Vintage Pulp

October 1 2018

DISCO DUELLIST

His martial arts are lethal and his wardrobe is killer.

Above is a poster for the Hong Kong actioner Quan Ji, aka Duel of Fists, which, based on the placement of the English text, you’d actually expect to be called Duel of Nuts. Or are we the only ones seeing that? Anyway, what you get here is the story of a nerdy engineer slash ace martial artist who learns from his ailing father that he has a long lost older brother, the result of a whirlwind affair with a Thai girl. Sent to Bangkok to find his sibling, geek boy eventually discovers him in a fighting ring. A series of circumstances that begins with big brother beating the local crime syndicate’s champion brings the wrath of the bad guys, and the brothers have no choice but to go medieval on the entire mob.

This movie is worth watching for two reasons. First, some of the fighting is Muay Thai, which was obscure to westerners back then and makes Quan Ji one of the first films to showcase that particular discipline. And second, David Chang plays the unsophisticated younger brother while wearing a series of gaudy outfits that you’d absolutely love to have for your next ’70s party. Chang has made more than a hundred movies and was still active just a couple of years ago, but we doubt he ever surpassed the discofied wardrobe he wore here. Despite the Rick James flavor he brings to the party we’d describe the movie as merely adequate. But it did make us want to listen to “Super Freak.” Quan ji premiered in Hong Kong today in 1971.

I’ve met so many girls. Then I come to Bangkok and meet one who sees as much value in primary colors as I do. What are the odds?

By the way in Hong Kong one of our official languages is English, and in English Bangkok sounds like… Well, I’ll explain it in detail later.

I told her what Bangkok sounds like and she loved it. Total keeper.

I know every dojo in the Far East and I’ve never heard of your Studio 54.

You wouldn’t shoot the best electric slider in all of Thailand, would you?

I’m going to demonstrate this one more time. It’s called the hustle and I learned it in the East Village.

Hya… ABBA!

Everybody was Muay Thai fightin’…. HUAH! Those kids were fast as lightning…

You better run, losers and haters! Come back when you learn how to dress!

Depending on the opponent’s particular style and what the deejay is spinning these dance-offs can get pretty violent.

Hong Kong, Thailand, Bangkok, Shaw Brothers, Quan ji, Duel of Fists, David Chiang, Lung Ti, Li Ching, Shaw Brothers, poster art, cinema, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

February 13

1935—Jury Finds Hauptmann Guilty

A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh. Hauptmann is sentenced to death and executed in 1936. For decades, his widow Anna, fights to have his named cleared, claiming that Hauptmann did not commit the crime, and was instead a victim of prosecutorial misconduct, but her claims are ultimately dismissed in 1984 after the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to address the case.

February 12

1961—Soviets Launch Venus Probe

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February 12

1994—Thieves Steal Munch Masterpiece

In Oslo, Norway, a pair of art thieves steal one of the world’s best-known paintings, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” from a gallery in the Norwegian capital. The two men take less than a minute to climb a ladder, smash through a window of the National Art Museum, and remove the painting from the wall with wire cutters. After a ransom demand the museum refuses to pay, police manage to locate the panting in May, and the two thieves, as well as two accomplices, are arrested.

February 11

1938—BBC Airs First Sci-Fi Program

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February 10

1962—Powers Is Traded for Abel

Captured American spy pilot Gary Powers, who had been shot down over the Soviet Union in May 1960 while flying a U-2 high-altitude jet, is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, who had been arrested in New York City in 1957.