Noble House 

Ian Struan Dunross is chairman of Struan & Company, the oldest and largest of the British-East Asia trading companies. To the Chinese, that also makes him "Tai-Pan" ("supreme leader") of ... See full summary »

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Deborah Raffin, Ben Masters

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Pierce Brosnan	...	Ian Dunross 4 episodes, 1988
Deborah Raffin	...	Casey Tcholok 4 episodes, 1988
Ben Masters	...	Linc Bartlett 4 episodes, 1988
John Rhys-Davies	...	Quillan Gornt 4 episodes, 1988
Julia Nickson	...	Orlanda Ramos 4 episodes, 1988
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Four Finger Wu 4 episodes, 1988
Gordon Jackson	...	Supt. Armstrong 4 episodes, 1988
Burt Kwouk	...	Philip Chen 4 episodes, 1988
Nancy Kwan	...	Claudia Chen 4 episodes, 1988
John Van Dreelen	...	Jacques DeVille 4 episodes, 1988
Ping Wu	...	Paul Choy 4 episodes, 1988
Kay Tong Lim	...	Brian Kwok 4 episodes, 1988
Lisa Lu	...	Ah Tam 4 episodes, 1988
Damien Thomas	...	Lando Mata 4 episodes, 1988
Dudley Sutton	...	Commissioner Roger Crosse 4 episodes, 1988
Ric Young	...	Tsu-Yan 4 episodes, 1988
Tia Carrere	...	Venus Poon 4 episodes, 1988
Steven Vincent Leigh	...	John Chen 4 episodes, 1988
John Houseman	...	Sir Geoffrey Allison 4 episodes, 1988
Denholm Elliott	...	Alastair Struan 4 episodes, 1988
Harris Laskawy		4 episodes, 1988
Leon Lissek	...	Christian Toxe 4 episodes, 1988
Keith Bonnard	...	Tip Tok-Toh 4 episodes, 1988
Edward Petherbridge	...	Jason Plumm 4 episodes, 1988
Bennett Ohta	...	Richard Kwang 4 episodes, 1988
Brian Fong	...	Goodweather Poon 4 episodes, 1988
Helen Funai	...	Mrs. Kwang 4 episodes, 1988
Irene Tsu		4 episodes, 1988
David Shaughnessy		4 episodes, 1988
John Fujioka	...	Baldhead Kin 4 episodes, 1988
Richard Durden	...	Havergill 4 episodes, 1988
David Henry	...	Bruce Johnjohn 4 episodes, 1988
George Innes	...	Travkin 4 episodes, 1988
Choy-Ling Man	...	Mary Li 4 episodes, 1988
Pip Miller	...	Inspector Smyth 4 episodes, 1988
Duncan Preston	...	Pugmire 4 episodes, 1988
Michael Siberry	...	Linbar Struan 4 episodes, 1988
Vincent Wong	...	Lim Chu 4 episodes, 1988
Galen Yuen	...	Smallpox Kin 4 episodes, 1988

Storyline

Ian Struan Dunross is chairman of Struan & Company, the oldest and largest of the British-East Asia trading companies. To the Chinese, that also makes him "Tai-Pan" ("supreme leader") of the "Noble House". Unfortunately, with his power, he inherits ancient promises, dark secrets, and deep financial problems on a small island full of people, who want to see Struan fall, so they can become the Noble House. Dunross' worst enemy is the vicious Quillan Gornt, a lesser tai-pan, and he's doing everything in his power to bring the Noble House to ruin. Drawn into the fight between Gornt and Dunross, is an upstart American billionaire, who tries to gain a foothold on the Hong Kong market, and has made a deal to steal something that will give him power, even over the Noble House. Unfortunately, that something has fallen into the hands of a powerful Chinese overlord. "Everybody was watching (and cheating on) everybody." Who will succeed in the end?

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | broken coin | tv mini series | china | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

In one explosive moment, nothing matters but survival

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Noble House

Filming Locations:

Jumbo Floating Restaurant - Shum Wan Pier Dr, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

355 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pierce Brosnan played a character named Ian Dunross in this miniseries. Brosnan played a character named Julian Noble in The Matador (2005).

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Quotes

Ian Dunross: [speaking to Lim Chu, who had disabled Quillan Gornt's brakes] If I want some foreign devil's brakes buggered, I will order it. The Noble House has always maintained its pre-eminence by holding more honor than its competitors.

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Connections

Follows Tai-Pan (1986)

User Reviews

Excellent rendition of the fourth book in James Clavell's oriental history series

I mainly gave this film an 8 out of ten because, at least in the VHS version, the film quality is not all one could wish for. But in the main the book was translated excellently into the six hour mini-series for television and had an excellent cast. Pierce Brosnan is excellent as the ever unflappable Ian Dunross, who weathers all storms and faces ruin with determination. Debra Raffin had the tough job of trying to be many things without knowing all that her character needed to know. JohnRhys-Davies is, as always, excellent. Whether he plays a villain or a hero, he does it with style. Denholm Elliot as Alistair Struan did not have enough screen time, as indeed was the case with his character in the book. Burt Kwouk and Nancy Kwan were also up to par as always. And this film also proves that the sun never sets on John Houseman, who plays the British Governor of Hong Kong with his usual petulant aplomb. Bring lots of snacks and plan several bathroom breaks to watch this one.