The One-Armed Swordsman (1967)

THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967) Three-and-a-half stars
Last month, our glossary of cinematic terms included “giallo,” the Italian thriller genre that definitely had an impact on the American slasher film.

Just a few days into November, now we have “wuxia,” a genre of Chinese fiction incorporating martial arts, sorcery, and chivalry.

The genre enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame in America during the successful run of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000). (I’ll never forget the tittering of some in the audience throughout its two hours at the Pittsburg 8 Cinema. I loved the movie.)

There’s just something about handicapped swordsman movies from the 1960s, but, then again, maybe only I have this problem.

Back in the days of a free Hulu account, I enjoyed the heck out of the Japanese ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE, ZATOICHI ON THE ROAD, and ZATOICHI AND THE CHEST OF GOLD, starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman Zatoichi.

Just a couple years ago, I caught up with THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN and its sequel released two years later, RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, both part of the Dragon Dynasty DVD series of releases that will give viewers a greater sense of where Quentin Tarantino found his inspiration. (One should also seek out 1976’s THE ONE-ARMED BOXER VS. THE FLYING GUILLOTINE, another highly entertaining concoction in the same league with INFRA-MAN and DRUNKEN MASTER.)

Jimmy Wang Yu stars as the titular protagonist, Fang Kang, whose servant father sacrifices his life to save his teacher and the Chi school of Golden Sword Kung Fu in the opening scene. The servant father’s dying wish is to have his son be taught at his master’s school. Fang Kang’s fellow students, especially the teacher’s daughter, grow to resent him and they do their best to make him leave. On a snowy night, Pei-er, the teacher’s daughter, challenges Fang Kang to a fight and in anger over his refusal to fight her, she chops off his arm. Dang, girl! Fang Kang flees through the woods.

A young woman named Xiao Man inadvertently finds Fang Kang (he falls into her boat) and nurses him back to good health. He decides that he will give up swordsmanship (we know how that’ll work, especially with the movie’s title) and become a farmer with Xiao Man.

Meanwhile, the bad, bad men led by The Long-Armed Devil and The Smiling Tiger have it out for Fang Kang’s teacher, Qi Ru Feng, and have developed a “sword-lock” device that will be the demise of Qi Ru Feng and all his disciples.

(Wouldn’t you love to be called “The Long-Armed Devil”? Well, that’s not a question for “the short-armed.”)

Fang Kang becomes depressed over not being able to practice his martial arts and the ever-reluctant Xiao Man gives him a half-burned out kung fu manual that she inherited from her dead parents. Fang Kang, of course, becomes a new master, yeah, you guessed it, “The One-Armed Swordsman.”

The One-Armed Swordsman learns of the plot to kill Qi Ru and saves the day.

We could have written this script with one arm tied behind our backs. Just please make it the weak arm.

I should now mention THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN includes much bloodletting, a year’s worth of production at the blood bank in 117 minutes. This bloodletting will likely interest contemporary audiences more than anything else.

Not sure how they made the fake blood in THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, but there’s recipes for it throughout the Interwebs.

Bet we’ll have to start with corn syrup.

THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (influenced by American Westerns and Japanese Samurais) ushered in a new era of Hong Kong movies built around male anti-heroes, swordplay, and bloodletting.

This pioneering Shaw Brothers production became the first Hong Kong film to gross HK $1M in returns and made Jimmy Wang Yu an early martial arts star.