014 TERROR OF THE TONGS (1961) Directed by Anthony Bushell **
The only scarey thing about this Hammer romp for me was the fact that I last saw it fifty-one years ago on its initial release in 1961. There isn't a lot to be said about this tale of Chinese hatchet men in early 20th Century Hong Kong except that it is mildly watchable. Directed by actor Anthony Bushell who was an associate of Laurence Olivier it gives Christopher Lee a chance to warm up his Fu Manchu performance as the leader of the Red Dragon Tong. The most striking thing about the film is that so few of the Chinese roles are played by Chinese actors with Hammer preferring to rely on British character actors such as Charles Lloyd Pack, Roger Delgardo and Marne Maitland in not very convincing makeup - Bert Kwouk being a notable exception. Yvonne Monlaur plays the Eurasian girl who falls for English sea captain Geoffrey Toone before she succumbs to a hatchet man's chopper.
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| Terror of the Tongs |
2 comments:
Terror of the Tongs reminds me of a buffet I once had in Tunisia: gave me the willies every time I approached it implements in hand.
Also gave me severe food poisoning
I've never seen TERROR OF THE TONGS but I suspect once watching it I'll want to watch THE FACE OF FU MANCHU an hour later.
Sorry, the joke was just lying there and I picked it up.
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