Overview: Chang Cheh’s second attempt at a musical-themed contemporary action film stars his favorite lead of the day, David Chiang, as a popular nightclub singer whose shady past catches up with him when former partners in crime attempt to blackmail him into aiding in a jewelry store heist. THE SINGING KILLER is a reworking of Chang’s previous musical film THE SINGING THIEF (1969) and contains a similar plot peppered with a handful of singing performances but with greater emphasis on action this time around.
Detailed Synopsis: Johnny (David Chiang) is a nightclub singer who seemingly has it all – a successful musical career, adoring female fans, fancy cars, and money. Yet he’s missing what he cares most about, Lily (Wang Ping), his lost lover whom he hasn’t seen in the two years since his singing career took off. An opportunity to see her again turns out to be a ruse by a gang of crooks Johnny used to run with. Suggesting that Lily has been forced into prostitution, they offer to help Johnny find her in exchange for helping them to rob the wall safe of Johnny’s manager, Feng Chin-yao (Chen Sing). Having made amends for his former life of crime, Johnny is torn but ultimately agrees to the arrangement which turns out to be yet another ruse to entrap Johnny further. He’s secretly filmed while making a copy of his manager’s safe key and the evidence is used to blackmail Johnny into helping the crooks rob a jewelry store. By coincidence, Lily is not a prostitute but an employee at the very same jewelry store and her presence throws the gang’s attempted robbery into disarray. Johnny turns on his associates and is wounded while attempting to stop the robbery. He’s forced to flee with two friendly gang members as the rest of the crooks are killed by security, save for the mastermind of the operation who flees the scene in a getaway car. A police inspector (Fung Shui-fan) sympathetic to Johnny’s struggle to escape from his former life of crime attempts to unravel evidence surrounding the robbery and Johnny’s involvement. The gang leader attempts to kill Johnny and his friends are caught in the crossfire. As the police close in, Johnny goes after the gang leader in a desperate bid to clear his name.
Notes: Although THE SINGING KILLER could be classified as a musical it’s not comparable to a typical Hollywood musical or Bollywood film where musical showpieces take center stage. David Chiang, often dressed in outlandish contemporary attire, only lip-syncs to a few songs in the first and final reels while the rest of the film plays out like a conventional crime drama. As in THE SINGING THIEF, the protagonist is an adept street fighter but the fight choreography of Tang Chia and Lau Kar-leung is more prominent here. The style of modern fight choreography used is the same style used is Chang’s previous 20th-century set films including VENGEANCE! (1970) and DEAD END (1969). It’s heavily influenced by exaggerated, non-distinct street fighting in contemporary Japanese and Western action films and is marked by wide-swinging fists and flying kicks. This “swingy” arm style became the basis for most fight work in the basher sub-genre of martial arts cinema.
Actor Dean Shek appears in one of his earliest roles as “Fairy,” the one timid gang member who tries to help Johnny. Dean went on to develop a quirky screen persona in many kung fu comedies such as DRUNKEN MASTER. Behind the scenes, he became a key figure in the marketing of Hong Kong films overseas and produced many of them as well.
AKA: The Little Killer, Siu sat sing, Siu saat sing, Xiao sha xing, 小煞星
Genre: Crime, Drama, Musical
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: December 22, 1970
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-leung
Starring: David Chiang (Johnny Chiang-yi), Tina Chin Fei (Ho Man), Wang Ping (Lily), Chen Sing (Feng Chin-yao)
