Crazy Nuts of Kung Fu [鬼馬兩金剛] (1974)
AKA Two Tough Guys
Starring Ling Yun, Chin Han, Li Hong, Miao Tian, Ko Hsiao-Pao, Jack Long Shi-Chia, Yuan Shen, Huang Lan, Min Min, Yang Kuei-Yu, Cheng Fu-Hung, Tsui Li, Tung-Fong Mei-Fung, Chow Chi-Kei, Chi Fu-Chiang
Directed by Lee Tso-Nam
Expectations: Hoping for another lost gem like Imperial Tomb Raiders.
I love going into films as blind as possible, allowing a film to present itself naturally. I had no idea Crazy Nuts of Kung Fu was a kung fu comedy, and it was a real surprise since that genre combo wasn’t really a thing in 1974. The only distinct kung fu comedy that I remember from earlier in my Shaw series is Chor Yuen’s 1972 film The Lizard. Regardless of whether Crazy Nuts of Kung Fu is good or not, it’s an interesting document of a daring attempt to try something that wouldn’t catch on until a few years later. It did horrifically at the box office, ranking #83 of 93 local films released that year, so it’s safe to say the public wasn’t ready for this type of film. But… Crazy Nuts of Kung Fu is good, and it’s funny, too! So it’s doubly exciting to have this film finally find its way out of the Celestial vaults and onto the hard drives of the Internet.
Crazy Nuts of Kung Fu tells the story of two men at the top of their respective fields: the gambler “God Hand” Huo San (Ling Yun) and the expert martial artist Sha Bahu (Chin Han). The Chinese title literally translates to Ghost Horse Two King Kongs, which obviously makes no sense in English. During the film, though, there’s a line where Huo Shan says “You’re King of Fists, I’m King of Gamblers.” So they’re probably the “Two King Kongs,” but I don’t have an explanation for the Ghost Horse. In any case, these two kings team up and roam the countryside for maximum money-making potential, eventually getting mixed up in a struggle between corrupt government officials and revolutionaries. It’s an episodic movie with a sparse story, but the focus is more on combining the traditional HK character archetypes of the expert gambler and the expert martial artist into a rousing action comedy.