Slaughter in San Francisco

Director: Lo Wei
Year: 1974
Rating: 6.0
Aka - Yellow Faced Tiger (Hong Kong title)
In Cantonese

This film directed by Lo Wei presents a San Francisco not often seen by visitors – a San Francisco where everyone speaks Cantonese and practices kung fu. Apparently, Lo Wei had initially hoped to use this as another vehicle for Bruce Lee but the two had gone their separate ways by the time it got to production. Still, Lo Wei opportunistically brought in Chuck Norris who had faced off against Bruce in The Way of the Dragon. Other than that, a young Sylvia Chang and the unusual setting for a Golden Harvest production there isn’t that much to recommend about the film. But it isn't a disaster by any means. It has many of Lo Wei’s sore points – a clunky disjointed plot and action choreography that should have been sharper – but none of his strengths – the visual style that he brought to many of his Shaw Brother films. This film has been available for a long time in an English dubbed version that reviews I read indicated had some bad camp value with Norris speaking in a British accented dub – but that small pleasure is missing in this version.
 

Instead of Bruce Lee, Lo Wei turned to Don Wong-tao for his lead role as a cop patrolling the streets of San Francisco (sadly no Karl Malden guest appearances). Don Wong had a solid career in many martial arts films from the 1970’s to the 80’s. He became a mainstay of the Taiwanese kung fu film industry with films such as The Secret Rivals and The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious. This was actually only his second film - his first being another Lo Wei production titled Chinatown Capers that also took place in San Francisco and had Sylvia Chang in it.  Oddly, Wong-tao's name in it was Yellow-Faced Tiger. Here, he portrays Wang, a stolid unsmiling cop, who is partnered up with an African-American – called John Sumner in the US version but the cringe worthy “Blackie” in the English subs. Not that titling it Yellowface is any better. One afternoon they come across a woman crying for help and upon investigating they witness two males trying to rape a Chinese woman (Sylvia Chang). After beating up the culprits, Betty tells them it was all a joke and they were just playing a game – clearly not one covered in Hoyle’s. She is a spoiled ABC who prefers the company of husky white men with nice cars and dangles cigarettes from her sulky mouth.
 

A few days later Wang’s partner is kidnapped by a group of white men and taken to the beach for a beating – why? – who knows – but Wang shows up in time to give them a kung fu lesson but kills one in the process. Instead of getting a medal for saving his partner, Wang is booted out of the force and has to of course take a job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. I am only surprised it wasn’t a laundry. Later Blackie is killed and the cops try to dump it on Betty’s parents – but Wang investigates on his own. This leads him to a narcotics gang headed by Chuck Norris – finally showing up about half way through the film. This was Norris's first film of substance since The Way of the Dragon. A villain again, but I think for the last time as four years later he starred in Good Guys Wear Black as the hero and was to stay that way.
 

Norris had yet to acquire the fine subtle acting skills that he later brought to Walker Texas Ranger. Here he is a typical thug adorned with cigars and a fedora who says things like “I know two types of people. My friends or dead people” or “Men from our family only play with women with yellow skin, we never marry them.” With his shaggy hair and shaggier chest, he looks like a stock porn actor from the 1970’s. At the climax, Norris and Wong take it to one another and no prizes for those who guess who wins. The fight has some good moves but is most interesting for the fact that though both take a good beating no one seems to have a mark on their bodies. Before the face off with Norris, Wong-tao has to fight his way through a dozen or two minions and goes completely Bruce Lee on them. The film is filled with white racism against the Chinese - from both the cops and the villains. I wonder why Lo Wei went that way - the Bruce Lee factor? Another Norris saying is. "I like the Chinese. They are so obedient".
 
 

Sylvia Chang who is very cute here of course went on to a great career in acting and directing. Norris became a huge action star. Lo Wei would soon hook up with Jackie Chan foe a series of films. And Lam Ching-ying who plays one of Norris's thugs and kills the lawyer would become a big star in his own right.  This is mainly of interest for catching all these actors at a very early stage of their career. Lo Wei can be criticized for his films, but the guy knew talent when he saw it.