OF DEATH includes an even better stick fighting scene that can be viewed in its entirety in the documentary BRUCE LEE: A WARRIOR’S JOURNEY.

Sze Ma-lung is well cast as a vain martial arts star who proves to be Ho’s biggest rival. He starts out as a caricature of an action star who declares himself unable and unwilling to do dangerous stunts, but he proves to be a competent fighter by the end. This evolution may have been another result of late changes in the film’s story. It works well enough.

The film’s bonus role belongs to Ladalski himself who plays Ho’s student in the film. It’s ironic that in reality, the roles were reversed with Ladalski coaching Ho on Jeet Kune Do and improving his speed during the film’s shoot. Ladalski’s part, like Inosanto’s is not crucial to the story, but does offer viewers a welcome chance to see him in action on several occasions. A part where he walks on a film set and ends up in a brawl with the stuntmen who challenge him mirrors events off screen. Apparently, the real stuntmen couldn’t pass up a chance to see if this gweilo was any good. By Ladalski’s account, he wasn’t too impressed with their film fighting skills, but did learn a thing or two about the cinematic importance of making a move look good rather than be effective.

Since Ladalski’s vision was subverted in what became THE CHINESE STUNTMAN, the film could be better described as Ho Chung-tao’s crowning achievement. The Jeet Kune Do depictions and the emphasis on showing more effective martial arts technique may have been watered down, but Ho delivers a very solid performance. This actor is not known for being the strongest screen fighter, but Ladalski’s coaching seems to have pushed him to excel beyond his usual Bruce Lee-imitation moves. Another irony of the film is that Ho’s character wins over the phony kung fu of the film industry, when in reality it’s the phony kung fu that dominates the film.

This point highlights the fact that this genre still has a long way to go in finding a way to marry real, effective martial arts with action filmmaking. Ladalski gets serious kudos for making an effort even though it failed. Experienced filmmakers may say that real martial arts don’t look as good on screen and producers may say that audiences need to be wowed by the latest fantasy and effects trends. But I say that the martial arts is more spiritual, far richer and deeper in layers than most films portray it as and all it takes is a filmmaker with the knowledge, creativity and support to make it a hugely entertaining and rewarding experience for audiences. If you need examples then consider the best works of Lau Kar-leung or the completed footage from GAME OF DEATH.