Esclava oriental

This is one unusual western where the subject of racial prejudice takes a front row seat as the topic dealt with. But this was prejudice western style as it deals with the influx of immigrants from the Orient.

Jack Lord, recent veteran of the Civil War is in San Francisco to pick up mining equipment when he reminds himself of what the Civil War was about and buys Nobu McCarthy at a Chinese slave auction. Women were really on a low rank on the scale in that patriarchal culture that the Chinese took with them to America. He frees her, but as James Shigeta points out she's free to go nowhere. Shigeta he's giving a lift back to his home where Shigeta's uncle Benson Fong runs the Chinese laundry.

Of course it ends up with Lord and Shigeta both falling for McCarthy. As for McCarthy is it love she feels for Lord or just overwhelming gratitude to be taken from a life probably spent in some Chinese brothel in San Francisco.

Lord isn't exactly free from anti-Oriental prejudice nor is his mother Josephine Hutchinson, but both come to accept McCarthy. Hutchinson gives a warning to McCarthy similar to what Sidney Poitier got from his movie father Roy Glenn in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. There are some similarities in those films though I suspect the budget for Walk Like A Dragon might have been part of Kate Hepburn's salary in the other film.

One thing I could not abide though was the casting of Mel Torme as the scripture quoting gunfighter named Deacon. Like Tony Martin in Quincannon, Frontier Scout, Torme looked out of place. In the saloon he looked like he was waiting for a song cue from the piano.

The really heavy handed approach and the lack of production values kept Walk Like A Dragon from a better rating. It is though a sincere effort to explore a topic not very often talked about, especially in westerns.

"Walk like a dragon" was made just after Fuller's "the red kimono", both feature the same actor (James Shigeta) and both ending are,in their way,similar.

"Walk like a dragon " ,masquerading as a western , looks like Larry Pearce 's "one potatoe two potatoe " and even Logan 's "sayonara" ; Jack Lord (who proves that he was able to play more interesting parts than a Hawaiian cop ) portrays the noble hero, whose firm beliefs in American values lead him to fall prey to his town's gossips and to lose his work (freight line) ; to him , " nobody can be sold or bought" -(one gathers that the action takes place after the Civil War); the slave market scene takes place in the fog , at night, as though they were ashamed of their dirty deeds .Link's ma ,after being ashamed of that heathen creature , eventually stands by her son, probably inspired by the Holy Scripts.

Cheng Lu is a more complex character : his values are still his native country's and he cannot understand his opponent ,so learns to shoot with a little help of the local deacon (perhaps the weakest link of the movie) to defeat his rival and to "walk like a dragon"

Gorgeous Kim Sung learns the English language( perhaps a little too quickly ,no pidgin English after a very short time )AND seems to embrace the American way of life but atavism is not far away.

An interesting work, but not for western buffs;it's really something else.

I happened across this movie years ago on a independent t.v. station in the middle of the afternoon. I first watched because of Mel Torme, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying a western... *shock*. The one thing I recall most was how very "un-Mel" Mel was. His portrayal of a gunslinger was very low-key and VERY effective. If I ever get a chance to see this again, I'll have a tape ready to role. I strongly recommend it.

The movie is very typical of westerns with the exception of the role played by Mel Torme. Also it was different with a chinese man becoming a gunfighter. Very unusual for that time era. Jack Lord plays the usual hero. Protect the girl - fall for the girl - lose the girl.

I am a great fan of Jack Lord, and on my quest to find all his movies, I came upon this one...Its a superbly done movie, with a great plot! Its strange to see Jack Lord in any other role than in Hawaii 5-0.... I just loved it! Well done, James Clavell!