Mad Mad Mad Swords (1969)

Taking inspiration for its English title from Stanley Kramer’s 1963 screwball comedy, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is Cathay’s somewhat less comical spoof of the popular martial arts movies of Hong Kong and Japan in the late 1960s.

Tin Ching stars in one of his few leading roles before becoming a popular supporting actor at Shaw Brothers in dozens of kung fu movies. He plays Chen Ziyuan, a cowardly swordsman of modest sword skills, who employs his wits, a fair amount of trickery and a lot of luck to best the martial world’s top fighters. His chief motivation in making a name for himself is Lingshu, the attractive, yet headstrong daughter of his recently deceased master Li. Even after Li leaves Chen in charge of his clan and offers his daughter’s hand in marriage on his deathbed, Lingshu stubbornly refuses to marry until Chen restores her family’s tarnished reputation.

Chen sets out with his faithful friend and servant as knight errant, only to become seduced by an amorous prostitute before aiding the notorious bandits of Mopan Mountain by defeating a famed and righteous one-armed swordsman. Although he returns having gained some fame for his exploits, Lingshu orders Chen to right his wrong by leading a force against the bandits. As if that were not enough to appease his bride-to-be, Chen must also defeat three of the martial world’s greatest fighters in a competition. Though lacking in skill, Chen and his trusty friend hatch plans to outwit each of his opponents. But Chen’s conscience proves to be his greatest adversary.

In theory, a parody of the martial arts genre couldn’t have come at a better time for Hong Kong filmmakers. By 1969 China’s long-running swordplay genre had been completely revitalized by Chang Cheh’s heroic bloodshed sagas, while equally popular Japanese tales of rebellious samurai and blood-soaked ronin for hire were heavily influencing filmmakers on all shores. In Mad Mad Mad Swords, the opportunity to play with wuxia and chambara convention is nearly limitless and yet, only mildly successful.

The mischievous character of Chen is a popular one in martial arts storytelling, as can be witnessed by the likes of the Monkey King or Fong Sai-yuk. However, one thing he doesn’t share with his fellow tricksters is kung fu skills. He’s little more than a charlatan and this doesn’t make for quality martial arts screen fighting when he’s too busy lighting firecrackers on a blind swordsman’s scabbard or pouring sesame oil on a stone arena to cause his leg-fighting opponent to lose his footing. Action director Han Ying-chieh has certainly orchestrated far better action scenes in films like Come Drink with Me. Some early fighting involves horribly undercranked shots that speed the combatants up to ridiculous levels. A joke could have been made out of this and it if was meant as one, it was lost on this viewer. It doesn’t help that Tin Chung is anything but a martial arts actor. He’s better known for his comical roles, yet there isn’t much to laugh at here.

The film’s main gimmick is pitting its hero against a variety of recognizable foes including a blind swordsman in a nod to Zatoichi, a one-armed swordsman from Chang Cheh’s One-Armed Swordsman and a final opponent clearly meant to be a reference to Musashi Miyamoto and his famous duel on Ganryu Island as portrayed in Samurai 3. There’s nothing particularly amusing about Chen’s ability to outfox these thinly veiled icons, although watching him duel a hapless swordsman with a full bladder has its own charm. Nor is it funny to see Tin Ching trying to carry a movie. Sure he lacks leading man looks, but that should work to his advantage in a comedy. What’s really missing is character, the kind exhibited by successful genre comedians like Alexander Fu Sheng, Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow. Perhaps the only time his comic performance steers in the right direction is shortly after he beats the one-armed swordsman. Here he shares with his defeated foe a pitifully sad look that borders between mockery and regret.

The film does have its moments. There is a good physical gag involving a flexible bamboo stalk to provide a little unorthodox assist in leaping over a wall. After all, just because this is a wuxia movie doesn’t mean that everyone can effortlessly bound through the air, particularly our reluctant hero. The ending contains a Stephen Chow-like scene where a cheering crowd turns on an elder for making a blasphemous and otherwise true prediction.

Director Wong Tin-lam was no stranger to the wuxia genre after having directed a number of genre films during the 1950s. But that experience may have been more of a stumbling block than a help. For a comedy, Mad Mad Mad Swords is mildly diverting but lacks the punch of later Cantonese-language comedies that excelled at verbal sparring and slapstick. For a swordplay movie, it lacks the screen fighting excitement of the films it references.

For some, the movie may be worth a look to see a young Sammo Hung playing a bit part before he rose to superstardom and for others, to have a glimpse at Cathay’s limited martial arts movie output before they closed their doors. If one were to use this movie as example of Cathay’s attempt to compete at the box office it would be no wonder that Shaw Brothers came to dominate with their more colorful swordplay and kung fu movies.