If you're a fan of Hong Kong cinema, then you've undoubtedly seen Roy Chiao in one film or another. The first time that he came to my attention was in Summer Snow (1995), where he played Josephine Siao's Alzheimer's-inflicted father-in-law. Later, I would recognize him in King Hu's Touch of Zen (1971), The Fate of Lee Khan (1973), and The Valiant Ones (1975), as well as Tong Shu-Shuen's The Arch (1970). And although I didn't know it at the time, long before I even started watching HK movies, I'd already seen him in Enter the Dragon (1973) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)!
Several years ago the Cathay Classic Film Library opened its vaults and I suddenly became aware that Roy's acting career stretched back even further, into the 1960s and 50s. Around a third of the thirty-odd movies he made for Cathay's MP&GI studio between 1959 and 1970 are now available on DVD. Some of his memorable roles include the shy campus jock in Spring Song (1959), the "grease monkey" boyfriend in Sister Long Legs (1960), and the archetypal villainous warlord in A Story of Three Loves (1963). Unfortunately, one film that seems tailored especially for him, The Iron Fist (1960), has yet to be released.
Roy Chiao and Julie Yeh Feng in The Iron Fist (1960)
I was surprised to discover recently that my favorite femme fatale and sour beauty Bai Guang was the one who helped launch Roy Chiao's film career (see this article from the October 1956 issue of International Screen). In 1955 she met Roy in Japan and recruited him for her independent production Fresh Peony (1956). She must have taken quite a shine to him, because three years later she cast him as the male lead in her next film Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959). Publicity for the film reveals that Roy had more than one occasion to show off his fine form. It seems that Miss Bai, in what was her second outing as producer-writer-director, had no qualms with indulging her sweet tooth for beefcake.
Bai Guang and Roy Chiao in Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959)
Besides Roy's steady work at MP&GI during the first stretch of his career, he had a few odd acting gigs worth mentioning. In 1959 he had a small role in the British film Ferry to Hong Kong as a Chinese pirate. Although the movie stars Orson Welles and was directed by Lewis Gilbert, who would go on to make Alfie (1966) and You Only Live Twice (1967), TimeOut.com says it's "a moronic male melodrama-cum-adventure movie", which certainly won't deter me from seeking it out. BTW, the picture of Roy Chiao at the top of this post shows him in the "pirate" outfit he wore for the film... hmmm... all the more reason to check it out!
Equally unusual is Roy's presence in a series of Cantonese Bond-style spy films during the mid-sixties: Gold Button (1966), The Golden Gun (1966), The White Swan (1967), and Bomb in Pink (1967). Produced by the Mingxing Film Company, all four films feature newcomer So Ching (about whom I know absolutely nothing), the ubiquitous Bowie Wu Fung, and the voluptuous Fanny Fan Lai (doing pretty much the same thing she was doing at Shaw Brothers at that time). I did see The White Swan during a recent trip to the Hong Kong Film Archive. It was OK. So Ching certainly tried hard, but she didn't have the attitude or the moves of the other "Jane Bonds" (Connie Chan, Josephine Siao, Suet Nei, Lily Ho). Both Roy and Fanny were surprisingly underused... suddenly I'm imagining how great it would be if the two of them had starred together as romantic leads in a series of sexy screwball spy comedies. Oh well... movie history is full of missed opportunities.
Since I'm already starting to ramble, let me continue in this vein and state for the record that I am officially uninterested in John Woo's forthcoming wuxia epic The Battle of the Red Cliff... huh?... but I am very concerned that there is no DVD release of Woo's early slapstick crime caper Follow the Star (1978), which stars Roy Chiao as an alcoholic car mechanic who ends up protecting pop star Rowena Cortes from a group of goofy gangsters. It's a wonderful showcase for Roy's comedic talent.
Rowena Cortes and Roy Chiao in Follow the Star (1978)
The more I find about Roy Chiao and the more of his films that I see, the more I like him. It's true, I was a little down on him for a while after watching him being such an uptight chauvinistic jerk to Grace Chang in Air Hostess (1959). And I despised him as the warlord in A Story of Three Loves (also for the way he treated lovely Grace). But hey... that's a testament to his performance skills. In real life (and this comes through in his more genial roles) he seems like he was a genuine nice guy, a true gentle giant. Paul Fonoroff, who met Roy while working on Jackie Chan's The Protector (1985), says that "Roy's life centered more on his family and faith than the entertainment world". Perhaps that is why Roy Chiao could claim the title of "happiest man in the world" (International Screen No. 27, January 1958).
Further Reading
Biography of Roy Chiao by Paul Fonoroff
0 comments:
Post a Comment