The One-Armed Swordsman (1967)

A noble swordsman, whose arm had been chopped off, returns to his former teacher to defend him from a villainous gang of rival swordsmen.

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang, Kuang Ni

Stars:

Jimmy Wang Yu, Chiao Chiao, Chung-Hsin Huang

Cast

Credited cast:
Jimmy Wang Yu	...	Fang Kang / One-armed Swordsman (as Yu Wang)
Chiao Chiao	...	Hsiao Man
Chung-Hsin Huang	...	Wei Hsuan
Yin-Tze Pan	...	Chi Pei-erh
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pei-Shan Chang	...	Sun Hao
Hsiung Chao	...	Ah-Hsien
Chuan Chen	...	Chi student
Shao-Peng Chen	...	Chi student
Yanyan Chen	...	Madam Chi (as Yen-yen Chen)
Lei Cheng	...	Teng Chung
Lung Chiang	...	Chi student
Yuan Chieh	...	Lu Chen
Chun Chin	...	Street gambler
Siu Loi Chow	...	Bandit Hsu
Dan Fan	...	Shih Yi-fei

Storyline

An evil gang attacks the Chi school of Golden Sword Kung Fu. One student sacrifices his life to save his teacher and his school, his dying wish is that his son be taken in as a student. Young Fang Kang grows up in the school and treasures his father's broken sword and the memory of his father's sacrifice. The other students (including the teacher's daughter) resent him and try to drive him away. The teacher's daughter challenges him to a fight and when he refuses she becomes enraged and recklessly chops off his arm! He retreats, broken and bloody, and is found by a young poor girl living alone who nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, the evil gang who originally attacked the Golden Sword school develops a weapon that renders the Golden Sword useless and starts killing off all of the schools students. Fang Kang eventually recovers with the girl's help but must now face a life with only one arm. Will he be able to recover and live to defend the school as his father did?

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was the first of a new style of wuxia films emphasizing male anti-heroes, violent swordplay and heavy bloodletting.

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Quotes

Chi Pei-erh: Fang Kang, I cut off your arm. Why did you still rescue me?
Fang Kang: You recognize me?
Chi Pei-erh: I've known your voice since we were children. Besides, you have only one arm. It'd be too much of a coincidence if it's someone else.

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Connections

Referenced in Lung do kei yuen (2005)

User Reviews

Kung Fun!

An evil gang attacks the Chi school of Golden Sword Kung Fu. One student sacrifices his life to save his teacher and his school, his dying wish is that his son be taken in as a student. Young Fang Kang grows up in the school and treasures his father's broken sword and the memory of his father's sacrifice. The other students (including the teacher's daughter) resent him and try to drive him away. The teacher's daughter challenges him to a fight and when he refuses she becomes enraged and recklessly chops off his arm! Directed by Chang Cheh ("Five Deadly Venoms"), this was the first Hong Kong film to make HK$1 million at the local box office, propelling its star Jimmy Wang to super stardom. I am really beginning to appreciate the kung fu genre, especially when there is a gimmick -- a swordsman with one arm? Sounds good to me. And apparently it sounded good to many other people, because there was a sequel and a few spinoffs, too.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin English Hungarian

Release Date:

26 July 1967 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The One-Armed Swordsman

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 111 min (restored print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1