There are two stories for the price of one here that keep interrupting each other. Kam Fung Chi (Yan Nam Tsi) is on a mission, that involves a list of names, as part of a group wanting to overthrow the Ching dynasty. On the way he beats Ping Erh (Doris Lung Chung Erh, a delightful fighting maiden)who at the bidding of her grandfather is taking part in a beat-me-and-you-can-marry-me contest. Then the movie becomes a chase with the government on one side and the girl and grandfather on the other trying to track Kam and his brother down. Comedy and combat follow each other in a plot that wavers here and there.
It is generally entertaining apart from a passage in a brothel that seems to go on forever. The brothel keeper is VERY irritating in the dubbed English and was probably so in the original Cantonese or Mandarin. Towards the end the great Lo Lieh in white hair appears as a cackling evil warlord and the main characters join together for solid kung fu fighting.The last scenes are excellent.The actors are personable and easy on the eye and there are some eccentrics thrown in the mix too.
One puzzle though is the title of the film. It is known as either 'Dancing Kung Fu' which doesn't relate to the kind of action in the film and the alternative titles of 'Cavalier' or 'Smart Cavalier' don't mean much either. If you like this kind of thing though it's good whatever they call it. Well done that Joseph Kuo.
