''The One-Armed Swordsman'' is a 1967 Hong Kong ''

wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...

'' film produced by the

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shang ...

.Review at HKCinema - 40th Anniversary Retrospective
/ref> Directed by

Chang Cheh Chang Cheh (; 10 February 1923 – 22 June 2002) was a Chinese people, Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and producer active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Chang Cheh directed more than 90 films in Greater China, the majority of them wi ...

, it was the first of the new style of ''wuxia'' films emphasizing male

anti-heroes An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as Ideal (ethics), idealism ...

, violent swordplay and heavy bloodletting. It was the first Hong Kong film to make HK$1 million at the local box office, propelling its star Jimmy Wang to super stardom. This film eventually became the first in the ''One-Armed Swordsman'' trilogy. A sequel was released in 1969 called ''

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman ''Return of the One-Armed Swordsman'', also known as ''One-Armed Swordsman Return'', is a 1969 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film directed by Chang Cheh and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. The film is a sequel to the 1967 film '' The One-Armed Swor ...

'', followed by '' The New One-Armed Swordsman'' in 1971, all directed by

. It has since achieved classic status in Hong Kong cinema. In the

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual List of film awards, film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Cent ...

's 2005 poll, ''The One-Armed Swordsman'' was voted as the 15th best Chinese-language film.

Plot

The Golden Sword school is attacked by bandits. The servant Fang Cheng sacrifices his life to protect his master Qi Ru Feng. In gratitude, Qi accepts the dying Fang Cheng's son, Fang Kang, as his student. Years later, Fang Kang is scorned by his snobbish fellow students because of his poor background. Deciding that he will only cause trouble for his master, Fang Kang leaves the school only to run into his classmates and his master's spoiled daughter, Pei Er. In the ensuing fight Fang's right arm is cut off by Pei Er, who is angry at his indifference towards her. Stumbling away, Fang falls off a bridge into the passing boat of a peasant girl Xiao Man. Xiao Man nurses him back to health and the two fall in love. Fang Kang is nevertheless depressed as he is unable to practice his swordsmanship. Reluctantly, Xiao Man gives him a half-burnt kung-fu manual which she had inherited from her now dead parents. With its help, Fang Kang is able to master a new one-armed style of swordplay, making him stronger than before. Meanwhile, master Qi Ru Feng is preparing for his 55th birthday and has invited all of his students to the celebration to choose a successor from amongst them so that he can retire from the martial arts world. However, his old enemies the Long-armed Devil and the Smiling Tiger Cheng are taking the opportunity to destroy Qi Ru Feng. Using a specially designed "sword-lock", they ambush and kill Qi's students travelling to the celebration. Fang Kang inadvertently learns of the plot and, breaking his promise to Xiao Man not to involve himself in the martial arts world, rushes to save his master. He is delayed en route by the Long-Armed Devil's accomplices, and when he arrives the Long-Armed Devil has already killed most of the students and wounded Qi Ru Feng. In a vicious battle, Fang Kang manages to kill the Long-Armed Devil, but chooses to return to Xiao Man and become a farmer instead of taking his master's place at the school.

Cast

* Jimmy Wang as Fang Kang * Lisa Chiao Chiao as Xiao Man *

Tien Feng Tien Feng (born Tien Yu-kun, 4 June 1928 – 22 October 2015) was a Chinese actor, who appeared in hundreds of films in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has acted with Bruce Lee in ''Fist of Fury'' (1972) and with Jackie Chan in ''Little Tiger of Canto ...

as Qi Ru Feng * Angela Pan as Qi Pei Er *Yeung Chi-hing as Long Armed Devil *Tang Ti as Smiling Tiger Cheng Tian Shou *Fan Mei-sheng as Guo Sheng / Brother Hua *Wong Sai-git as Qin Da Chuan *Cheung Pooi-saan as Sun Hao *Fan Dan as Feng's rich disciple *

Ku Feng Chan Sze-man (3 July 1930 – 27 March 2025), better known by his stage name Ku Feng, was a Hong Kong actor. Background Feng studied in Beijing, and appeared in hundreds of films, many of which were produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio S ...

as Fang Chang * Chen Yen-yen as Feng's wife

Reception

The film's box office success earned Chang Cheh the epithet "One Million Dollar Director", established Jimmy Wang Yu as a star, and helped to secure the popularity of the

and martial arts cinema. The modern reception of the film in Hong Kong and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

is positive. At the 24th

Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre since 1991. The a ...

various Asian film critics, film makers and actors voted for the top Chinese films from Hong Kong,

and China. ''The One-Armed Swordsman'' was listed at 15th place on the list. In 2011, the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival had 122 industry professionals take part in the survey. The voters included film scholars, festival programmers, film directors, actors and producers to vote for the 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films. ''The One-Armed Swordsman'' was listed at 73rd place on the list.

Legacy

directed a sequel in 1969, ''

'', which was also produced by the

with Jimmy Wang reprising his role as Fang Kang (or Fang Gang). In 1971, Cheh made a third one-armed swordsman film for Shaw Brothers, '' The New One-Armed Swordsman'', starring David Chiang as a different one-armed swordsman. The popularity of these films led to imitations by other studios and Jimmy Wang playing similar one-armed characters on several occasions, beginning with the Japanese film '' Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman'' in 1971, in which he was paired with the blind swordsman Zatoichi ( Shintaro Katsu). Also in 1971, Wang directed and starred in '' One-Armed Boxer'', combining elements of the ''One-Armed Swordsman'' and '' The Chinese Boxer'' films he had previously made with Shaw Brothers. In 1976 he appeared in three other films with this trope: '' Master of the Flying Guillotine'' (a sequel to ''One-Armed Boxer''), '' One-Armed Swordsman Against Nine Killers'' and '' One Armed Swordsmen'', which starred and was co-directed by Jimmy Wang and David Chiang, playing rival one-armed swordsmen. In 1995, director and producer

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, , born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong (), is a Hong Kong filmmaker. A major director in the Golden Age of Cinema of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cinema, Tsui gained critical and commercial success with films such as ''Zu Warriors from ...

created '' The Blade'', an original story about a one-armed fighter inspired by the one-armed swordsman films of the 1960s and 70s.

References

External links