Overview: Ti Lung and John Chiang portray carefree thrill seekers in early Republican-era China who volunteer for a mission to steal 3000 rifles from northern forces to deliver them to rebels in the south. They’re aided by screen beauty Ching Li, as the plucky daughter of a northern munitions officer. Inspired by Italian and Hollywood actioners like Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH, THE ANONYMOUS HEROES is an atypical Hong Kong actioner from director Chang Cheh that’s one of his most Western-themed. It’s filled with rollicking camaraderie and fast and loose violence involving gambling den brawls, bloody bayonet fighting and gun battles on trains and city streets.
Detailed Synopsis: The film is set during the tumultuous days of China’s Republican era when democratic revolutionaries in southern China sought to challenge oppressive warlords in the north. One such revolutionary is Wan (Ku Feng) who travels north on a mission to steal a shipment of 3000 new rifles from a military depot. To achieve his goal Wan recruits a homeless thief named Meng Kang (John Chiang), who proves to be courageous and resourceful in a fight. Wan also recruits Meng Kang’s friend, a rambunctious gambler named Tieh (Ti Lung) and their gal pal Pepper (Ching Li), the rebellious daughter of the depot’s munitions officer. She manages to talk her father into loaning her two transport trucks while the three men procure military uniforms. They kidnap an officer and force him at gunpoint to aid them in stealing the guns. They waltz straight into the depot with a ruse claiming that Marshal Chin (Ching Miao), the regional commander has ordered the guns to be transferred. The original plan quickly falls apart when it’s discovered that transfer papers are required. While Wan stalls for time, Kang and Tieh leave in search of a solution. By chance, Marshal Chin orders his adjutant back to the depot with papers for a real transfer. His car is intercepted by the two men. After killing the occupants in a shootout, they return with what they hope are the correct papers. This plan also backfires but once again chance intervenes and they narrow succeed in arranging the transfer. With the trucks loaded up with rifles and the nervous officer still held at gunpoint, they head off to a waiting train where the guns are transferred for the journey south. All’s well until Marshal Chin discovers that his guns are missing and his adjutant has been found dead. As the train gets underway, military forces on horseback give chase and a shootout ensues. The kidnapped officer is killed and Wan is mortally wounded in the exchange. The remaining thieves manage to outrun the military until the train’s breaks fail, causing it to crash near a bridge. Having crashed into a barn, the train car carrying the still-intact guns is covered up before the heroes make their way to a nearby city to find Wan’s rebel contact. Instead, they’re captured by a gang of notorious bandits intent on reselling the guns for profit. Kang and Tieh fight back but their skirmish draws the attention of the military which is now searching the city for them. They manage to escape but the two men’s taste for gambling gets them in trouble again after they get in a gambling hall brawl with soldiers. Kang is captured but Marshal Chin intentionally lets him go after brief questioning. Just as the Marshall planned, Kang foolishly leads the military back to his friends but before they’re surrounded, they find their rebel contact and pass on the location of the guns. Knowing that if captured and tortured, they might be forced to give up the location of the guns, the three heroes lead the military on a violent, suicidal chase through the city that culminates in a violent standoff that forces the military to respond with lethal force.
Notes: The cast is mostly populated by Chang Cheh’s regular staple of actors including the two male leads and the supporting cast. The exception is Ching Li who makes her first appearance in a Chang Cheh production. She starred in a string of Chang’s films over the next two years before moving on to work with other filmmakers at Shaw Brothers.
AKA: Mo meng ying hung, Wu ming ying xiong, 無名英雄
Genre: Action
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: July 24, 1971
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-leung
Cast: John Chiang (Meng Kang), Ti Lung (Tieh), Ching Li (Pepper/Hung Yin-feng), Ku Feng (Wan), Ching Miao (Marshal Chin)
