Posts
The best kung fu movie I ever saw, interestingly enough, was not filmed in the East. No Bruce or Jackie or Jet, or even Tony. No, it was an American movie filmed in the fifties, with high production values, American actors, and a plot that put the Eastern cinema to shame.
The name of the movie is Scaramouche, and the actor who out kung fu-ed the East was Stewart Granger. In the movie he plays a French commoner, who has to hide from a despicable nobleman, who becomes the toast of society as a clown, who becomes one of the best fencers in the world, who is elected to the French parliament, who...and it is all done smoothly, with finesse and panache.
In the opening of the movie Granger is sitting at a roadhouse swilling beer with his brother. In walks the evil count, and it turns out that Stewart's brother has been, oh horrors, passing out inflammatory political writings. In a bully of a duel, Stewart's brother is killed, Stewart picks up the sword, and the die is cast.
Now, problem, Stewart's brother, who has been killed by the count was the real fighter in the family, so how can weaker brother Stewart win? He answer is that he can't, and he manages to escape the duel and death by the cowardly act of running away. In escaping, however, he takes with him the determination to have revenge.
How do you get better than the best swordsman? Why, you go to his teacher, and have him teach you how to be better. Stewart then becomes a clown in a traveling show, and his name is...Scaramouche.
Scaramouche travels through the country, avoiding the evil count, and he manages to get fencing lessons from the teacher of that bad person. Driven by revenge, avoiding the clutches of a girlfriend, he practices diligently. When the final showdown comes, however, he is outdone and must once again flee like a cowardly dog.
Feeling a bit down, beaten, distraught, he asks his teacher how can he ever manage to defeat the evil count. The teacher tells him he must go to the teacher of the teacher. Scaramouche sets off to find the teacher of the teacher, and Paris, and, along the way he becomes a notorious killer of nobles, picks up another girlfriend, and is elected to the French parliament because, when you get right down to it, it is the best way to make duels and kill nobles.
Now comes the exciting conclusion, and plots unravel, and girlfriends unravel, and the whole French government starts turning over, and it is a delight of delights. Along the way we have methods of fencing revealed, thrilling duels to the death, and a plot that kicks up notch after notch. So for the best kung fu movie, head west, not East, to the fifties and a delightful scoundrel named Scaramouche, and give up your rice and vegetables for Popcorn and soda, yowza!
The name of the movie is Scaramouche, and the actor who out kung fu-ed the East was Stewart Granger. In the movie he plays a French commoner, who has to hide from a despicable nobleman, who becomes the toast of society as a clown, who becomes one of the best fencers in the world, who is elected to the French parliament, who...and it is all done smoothly, with finesse and panache.
In the opening of the movie Granger is sitting at a roadhouse swilling beer with his brother. In walks the evil count, and it turns out that Stewart's brother has been, oh horrors, passing out inflammatory political writings. In a bully of a duel, Stewart's brother is killed, Stewart picks up the sword, and the die is cast.
Now, problem, Stewart's brother, who has been killed by the count was the real fighter in the family, so how can weaker brother Stewart win? He answer is that he can't, and he manages to escape the duel and death by the cowardly act of running away. In escaping, however, he takes with him the determination to have revenge.
How do you get better than the best swordsman? Why, you go to his teacher, and have him teach you how to be better. Stewart then becomes a clown in a traveling show, and his name is...Scaramouche.
Scaramouche travels through the country, avoiding the evil count, and he manages to get fencing lessons from the teacher of that bad person. Driven by revenge, avoiding the clutches of a girlfriend, he practices diligently. When the final showdown comes, however, he is outdone and must once again flee like a cowardly dog.
Feeling a bit down, beaten, distraught, he asks his teacher how can he ever manage to defeat the evil count. The teacher tells him he must go to the teacher of the teacher. Scaramouche sets off to find the teacher of the teacher, and Paris, and, along the way he becomes a notorious killer of nobles, picks up another girlfriend, and is elected to the French parliament because, when you get right down to it, it is the best way to make duels and kill nobles.
Now comes the exciting conclusion, and plots unravel, and girlfriends unravel, and the whole French government starts turning over, and it is a delight of delights. Along the way we have methods of fencing revealed, thrilling duels to the death, and a plot that kicks up notch after notch. So for the best kung fu movie, head west, not East, to the fifties and a delightful scoundrel named Scaramouche, and give up your rice and vegetables for Popcorn and soda, yowza!
About the Author:
Al Case has practiced the martial arts forty years. Get his Free Ebook at Blinding Steel.
No comments:
Post a Comment