An Orphan's Tragedy (1955) - Early Bruce Lee Film

[AlbertV]

I caught this over the weekend on Video CD with English subtitles. It's a Cantonese adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and features 14-year old Bruce as the young version of pivotal character Frank Wong. I grabbed this still of Bruce from the Video CD, part of a 3-movie set that also included "My Son A-Chang" and "The Guiding Light".

 

 

Here's my review of the film.
https://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com/2015/11/09/review-an-orphans-tragedy-1955/

 

Here's a clip from the film:

 

 

 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Cinema Epoch has this out here in the States with The Guiding Light.  It is at a decent price and still in print (unlike some of Epoch's Chinese titles).  Nothing fancy and both films could use a clean-up (like all of Epoch's earlier Chinese titles.)   If you are into Cantonese realist drama then both are worth watching though An Orphan's Tragedy is not going to give David Lean's version of Great Expectations a run for its money.

 

Edited November 9, 2015 by masterofoneinchpunch

[Jadedragon61]

You probably know, but most of Bruce's childhood films are still shown on late night HK TV.

[WaverBoy]

I just stumbled onto Bruce’s early starring films as a child actor. I saw a clip compilation on YouTube and he displays an impressive comedic and dramatic range that isn’t often evident in his famous films. I found the Cinema Epoch DVD double-feature and their DVD of THE KID new for under $20 on eBay, and I’m really excited to watch all three, a side of Bruce I haven’t seen before. Are any of his other early films available in decent quality English-friendly DVDs?

Edited March 23, 2020 by WaverBoy

[Alan C]

Most outstanding is 'The Orphan', featuring an 18yr old Bruce tearing up the screen as a troubled street punk who shared similar traits to the young Lee during his middle /high school years. 

The movie often gets lumped in the category of his childhood films, but I would argue that it's actually Bruce's first adult film role. And his performance is nothing short of incredible. It gives an entirely different perspective on Bruce Lee -- as a person and an artist.

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Alan C

[WaverBoy]

14 minutes ago, Alan C said:

Most outstanding is 'The Orphan', featuring an 18yr old Bruce tearing up the screen as  a young street thug who shared many of the same traits the young Lee exhibited during his school years. 

The movie often gets lumped in the category of his childhood films, but I would argue that it's actually Bruce' s first adult film role. And he's absolutely incredible in it. Also, upon  viewing it, it will give you an entirely different view of Lee as an artist.

 

That’s a different film than AN ORPHAN’S TRAGEDY?

[Alan C]

8 minutes ago, WaverBoy said:

That’s a different film than AN ORPHAN’S TRAGEDY?

Yes. There are 3 films that include the word "Orphan" in Lee's filmography: An Orphan's Tragedy, Orphan's Song and The Orphan.

[ShawAngela]

I'm afraid that you won't find any English language for Bruce's early movies.

I bought An orphan's tragedy, The guiding light and My son A Chang years ago from Playasia, all three with English subtitles (and I'm ashamed to say that I still haven't had time to watch them !), and I had heard that there were an English subbed version of In the face of demolition, but I was only able to get the Cantonese language.

I also got the movies The more the merrier (We owe it to our children) and Darling girl from Yesasia, and from elsewhere, I got A myriad homes and Thunderstorm, but, sadly, none of these four titles is subbed.

You should take a look to sites such as Yesasia and Buyoyo in order to see if you can find some of his early movies with English subtitles.

And you can find on youtube the following titles (at least, they were available some time ago, maybe if you look with the Chinese characters of Bruce's name you'll have better chances to find them) :

Orphan's song ; The wise guys who fool around and Too late for divorce.

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[WaverBoy]

From watching my DVD of THE KID, it looks like it was shot in synch sound with the cast speaking Cantonese on set. That surprised me, as I was under the impression that all HK films prior to POLICE STORY III were shot silent and dubbed later.

Was Cantonese always the on-set language for most HK films except for Shaw Bros. (mostly Mandarin I think?)?

[Killer Meteor]

In the 60s, Shaws was mainly Mandarin, which was a rival market to the Cantonese films. By the early 70s, the latter came to a close (in 1972, there were NO Cantonese movies made in Hong Kong). The biggest hit of '73 was a Cantonese film from Shaws, HOUSE OF 72 TENANTS, but for the most part Shaws and Golden Harvest (and various indies) were Mandarin only until the late 70s.

 

As for on-set language, I think mostly Mandarin - most of the actors and directors were from the Mainland. Bruce Lee was a noticeable exception.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Killer Meteor

[masterofoneinchpunch]

On 3/29/2020 at 4:20 PM, WaverBoy said:

From watching my DVD of THE KID, it looks like it was shot in synch sound with the cast speaking Cantonese on set. That surprised me, as I was under the impression that all HK films prior to POLICE STORY III were shot silent and dubbed later.

Was Cantonese always the on-set language for most HK films except for Shaw Bros. (mostly Mandarin I think?)?

Synch sound was used in early Cantonese neorealist productions like THE KID and THE GUIDING LIGHT.  The Cantonese films tended to have a smaller budget.  Shaws thought more globally and had lots of Mainland actors/directors (post-WWII) and with their Hollywood influenced (and somewhat machine-line) style they separated many concerns using different dubbers (like the Italians) for a multitude of languages as well as better pronounced Mandarin.

[Killer Meteor]

Which early Bruce film is it we see in FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH?

[makone]

That was The Thunderstorm.

[Killer Meteor]

Something tells me it's not actually about a mopey karate kid's problems with his family.. More's the pity...

[CliveReston]

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get a hold of a copy  of "The Orphan"?

[makone]

It’s not available, the owners refuse to release it for some reason.

I hoped it would of been released in the criterion set.

[CliveReston]

Thanks. It's a shame, I've been dying to see it.

I keep hoping one pops up on ebay..

[DragonClaws]

Bruce Lee: The Early Years 1953/1955 (Review)

Link- https://www.popmatters.com/bruce-lee-the-early-years-1953-1955-2496173134.html

 

Quote

Bruce Lee was a child star who made about 20 films in Hong Kong before hitting Hollywood in the 1960s and then going back to Hong Kong to become a martial arts star. Martial arts fans won't be interested in these soapy stories where Lee, around ages 13 and 15, doesn't even star in the whole movie. Casual fans of classic cinema won't be attracted to these unremarkable productions or these prints which, like the Classics Collection, are watchable, at best.

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Art House: An Orphan's Tragedy takes a Dickensian twist (Paul Fonoroff)

Link- https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1309116/art-house-orphans-tragedy-takes-dickensian-twist

 

Quote

Dickens' tale was familiar to local readers and cinemagoers, as David Lean's 1946 version had reached Hong Kong cinemas in 1948.

Dickens' basic premise of a hardworking orphan (Bruce Lee as a young teen, Cheung Wood-yau as an adult) who mistakenly believes his anonymous benefactor is a wealthy but undeserving townsman (Lau Hak-suen) rather than the escaped convict (Ng Chor-fan), is still present. But An Orphan's Tragedy's script actually retained little else of the original English story .

 

[Secret Executioner]

@DragonClaws Very interesting read. I hope I won't get stuck referring to Bruce Lee as "Pip" though.