Kill a Dragon
Director:
Michael
Moore
Year: 1967
Rating: 6.0
There is some
good location shooting that takes place in Hong Kong and Macau in the first
half of this adventure film, but there isn't much else to get excited about.
Except perhaps Jack Palance as the good guy for a change and Fernando Lamas
and his gleaming terrifying white teeth as the villain for a change. I kept
hoping to see some familiar faces from the Hong Kong film industry, but no
such luck. Watching this you realize how much has changed in the portrayal
of Chinese in Western films in the intervening 50 years. It has two of my
least favorite tropes. All Chinese speak like Confucius and the White Knight
Syndrome. Ok. The White Knight Syndrome is still with us per Tom Cruise,
Keanu Reeves and Matt Damon.
Boxes of nitroglycerin have washed ashore
on a small island off of Hong Kong that the inhabitants have claimed as theirs
by salvage law. The owner of the cargo disagrees and gives them three days
to return it. Lamas as the owner gives one of the nicest portrayals of the
bad guy I have come across. It is as if being really bad would hurt his image
and so he smiles like a toothpaste commercial throughout. Three of the villagers
sneak into HK to get help and they accidentally barge in on Palance on his
sampan in a horizontal position on top of the delicious Aliza Gur. Miss Israel
and probably best remembered as the opponent of Martine Beswick in the gypsy
fight in To Russia with Love. She works in a bar called Suzie Wong leaving
her profession fairly clear.
Obviously, Palance is the man for the job
and he is hired to bring the cargo to HK. He gets three friends (Aldo Ray
being one) and off they go - first with a detour to Macau. Palance is called
St George by the island inhabitants and of course the elder's daughter (Judy
Dan) falls for him. But not much really happens. There is a big shootout
at the end but Palance and Lamas seem to like each other so much that the
women just seem in the way.
