Not everyone can be a Ti Lung, a Chen Kuan Tai or a Gordon Liu. And there’re only so many roles for physically-gifted brats like Fu Sheng and Wong Yu. But at the end of the day, a star can only standout against the contrast provided by the work-a-day schlubs who fill in the background of the movie. This is our appreciation for the Always-a-Bride’s-Maid-Never-a-Brides of Shaw Studios, a feature we call Hardest-Working Nobodies.
Innkeepers
Whether they’re keeping inns or outs, the innkeepers fill an important niche in the ecology of the Hong Kong action film of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The innkeeper—despite his apparent humble and vulnerable station—represents nominal, geographical (and ultimately impotent) authority in a world dominated by strong, usually itinerate, individuals.
In this capacity as a stand-in for a true, socially-based authority—the military, militia or police acting under auspices of the legitimate government or respected autocrat so rarely seen in the movies of the Shaw canon—the innkeeper is sometimes not a innkeeper. Sometimes he—and he is nearly always a male of apparently 60 years or older—can be a mayor (town keeper), clan elder (clan keeper), aged and/or ailing sifu (knowledge keeper), the father of the love interest (daughter keeper), or some similar position. On the very rare occasions a Keeper is a woman, she’s almost certainly a brothel keeper.
The Keeper, whatever he may keep, often provides the low-hanging fruit for the various rascals who wander the hills in search of basic comforts and easy pickings. As such a plot device, the innkeeper therefore provides the Hero an opportunity to righteously up-end the expectations of said rascals—usually only for the cost of room and board, plus damages to furniture and railings. (We’ve often wondered if the cost-benefit analysis wouldn’t turn out better by just humoring the Rascals.)
In terms of bringing this role to life with true craftsmanship, several long-time Shaw actors seem to have majored in innkeeping at film school. These men are some of the hardest-working actors, each with well over a hundred film appearances to his name, and over a thousand taken as a group! These are some seriously dedicated motherfuckers. Or, as we suspect is the darker, truer kernel: this was the Shaw Studios retirement plan. Once you hit your 50s and were too old to pull off any leading or major supporting roles, you either got switched over to support staff or you started keeping some goddamn inns!
Without further ado:
Shum Lo: 167 movies. His career spanned from Come Drink with Me to Disciples of the 36th Chamber. Celestial describes him as “the essential green leaf behind the blossoming flowers,” as back-handed a complement as they come. [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=2665]
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| Shum Lo assesses the damages in Monkey Kung Fu. |
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| Cheng Miu dispenses the fatherly wisdom in Heroes of the East. |
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| Yeung Chi Hing yodas it up in Bells of Death. |
Wong Ching Ho: 227 movies. The innkeeper par excellence, Wong Ching Ho can be found playing crucial support roles in many fine films, including Vengeance!, Magic Blade and Flag of Iron. [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=2548]
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| Wong Ching Ho lays it on thick in Flag of Iron. |
Fung King Man: 236 movies. Possibly not a representative innkeeper, but gets an honorable mention for his promotion to triad keeper in the mid-‘70s (The Tea House), a role he’d return to several times in his later career. [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=1454]
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| Fung King Man offers a chair in The Tea House. |
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