Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989)

A country boy becomes the head of a gang through the purchase of some lucky roses from an old lady. He and a singer at the gang's nightclub try to do a good deed for the old lady when her daughter comes to visit.

Director:

Jackie Chan

Writers:

Golden Way Creative Group, Hal Kanter

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Ah-Lei Gua

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jackie Chan	...	'Charlie' Cheng Wah Kuo
Anita Mui	...	Luming Yang
Ah-Lei Gua	...	Madam Kao (as Yah-Leh Gui)
Chun-Hsiung Ko	...	Tiger
Wu Ma	...	Uncle Hai
Bill Tung	...	Tung
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenny Bee	...	Reporter #1
Anthony Carpio	...	One of Tiger Lo's men
Anthony Chan	...	Reporter #2
Ching-Wan Chan
Joanna Chan
Kwok-Kuen Chan	...	Chen Wah's Man
Sai-Tang Chan	...	Rope Factory Worker
Tat-Kwong Chan	...	Rope Factory Worker
Wai-Yue Chan	...	Lady Rose's Friend

Storyline

Jackie Chan's Hong Kong variation of Frank Capra's "A Pocketful of Miracles" set in the 1930s. Jackie plays a country boy who rescues a gang boss. Jackie becomes the head of a gang through the purchase of some lucky roses from an old lady. Jackie and a singer at the gang's nightclub try to do a good deed for the old rose-seller when her daughter comes to visit, all this while battling a rival gang.

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | kindness | love interest | organized crime | rose | 

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Taglines:

"Overwhelmingly wonderful", "Nothing short of miraculous...a must see" - The Hollywood Reporter

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming took place from December 1988 to March 1989.

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Goofs

When tripped at his initiation, Gwok begins to fall on his left side but lands on his right in the next shot.

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Alternate Versions

The international version is cut by 22 minutes from the original Hong Kong release.

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Connections

References Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

User Reviews

What a Movie

I didn't even know that Jackie made this movie for a long time. Lavishly shot with all star cast. This is one fantastic movie.

Kwok (Jackie Chan) arrives in Hong Kong looking for a job. Within hours, he's swindled of all his money by Tung (Bill Tung). Lamenting his misfortune, he meets the rose lady who's selling roses. Kwok buys one rose from her. Next thing he knows, he's involved in a gang chase. The chase has the boss fatally wounded. He murmurs in his last breath pointing to Kwok that "This man is the new head". Overnight, Kwok becomes the boss of a crime family. He declares "No more crime and killing", but the old habits die hard. Kwok is called in by Tiger - an another gang boss for negotiations. Each time he goes about his business, he buys a rose from the rose lady to give him good luck. One day, he doesn't find the rose lady. He searches for her, and she's in distress. Asking her why, she confesses that her daughter in Shanghai is getting married to a wealthy man's son. But she's been telling her that she's rich which is so far from the truth, and is afraid that when the groom and his father gets to Hong Kong, and sees her, they will cancel the wedding. Kwok has an idea to make the rose lady look rich, and invite all of other gang bosses and make them act as dignitaries in Hong Kong for the wedding party. But two other rival gangs, and inspector from Hong Kong police is about to foul up the whole plan.

There's action, romance, and lot of feel good scenes in this movie. The story telling, and timing things happen can only be experienced in Jackie Chan movies. The actors all perform better than usual attesting to Jackie's ability as a director. The choreography of the fight sequence is one of the best also.

Anita Mui plays the role of Ming - a singer for Kwok's club, and Kwok's love interest. She's great. Her talent will be missed.

This is one heck of a movie, and one of the best movie Jackie Chan produced in the '80s.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

15 June 1989 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Miracles: The Canton Godfather

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

HKD64,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company, Golden Way Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min 101 min (DVD) 106 min (USA)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1