Gambling films have been a popular recurring
aspect of the Hong Kong industry for years. Not too surprising perhaps in
a society that seems to embrace it whether it is the large casinos in Macau
or in the smaller illegal gambling dens in Hong Kong. As best as I can tell,
this is one of the earliest gambling films following on the heels of the
very popular Games Gamblers Play in 1974 starring the Hui Brothers. Games
Gamblers Play was an important film - it was filmed in Cantonese partially
breaking the hold Mandarin had on the industry and it was produced by the
up and coming Golden Harvest studio. This one is from Shaw studio trying
to play catch up.
This is a fairly easy going film without
a lot of drama and is a bit long at nearly two-hours. But Shaw fills the
screen with lots of character actors and extras and a number of set-ups.
Or swindles. Gambling really only comes into play at the end. Till then it
is one swindle after another. It has a very large cast - more an ensemble
piece than a starring film. If you are a fan of Shaw films, it is enjoyable
seeing all the familiar faces.
Wang Hsieh has the gift of being able to
hear what dice are in the cup and thus able to win High or Low. He does it
at a casino run by Chen Kuan-tai. Chen doesn't appreciate this and gouges
out his eyes. When Tsung Hua hears of this, he swears revenge. He too has
the hearing gift plus when mahjong tiles are turned over and shuffled, he
can remember where each tile ends up. With his two friends (Fan Mei-sheng
and Wang Chung), he wins a pile of money from Chen Kuan-tai. But he celebrates
too soon as a couple of Chen's thugs beat them up. Now it is war as Tsung
calls together his entire family.
The Sha family who have been famous for
centuries for their skills. Skills of gambling, scams, cons, stings and swindles.
The rest of the film is one after another - stealing jewelry from Chen's
wife (Chen Ping) or the old switcheroo of replacing one woman in bed with
another. Some other actors are Ku Feng, Ling Yun, Terry Lau, Ou-yang Sha-fei,
Chen Shan, Yang Chi-ching, Ching Miao and many more. Gambling films were
to get much crazier later on with Chow Yun-fat and Stephen Chow. This is
pretty low key without much zip.
