Mr. Han, Man: The Awesome Villainy of Shek Kin, Part 1

It can seem as though Hong Kong action film underwent a great leap forward in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The difference between a martial arts film from 1963 and one from 1973, between the heyday of Walter Tso Tat-wah and that of Bruce Lee, is more than just a few years of industry development. The work of people like Lee, directors Chang Cheh and Lo Wei, and choreographers Lau Kar-leung and Tong Kai advanced the genre in a more realistic and professionally accomplished direction. Many of the action stars of the early 1960s were forced to retire or switch to character parts when the style changed. But one of Hong Kong’s most prolific and popular martial arts actors, the perennial villain Shek Kin, weathered the changeover in top form.

Clockwise from left: Shek Kin (1913- ); Shek (left) with Bruce Lee; Shek Kin and his wife.

Shek is best known for his modern work with kung fu icons like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In ENTER THE DRAGON (1973), he played the psychopathic drug lord with a prosthetic claw who menaces Lee in the famous mirror sequence. Although senior to Lee by thirty years, he acquits himself well in the fight scenes. In THE YOUNG MASTER (1980), Shek played the constable who mistakenly arrests Chan and then learns the difficulty of keeping him in custody. Shek showed himself to be Chan’s equal in comic timing with their hilarious house-bound duel. These roles came late in a career that began in 1940 and saw Shek become one of the most recognizable faces of classic Hong Kong cinema.

Shek Kin (Shih Kien, Sek Kin) was born in 1913 in the city of Panyu, in Guangzhou province. He was a sickly child and took up martial arts to build his strength. When China came under attack in the early days of the Second World War, he joined a patriotic stage troupe and found his calling. Shek came to Hong Kong as part of a company run by director Hu Chun-bing, and he followed his mentor into the film industry. At first he worked behind the scenes in the costume and make-up department, but by 1940 he was being cast in films like FLOWER IN A SEA OF BLOOD and EVERLASTING LOVE, made for Hu’s Guoguang Film Company.

After the war, martial arts movies became newly popular in Hong Kong, and the most successful was THE STORY OF WONG FEI-HUNG (1949). With the boom, Shek began to specialize in playing kung fu villains. First came a series of Fong Sai-yuk stories, with Shek as Fong’s enemy, the White Brow Monk. Soon he was brought into the long-running Wong Fei-hung series, which starred Kwan Tak-hing as the hero. Shek played a number of villains over the years but his most memorable recurring role was as “Bad Guy Kin,” forever plotting against the virtuous Wong. Shek and Kwan became the ideal yin and yang of Hong Kong action cinema of the 1950s.

In this detail from a flyer for WONG FEI-HUNG CHALLENGES NG YONG SENG (1968), Kwan Tak-hing smashes Shek Kin’s face in. The poor guy never could catch a break when Wong Fei-hung was around.

This entry was originally posted on February 15, 2007.

Read Part 2 and Part 3.

Tags: kung fu movie history, Shek Kin, Wong Fei-hung