Family Affair: Fung Hak-on, Fung Fung, and Fung Bo-bo

I was watching the Dragon Dynasty release LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1977) recently, with its special feature of an interview with the under-appreciated actor and action director Fung Hak-on. The golden age of kung fu cinema, the years between the first of Bruce Lee’s iconic films and Jet Li’s early classics, were so rich in superstars and kung fu talent that a guy like Fung is easily overlooked. I had no idea, for instance, that he was a stuntman and assistant choreographer for Lau Kar-leung at the Shaw studio, and that he followed his pal John Woo to Golden Harvest, where he worked closely with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. His filmography includes gems like Chang Cheh’s MEN FROM THE MONASTERY (1974), Lau Kar-leung’s CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS (1976), Yuen Woo-ping’s THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER (1979), Jackie Chan’s THE YOUNG MASTER (1980), Tsui Hark’s ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1982), and, most recently, Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004), where he played the blind assassin who fought Chiu Chi-ling’s tailor. Fung Hak-on usually played the villain, and his formidable skills proved a worthy challenge for the kung fu heroes he went up against.

Fung Hak-on (top, left) in KUNG FU HUSTLE and above with Kwan Tak-hing in THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER.

He studied martial arts at the Peking Opera school of Madame Fen Juhua, who also taught Lam Ching-ying, Meng Hoi, and his LAST HURRAH co-star Lee Hoi-san. LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY was John Woo’s second film as a director, and it’s easy to see why he recruited the young stunt performer from Shaw’s to choreograph his film. Fung’s swordplay is fast and inventive, and his on-screen character, nicknamed “Pray for Death,” gives us a master class in dao, or broadsword, technique.

 Flyer for THE KID.

Fung Hak-on, like so many other Hong Kong actors, grew up in a show business family. His father, Fung Fung (1916-2000), was a Cantonese opera performer who began making movies in the mid-1930s, frequently working with early martial arts filmmakers like Hung Chung-ho (Sammo Hung’s grandfather), for whom he made THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WARRIOR and TRIPLE STEALING OF THE NINE DRAGON CUP (both 1939), and Ren Pengnian (THE FLYING TIGER in 1940). He directed THE KID (1950), which featured an early starring role by nine year old Bruce Lee, and he played Lee’s gangster mentor in the film, heroically surrendering to the law and advising his young charge to go straight at the end. Soon after THE KID was made, Fung Fung suffered a facial injury which left him deformed, but he continued to act in character parts for decades – he can be seen as the bad guy’s bumbling henchman in THE YOUNG MASTER, advising Jackie Chan during the climactic fight scene.

 Child star Fung Bo-bo (on right, with her father Fung Fung above).

Fung Bo-bo was also a star of Cantonese opera. 

The other member of the Fung family who found a successful career on the Hong Kong screen is Fung Hak-on’s kid sister, Petrina Fung Bo-bo, called “the Shirley Temple of Hong Kong” when she was a leading child star in the early 1960s. Fung Bo-bo is also one of the “Seven Cantonese Princesses,“ a designation given to the young starlets who dominated the Hong Kong box office in the mid sixties. Her best known film from this period is THE WHITE DRAGON (1968), which was re-made by Wilson Yip in 2004 as a vehicle for Cecilia Cheung. She is a well respected dramatic actress who has twice won Hong Kong Film Awards for her work in 92 LEGENDARY ROSE DE LA NOIRE (1992) and Derek Yee’s C’EST LA VIE, MON CHERIE (1993).

Flyer for VALUABLE FALSE DAUGHTER (1961), directed by Fung Fung, starring Fung Bo-bo.

See a clip of Fung Fung as a knife-wielding gangster befriended by young Bruce Lee in THE KID here.

See a clip of Fung Hak-on (in white) from LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY here.

See seven year old Fung Bo-bo in THE MAGIC CUP, PART 1 here.

Tags: Fung Fung, Fung Hak-on