Hard core kung fu movie fans are familiar with the name of Kwan Tak-hing, the actor who played legendary martial artist Wong Fei-hung in dozens of Hong Kong films between 1949 and 1981. But fewer people are aware of the visionary director who created the Wong Fei-hung series. Wu Pang (1909-2000) wasn’t the first martial arts filmmaker. There had been a boom in wuxia and action films in Shanghai in the late 1920s. The popularity of these crude and anarchic films alarmed the Chinese government, which moved to shut down many of the studios which specialized in martial arts films. Some of the people involved in the Shanghai productions emigrated to Hong Kong in the 1930s and began to produce films there. Yam Pang-nin (aka Ren Pengnian) and Hung Chung-ho (Sammo Hung’s grandfather) were among the most prominent action directors in pre-World War II Hong Kong.
Wu Pang also made the move from Shanghai to Hong Kong in 1936. His family was originally from Guangdong Province, which probably made it easier for him to fit in with the southern Chinese culture of his new home. He had been working on the fringes of the Shanghai film industry, but in Hong Kong he moved into the director’s chair, specializing in melodrama. Film production in Hong Kong shut down for the duration of the war, but Wu was back at work by 1947. He continued to direct contemporary and historical dramas, but in 1948 he made a boxing film called WORLD OF FISTS, starring Walter Tso Tat-wah, another Cantonese-speaking veteran of the Shanghai film industry.
Flyers for martial arts films directed by Wu Pang. Left: HOW WONG FEI-HUNG DEFEATED THREE BULLIES WITH A ROD (1953). Right: HOW WONG FEI-HUNG SET FIRE TO DASHATOU (1956).
At some point Wu must have developed a serious interest in wushu, because it was around this time that he had the idea of making a realistic film that would showcase Southern Chinese martial arts. Wushu practitioners divide the arts broadly into Northern and Southern styles. Nanquan, or Southern boxing, relies on low stances and powerful hand strikes, while the Northern styles are more acrobatic. Wu Pang wanted to make a film that would showcase Southern Chinese culture along with kung fu techniques, and his solution was to commission a screenplay based on the life of one of the most famous Cantonese martial artists of all time, the hung gar master and healer Wong Fei-hung. Wong was the epitome of Confucian values like patriotism and righteousness. To fulfill his vision, Wu cast the genuine martial artist Kwan Tak-hing in the lead role, and surrounded him with an able cast that included Yuen Siu-tin (Yuen Wo-ping’s father) and Shek Kin. The film’s credits include a grand total of five “martial arts consultants”: Yuen Wing-kwai, Poon Kwai-yat, Chan Hon-chung, Wu Wan-fei, Wu Pang-hing – this at a time when the choreographers were generally uncredited. The resulting film, THE STORY OF WONG FEI-HUNG, PART ONE and PART TWO, was immensely successful, and Wu Pang found his life’s work. He directed a total of 59 films about Wong, and the series was extended by the work of many other directors.
Left: Flyer for an earlier collaboration between director Wu Pang and star Kwan Tak-hing, A WOMAN”S HEART IS NEVER MENDED (1949). Right: Wu also directed WONG FEI-HUNG”S BATTLE WITH FIVE TIGERS IN THE BOXING RING (1958).
If you’ve enjoyed Jackie Chan in DRUNKEN MASTER (1978) or Jet Li in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991), you have Wu to thank. He fought valiantly against the prevailing commercial practice of churning out cheaply made “five day wonders”, arguing with his producers for sufficient time to rehearse and shoot the complex action scenes. All the top stunt performers and choreographers active in Hong Kong during the 1950s contributed to the success of the series, which in turn became the training ground for the next generation of action filmmakers. Lau Kar-leung, Tong Kai, and Yuen Wo-ping all got their start on the Wong Fei-hung sets.
Throughout his career, Wu Pang was respected and admired by his colleagues in the Hong Kong film industry. In 1963, he joined nine other Cantonese directors, including Lee Tit and Ng Wui, calling themselves “Ten Brothers,” in an professional alliance that eventually became the Hong Kong Film Producers Association. In 1999, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. He died in 2000, and is remembered fondly as a pioneer in action filmmaking.
Wu Pang at the editing table.
This entry was originally posted on March 29, 2007.
Related Topics:Kwan Tak-hing • Wong Fei-hung • Wu Pang
