In 1979, director Liu Chia-Liang scored another in a string of HK hits with "The Eleventh Prince" (which, unfortunately, bears the ludicrous U.S. title "Dirty Ho" that makes it sound either like a cheap porno movie or a second-rate Dirty Harry ripoff).

In many of his other films, Liu showed a penchant for trying to convey a specific martial arts-related theme. He also took a greater interest in character development than almost any competing director involved in martial arts cinema. In "Dirty Ho", however, Liu let his ability to weave his choreographic fight scene magic and the charisma of his stars (Liu Chia-Hui and Yung Wang-Yu) carry the day. With this movie, the intention was strictly to entertain. The result: a winning combination of wonderful fight scenes, light comedy, with a dash of political intrigue to tie the plot together.

Liu Chia-Liang's younger brother, Liu Chia-Hui (aka "Gordon" Liu), is the star. He is doubly blessed in that he is not only a skilled martial artist, he is likewise among the very few action stars who can be considered an above-average actor. Unlike the vast majority of his peers, Liu has the acting range to portray a variety of different characters. Although the predominant image of Gordon Liu is his outstanding portrayal of real-life Shaolin monk San-Te (he has subsequently played monk roles-- both heroic and villainous-- in numerous other movies and on HK television), Liu can carry off just about any role he is given: he has a very expressive face and a unique-for-the genre ability to portray a wide variety of character types, ranging from happy-go-lucky and impulsive types, to studious and intense heroes, to snarling psychopaths.

Here, Liu Chia-Hui plays a highly cultured, shrewd, and manipulative prince, who also happens to be supremely skilled in kung fu. Liu's character is the eleventh son of the emperor. As you might suspect, the emperor's sons are all jockeying for position in the hopes of succeeding their father to the throne. The fourth prince, in particular, is desperately trying to connive his way into becoming the heir to the throne. He has conspired with a corrupt general (played by long time HK screen villain Lo Lieh) to kill off several of his brothers, starting with the eleventh.

While the court intrigue is the backdrop for the movie, it is not really the director's main focus. Instead, it merely sets up the action; almost all of which takes place far away from the palace. Suspicious that at least one of his brothers wants him dead, the Eleventh Prince sneaks away from Beijing (Peking). He travels incognito, using his cultured background and endless bankroll to pose as a wealthy jewelry merchant.

Arriving in Kwangtung (Canton), the prince is in unfamiliar territory and must use his considerable cunning to protect himself. Although he is an extremely accomplished kung fu practicioner, he realizes that he if he fights, he won't be able to keep a low profile. So he needs to find someone who knows the ropes in the territory and, if need be, could do his bidding for him in the fighting department.

The prince finds his dupe in a local con man named Ho (hence the title "Dirty Ho"). Ho is played by Yung Wang-Yu, who, in real life, was a kung fu and acting protege of Liu Chia-Liang. Wang Yu and Liu Chia-Hui knew each for many years and Liang often cast them as brothers or lifelong friends; here they play antognists who become friends. The two have an easy, natural chemistry, whether it is in their kung fu scenes or trading dialogue.

The movie is perhaps most notable for its four major fight scenes, each spectacular in its own way. The first occurs when a revenge-seeking Ho attempts to assault the prince, who has repeatedly gotten the better of him in their previous (non-fighting) encounters. The prince tells Ho that he has hired a female "entertainer" (played by Hui Ying-Hung) to be his body guard. As Ho attacks, the prince stands behind the woman and bends and twists her limbs to block and counter Ho's attacks. In tried-and-true comedic fashion, the audience knows full well who it is that is fending off Ho, but Ho himself doesn't know that it is the eleventh prince, not the woman.

In the course of his fight with the prostitute/prince, Ho sustains an infected wound on his forehead. Of course, only the prince knows the proper medicine to heal the wound, so the miserable Ho is forced to accept the prince's conditions for providing him with the remedy (which, conveniently, will take months to work fully). Ho becomes the prince's manservant.

The second and third memorable fights come after the 4th prince and the general discover the eleventh prince's whereabouts. They send assassins to kill him. These, however, are not your average kung fu assassins. These kung fu killers are just as cultured (but not nearly as clever) as the eleventh prince. Here's the setup:

The first assassin (played by Wang Lung-Wei, another prolific screen villain) is, like the prince, a wine connoseur. He invites the prince to a wine tasting party. As the two sit in a public meeting house, the two are the picture of civility and politeness. All the while, the assassin is trying to use kung fu to kill the prince and the prince subtly uses his own superior kung fu skills to thwart the assassin. What's more, the wines that they are tasting are all named for various styles of kung fu. Of course, the prince always knows the perfect compliment (or counter) for each wine. The battle becomes more and more intense, yet no one-- including Ho-- realizes what is really going on.

The next incredible fight take place in an antiques gallery. This fight's set up is, basically, a repeat of the "wine duel," except that this would-be assassin is a fine arts collector. While some of the inventiveness of the previous fight is lost by essentially doing the same thing all over again, three vitally important occurances take place during this fight: 1) the prince learns for certain that one of his brothers wants him dead and has been sending the assassins, 2) Ho finally realizes that the prince is a supreme kung fu master, and 3) the prince sustains a serious knife wound in his leg.

Ho learns of the prince's true identity. The prince, in turn, accepts Ho as a kung fu pupil. Several wonderful training sequences (another Liu Chia-Liang staple) follow and the two men finally begin to forge a friendship. When Ho's training is complete, he escorts the prince to the palace to confront the general and his brothers.

Because the prince is still weak from the knife wound, Ho serves as his legs. The final fight with the general almost defies description-- with no wires or artificial speeding-up-- a breathtakingly choreographed fight takes place. Ho loyally stands by his friend's side as the prince prepares to enter the royal hall. Ho straightens the prince's robes and places his hat upon his head for him (Warning: there's a spoiler coming).

As the prince steps through the door, he suddenly wheels and shoves Ho away; the movie's final shot is of Ho falling back as the door slams in his face. Ho and the prince were never friends after all. The prince has turned out to be just as rotten as any of his brothers. He was only using Ho until he served his purpose.


Availability

After many years of being out of print, the English-dubbed version of "Dirty Ho" has recently been re-released on VHS; this time with Lion Video as the distributor (as part of its so-called Master Killer collection of movies featuring "Gordon" Liu). Most major video stores are carrying the video, which retails for about $10.

One of my personal all-time favorite kung fu flicks, I'd highly recommend "Dirty Ho" to both casual and hardcore fans of Hong Kong action movies.














Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS