''The Boxer from Shantung'' is a 1972 Hong Kong

kung fu film Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...

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 ...

and Pao Hsueh-li, and starring

Chen Kuan-tai Chen Kuan-tai (; born 24 September 1945) is a Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Ko ...

Ching Li Ching Li (; 1945–2017) was a Hong Kong actress popular in the 1970s. She appeared in more than 60 films, mostly by Shaw Brothers Studio. Early life On October 29, 1945, Ching was born in mainland China "Mainland China", also referred ...

and guest stars

David Chiang use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinat ...

Godfrey Ho Godfrey Ho ( zh, 何志强 or 何致强, Chinese: Ho Chi-Keung; born November 10, 1948) is a prolific former Hong Kong film director and screenwriter. Ho is believed to have directed more than one hundred films, including over 80 movies from 1 ...

was assistant director (as Chih Chiang Ho).

Plot

''Boxer from Shantung'' follows Ma Yongzhen and Xiao Jiangbei. Ma and Xiao are manual laborers busting their tails in Shanghai at the beginning of the film, and Ma's first encounter with the crime lord Tan Si - who shares power in the city with Boss Yang, who has the Four Champions fighting for him - starts him off on the underworld influence ladder. Step by step, he earns the respect of everyone he meets, either with his strength of character or by beating them up. When he gets a really big break by defeating a Russian strongman, he indulges himself in a fancy cigarette holder, much like the one Tan Si uses. However, he is mindful of his humble beginnings, and of the fact that times are still tough for many in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. He shares his good fortune with his old fellow wage slaves, and when they assist him in his various extralegal activities, he lectures them on the futility of trying to extort money from people who simply don't have any to spare. The

tea house A teahouse or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only ser ...

that Ma and his underlings frequent employs a singer, Jin Lingzi, and her uncle, who provides the music. Ms. Jin's hopes that Ma's arrival will mark a turn for the better for conditions in the crime-plagued city are dashed when she ascertains that he isn't different enough from the other bosses she's seen rise and fall. She begins contemplating leaving the city. Tan Si is ambushed and killed by Boss Yang. Ma finds Tan Si's body and is subsequently invited by Boss Yang to discuss business in a restaurant. Ma's followers warn him that Ma might be ambushed during the meeting. Ma decides to go anyway. He calls his friend and cart driver Xiao Jiangbei, gives him 100 dollars to leave the city as he is worried about his friend, who is too friendly and naive for the gangster lifestyle. In the restaurant, Yang has all the waiters and customers thrown out and replaces them with his own men. Ma arrives, observes the situation and slowly starts the conversation with Yang. He quickly tells Yang that he only came to the meeting to kill Yang. Suddenly the men Yang had placed in the restaurant start attacking Ma und hurt him with an Axe, that gets stuck in his torso. Despite his injury Ma - with the help of his own men, who arrived to help their boss - fights all of Yang's men and incapacitates them -including the four champions. Ma then kills Yang. One of Yang's men, who has survived the fight, attacks Ma and kills him. Ma's killer is then finished off by Ma's men. The film ends with Jin Lingzi, her uncle and Xiao Jiangbei leaving Shanghai on a train.

Cast

as Ma Yongzhen *

as Jin Lingzi *

as Boss Tan Si (guest star) *Cheng Kang-yeh as Xiao Jiangbei *Chiang Nan as Boss Yang *Fung Ngai as Fang Ah-gen *

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 Chang Chin-fa *Tin Ching as Li Caishun *Wong Ching as Lu Pu *

Mario Milano Mario Bulfone (15 May 1935 – 9 December 2016), better known by his ring name Mario Milano, was a professional wrestler. Milano got his start in wrestling in Venezuela and later competed in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Mexico a ...

as Russian muscleman

Production

Director

discovered actor

at a martial arts competition in 1969. Cheh made ''Boxer from Shantung'' with his co-director Pao Huseh-li in thirty days, this was in a time when most

Shaw Brothers 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 Shangh ...

productions were made in two or three months.

Release

''The Boxer From Shantung'' was released in Hong Kong on February 11, 1972. On its release in the United States in 1980, it was titled ''The Killer from Shantung''. The American release was cut by over 30 minutes by its distributor World Northal. When the film was released in Germany in 1975 as ''Der Pirat von Shantung'', it was cut to 80 minutes.

References

External links