The Big Early US Releases Thread Before Enter the Dragon

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I am curious what you guys think were the big Kung Fu movies that were released in the USA early on. I believe some were bigger than others, but it could be interesting to see about the box office in 1972-73-

In no particular order, I am thinking-

1.Five Fingers of Death

2.Duel of the Iron Fist

3.Fist of Fury/Big Boss

4.Chinese Connection/Fist of Fury

5. Sacred Knives of Vengeance

6.Lady Kung Fu/HapKiDo

7.Hammer of God

8.Street Gangs of Hong Kong

9.Triple Irons/New One Armed Swordsman

10.Kung Fu, the Invisible Fist.

11. Shanghai Killers

12.The Chinese Professionals

13.When Tae Kwon Do Strikes

Anyway, not all these films probably "hold up" compared to some of the movies that did not get big stateside release, such as Shaolin Martial Arts or the Boxer From Shantung as well as some of the independents and movies from Union film that did not make it here, etc. Still, it seems like a good list, but how accurate? Anyone have a list of the Kung Fu box office from back then?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Here is something interesting: David Dresser's article "The Kung Fu Craze" in the omnibus The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. This is an interesting article though I had pointed out in another thread (possibly on another site) about earlier mentions and usage of martial arts in American film that what he writes about.

"On May 16, 1973, Fists of Fury, Deep Thrust -- The Hand of Death, and Five Fingers of Death were ranked 1,2 and 3 respectiely, on Variety's list of the week's top box-office draws."

"The week of June 20, 1973 marks the high-point of the martial arts' dominance of the U.S. box-office charts. That week no fewer than five Hong Kong kung fu films appeared in the Top 50. The Chinese Connection, Deep Thrust, and Fists of Fury were joined on the charts by Duel of the Iron Fist and Kung Fu, The Invisible Fist. That same week The Hammer of God, yet another Hong Kong film, opened; it was #1 for the week of June 27. Since the quiet release of Five Fingers of Death at the end of March, seven Hong Kong films had hit the US box-office charts. By the middle of August, two more films from Hong Kong, Shanghai Killers and Fearless Fighters, found box-office success."

"For all the success of Enter the Dragon, imports from Hong Kong continued to make their presence known. When Enter the Dragon was 3 for the week of Spetember 19, Lady Kung Fu held the top spot. As Dragon clung to the 5 spot for the week of Spetmeber 26, Shanghai Killers (which had first hit the chart on August 29) was at 1. As Dragon held onto 9 the week of October 10, Deadly China Doll held the top spot. Hong Kong imports such as Fists of the Double K, Seven Blows of the Dragon, The Thunder Kick, and Queen Boxer also found their way onto the Top 50 charts, while Enter the Dragon dominated the grosses."

The ultimate sources for the above mentions are from various issues of Variety (so if anyone has these ...).

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I saw that article, or the quotes, after I posted this.

I guess Triple Irons/New One Armed Swordsman wasn't that big after all, and it seems like Sacred Knives was the beginning of the end. Of course, there were plenty of flicks that were released, just not as major. I honestly remember Triple Irons as being pretty heavily promoted. I wonder how Chinese Professionals/One Armed Boxer did?

[teako170]

If you have $60 to blow (month) or $600 (annual), you can find your answers here...

http://www.varietyultimate.com/

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I'm curious, but not that curious. I have to say, it is very hard to compare with US made movies, as I can only imagine that the Kung Fu movies were incredibly profitable, as they were already made, had made money, and beyond a cheap dub job and ads, were pure profit in the other markets.

[teako170]

I would be tempted to buy (if it were a little less) but you only get 50 searches in a month and I would want to do searches for the entire decade. I suppose you could do the end of year issue and get all the details. When I did a search for top grossing films for 1973, I got this result: http://www.varietyultimate.com/search/?page=1&startYear=1973&endYear=1973&search=%22top+grossing+films%22&searchType=&sortBy=&searchDate=&showAll=

Here is a partial close-up of these charts: