Wow! I never thought that I'd see my favorite tomboy Jeanette Lin Tsui sporting a bikini. She's always been more spunky than sexy (although no less attractive for it), but I was a little surprised — and disappointed — by her goody good girl performance in The Golden Buddha (1966), the first of Shaw Brothers' several James Bond clones. Not only did she not display even a hint of sexiness, she didn't get to kick any butt either!
Come on... Lin Tsui was *the* girl jock of Hong Kong cinema. MP&GI's campus comedy Spring Song (1959) was tailor made to showcase her athletic talents and featured her water skiing, hunting, and competing in archery. What a disappointment then to see Jeanette do so little in The Golden Buddha (especially compared to Lily Ho's role a year later in Angel with the Iron Fists). Instead, we get stuck with the Paul Chang Chung doing his best Sean Connery — and not quite pulling it off. (Thank goodness Fanny Fan is there to provide some genuine Bond-style excitement!)
So what's up with this film?... Secret Agent 101 (also known as Magic Fire 101), a Shochiku production shot in Hong Kong with the help of MP&GI and released the same year as The Golden Buddha.
How come Japanese audiences (and movie fans in Yugoslavia, which is where this poster comes from) were the lucky ones to see Lin Tsui looking sexy in a bikini and armed with a gun?! And more importantly, where can I find this film?
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