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
Mei Sheng Fan	...	Kuo Sheng

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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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | teacher | wuxia | spaghetti western | spaghetti western imitation | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

A sequel was released in 1969 called "Return of the One-Armed Swordsman".

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Quotes

Shih Yi-fei: Pei, don't worry. So what if you cut off his arm? He's not coming back anyway. We'll just never bring it up in front of Sifu.

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Connections

Referenced in Lung do kei yuen (2005)

User Reviews

Fantastic

I'm not a big expert on Hong Kong cinema, or Martial Arts movies, but I've seen my fair share of Kong Fu flicks, and this remarkable picture is definitely among the best. What it has going for it is first and foremost a great story about a one-handed swordsman who wants to quit the "Martial Arts business" but has one last debt of honor to repay. The film sets up its characters and plot in great detail, so we are involved from the outset. The villains are ferocious and the sword battles (this one has only sword battles, not actual Kong Fu) are great. It's a vicious, violent film, but also very tender. Acting is very good for this kind of picture. The heroes are heroic, the bad guys are sneering. Production design is also top-notch, great scenery and props, and be sure to watch it in "SHAWSCOPE" for its Widescreen glory.

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