Overview: Anthology of three wuxia stories in one film from Shaw Brothers and directors Chang Cheh, Cheng Kang and Yueh Feng. Anthologies were rarely used as a storytelling device in Hong Kong cinema which makes this one something of a curiosity. The stories themselves are not unusual by martial arts film standards and each could have easily been filled out into a feature-length production. One common theme shared among them is the presence of strong female warriors who all share a love for a heroic man. They all fight to be with their lover and/or to protect him.
“Episode One: The Iron Bow”
An inept magistrate’s son (Ching Tien) attempts to force an innkeeper’s daughter (Shih Szu) to marry him. He’s put off by a challenge to draw and fire her deceased father’s iron bow. After falling in love with a wandering swordsman (Yueh Hua) who passes through town, she joins her mother (Kao Pao-shu) and little brother in battling the would-be suitor and his men who arrive as a wedding procession to effectively kidnap her in broad daylight. This episode is more light-hearted than the other two and appears to pay homage to the wuxia films of the 1950s and ’60s due to intentional use of outdated costuming and the quaint, folktale themes.
“Episode Two: The Tigress”
Lily Ho, star of INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN, takes on the role of another fighting, high-class prostitute in this wuxia love story. Courtesan Shih Chung-yu (Lily Ho) comes to the defense of her lover General Wang (Chung Hua) when he’s accused of having relations with a prostitute and subsequently handed the heavy sentence of execution. Thanks to Chung-yu, his sentence is commuted but Wang is tasked with bringing in notorious bandit Pan Xun (Lo Lieh) as reparation for his crime. Chung-yu and several of her fellow courtesans join him and use trickery to help capture the bandit who is then sentenced to death. Chung-yu comes to regret her part in Pan Xun’s capture when she discovers his past association with her father and the secret devotion he harbored for her over many years. This episode, with its tragic romantic undertones is reminiscent of Chang Cheh’s GOLDEN SWALLOW, although it’s different in that the heroine upstages her male counterparts by relying more on wits than brawn.
“Episode Three: White Water Strand”
A wandering swordsman (David Chiang) comes to the aid of heroic rebels fighting government forces, but is subsequently captured and sentenced to death. The rebels (led by Ti Lung and Lee Ching) infiltrate the public execution and begin fighting guards in order to rescue the swordsman. Ku Feng and Bolo Yeung co-star. This episode rehashes conventions commonly seen in “Iron Triangle” films beginning with HAVE SWORD, WILL TRAVEL where Chang Cheh has Chiang portraying the wandering, carefree hero and Ti Lung as the self-sacrificing hero of duty and purpose who befriends him in battle. As it happens here, Lee Ching is frequently the associate or sister of Ti Lung who falls in love with the roguish Chiang.
AKA: Guan ying hui, Kwan ying kooi, Qun ying hui《群英会》
Genre: Wuxia
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: November 5, 1972
Producer: Run Run Shaw, Runme Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh, Cheng Kang, Yueh Feng
Action Director: Liu Chia-liang, Tang Chia, Hsu Hsing-chun, Liang Hsiao-sung
Cast: Shih Szu (Ying-ying), Yueh Hua (Kuang), Kao Pao-shu (Innkeeer), Ching Tien (Master Shi), Lily Ho (Shih Chung-yu), Lo Lieh (Pan Xun), Chung Hua (General Wang), Ti Lung, David Chiang, Lee Ching, Ku Feng, Bolo Yeung
