''The Last Message'' (Chinese: 天才與白痴) is a 1975 Hong Kong

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by and starring

Michael Hui Michael Hui Koon-man (born ; 3 September 1942) (also known as Mr Boo!) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, scriptwriter and director. He is the eldest of the four Hui brothers (together with Ricky, Sam, and Stanley) who were prominent figures i ...

, and co-starring

Samuel Hui Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Canton ...

, with a cameo appearance by

Ricky Hui Ricky Hui Kwun-ying (3 August 1946 – 8 November 2011) was a Hong Kong actor and singer. He along with his brothers, Michael and Sam, made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Ricky Hui Kun-ying was born 3 August ...

. This is the second film of the Hui Brothers.

Plot

Tim (

) and Lee (

) are employees of a mental hospital working as an orderly and nurse respectively. One day a crazy man named Cheng Ming (

Roy Chiao Roy Chiao (16 March 1927 – 15 April 1999) was a Hong Kong actor, most notable in the United States for playing the minor villain Lao Che in the 1984 movie ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. Biography Chiao was born in Shanghai in 1927. ...

) is institutionalized who carries a bag of trash. Tim and Lee discover that the bag is full of artifacts from the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. Unfortunately, they are all broken pieces and cannot be traded for money. Then, Cheng talks about a Princess and Tim and Lee figure that Cheng knows where are the artifacts from. Later on, Cheng dies from heart attack and Tim and Lee find Princess (Eileen Humphreys) and find out that she is Cheng's daughter. Princess tells them that her father discovered a sunk boat at the coast of Hong Kong. Tim and Lee starts to plan for their luxurious life, including quitting their jobs, and set out to find the artifacts. They do discover tons of it and brings it to trade for money. However, the ones Tim and Lee find are revealed to be fakes. With their fancy of luxury over, Lee gets his job back and Tim got insane and became a mental patient.

Cast

as Tim *

as Nurse Lee *

as waiter on skate *

James Tien James Tien is the name of: *James Tien (actor) (; born 1942), Hong Kong actor from Guangdong *James Tien (politician) (; born 1947), Hong Kong politician, former Liberal Party chairman and Legislative Council member *James M. Tien, American enginee ...

as traffic cop *

as Cheng Ming * Ray Cordeiro as Policeman *

Dean Shek Dean Shek (17 June 1949 – 20 September 2021), also known as Dean Shek Tin, was a Hong Kong film actor and producer with over 72 film credits to his name. Shek was perhaps best known as Professor Kai-hsien in the 1978 film ''Drunken Master'', ...

as hotel clerk * Eileen Humphreys as Princess * Lau Yat-fan as Police Chief * Chiang Nan as antique dealer * Siu Kam as Arab bodyguard * Wong Sam as Dr. Wong * Fung Ngai as Mr. Chow *

Joseph Koo Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, MBE, GBS (born 3 February 1933), is a Hong Kong composer, who is considered one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. Early life Koo h ...

as doctor in operation * Tsang Cho-lam as schizo, Chan Keung * Hao Li-jen as mental patient, dies in bed * Ho Pak-kwong as hospital attendant with crabs and frogs *

Ching Siu-tung Ching Siu-tung (Chinese: 程小東, born October 31st, 1953), also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantas ...

sd student scuba diver * Fung King-man as mental patient, Barbitone * Kam Lau as Tim's mother * Chu Yau-ko as mental patient, eating disorder *

Sai Gwa-Pau Lim Gan (林根), better known in Hong Kong by his stagename Sai Gwa-Pau (西瓜刨) (7 October 1918 – 12 March 2001) was a Hong Kong film actor who played roles in over 600 movies from the 1950s onwards. His stagename "Watermelon Slice" refer ...

as mental patient, likes death * Hong Ka-yan as Nurse * To Sam-ku as Ms. Chow * The Lotus as band * Luk Chin as Catholic priest at hospital

Partial soundtrack

''Tin choi yu bak chi'' (天才與白痴) is an album by

, released in 1975 by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

in Hong Kong. The first four tracks of the album are heard in the film.

Lyrics

人皆尋夢　夢裡不分西東片刻春風得意　未知景物矇矓人生如夢　夢裡輾轉吉凶尋樂不堪苦困　未識苦與樂同＊天造之才　皆有其用振翅高飛　無須在夢中＃南柯長夢　夢裡不知所中醉翁他朝醒覺　是否跨鳳成龍重唱　＊,＃,＊何必尋夢　夢裡甘苦皆空勸君珍惜此際　自當欣慰無窮何必尋夢

Notes

External links

* *
The Last Message
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual (French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websit ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Message, The 1975 films 1975 comedy films Hong Kong slapstick comedy films 1970s Cantonese-language films Golden Harvest films Films directed by Michael Hui Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong 1970s Hong Kong films