Kung Fu Movies on 42nd Street (Article's & Related Content)

[DragonClaws]

 

 

 

 

 

Below are the trailers, that feature in the above Martial Art's documentary. Can anyone tell me the original Hong Kong title of the movie, featured in the first trailer. Maybe @NoKUNGFUforYU can help me out with this one?. I'm unable to find it under its U.S release title on the HKMDB, I just get the Sonny Chiba movie of the same name.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by DragonClaws

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

You won't find that in the Hkmdb. That was a documentary on martial arts with mostly, if not all East Coast African American masters. Some of the techniques have not aged well. First one, once Van Clief was easily and politely dispatched in the UFC he went on to study jiu jujitsu, Brazil style 

[DragonClaws]

9 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

You won't find that in the Hkmdb. That was a documentary on martial arts with mostly, if not all East Coast African American masters. Some of the techniques have not aged well. First one, once Van Clief was easily and politely dispatched in the UFC he went on to study jiu jujitsu, Brazil style 

 

I didnt mean the documentary. Click on the bottom video, that features a few trailers for Kung Fu movies. I'm asking about the first trailer for The Street Fighter, it's a Hong Kong production, not the Sonny Chiba film. I may have heard about this under its original title?.

 

Thanks for the information regarding The Super Weapon.

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by DragonClaws

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Sorry for the confusion. That movie is the Smugglers with Jason Pai Piao. 

[DragonClaws]

5 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

Sorry for the confusion. That movie is the Smugglers with Jason Pai Piao. 

 

I should have posted the videos seperately, thanks for I-D the movie @NoKUNGFUforYU.

[DragonClaws]

 

B-Movies on Theatre Marquee's

Link- http://miriaml-blackburnlife.blogspot.com/2013/02/cinema-26-b-movies-on-theater-marquees.html

 

 

 

Remembering the Selwyn

Link- http://www.shockcinemamagazine.com/selwyn.html

 

 

Lyric Theatre

Link- http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9930

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Spot the Bruceploitation.

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by DragonClaws

[thekfc]

On 7/27/2019 at 12:07 PM, DragonClaws said:

Remembering the Selwyn

Link- http://www.shockcinemamagazine.com/selwyn.html

 

 

There is one paragraph that makes me chuckle...........because it is (mostly) true.

The Selwyn concession stand was always open, but honestly, I never once saw a customer purchasing food. A Large Popcorn went for $2.75 and Large Cokes were $2, but their hot dogs always looked a bit scary (not to mention, slightly gray, as if they'd been re-heated one too many times over the past month), with buns that were kept warm by laying them on top of the fresh popcorn. Yummy, eh? Perhaps not. From personal experience, it was always easier, cheaper and safer to grab your foodstuffs before entering the theater, 

Back then we never bought from the concession stand inside the theater, we always buy from outside (mostly Chinese food, sandwiches or burgers) and then we would eat it inside. Just about everyone was doing that.

[DragonClaws]

23 hours ago, thekfc said:

Back then we never bought from the concession stand inside the theater, we always buy from outside (mostly Chinese food, sandwiches or burgers) and then we would eat it inside. Just about everyone was doing that.

 

Those hotdogs sound gnarly, thanks for sharing your experience of the place @thekfc.

[DragonClaws]

 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Dirty Basterds and Master Killers: 20 Classic Grindhouse Kung Fu Films

Link- https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Dirty_Basterds_and_Master_Killers:_20_Classic_Grindhouse_Kung_Fu_Films

 

Quote

In the 1970s and 80s, martial arts movies became a massive sensation for moviegoers. If you lived in New York City, The Deuce (42nd Street) was the mecca for viewing these exciting, exotic, action packed films. Asian action stars such as Jimmy Wang Yu, Bruce Lee, Lo Lieh, Angela Mao, Sonny Chiba, Sue Shiomi, Gordon Liu, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and others suddenly became the new heroes for audiences both young and old. The cultural impact of Kung fu films clearly filled a gap and provided a positive outlet for many minorities as well. Coming from violent urban backgrounds, these kinds of movies gave kids of all colors and creeds the inspiration to stay strong in mind, body and spirit. They also helped inspire the openings of martial arts schools worldwide. Yes, kung fu films were a true phenomenon the likes of which we have rarely seen in pop culture. The GCDb is now proud to present a list of some of the most hard hitting, high flying, bone crunching, ball busting kung fu classics that will take you right back to their heyday playing in the grindhouses on 42nd Street and elsewhere. So get ready for some Film-Fu with our Dirty Basterds and Master Killers: 20 Classic Grindhouse Kung Fu Films list!

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

Drive-In Movies on WNEW Metromedia Channel 5

Link- https://dvddrive-in.com/TV Guide/driveinmovie5.htm

 

Quote

Most of the credit for the success of Drive-In Movie must be given to Mel Maron, an unsung B-movie personality so unsung that he doesn’t even rate his own entry in the Internet Movie Database. A native New Yorker and veteran distributor, Maron first came to prominence as a sales manager for MGM and UPA in the 1960s before forming his own company, Maron Films Ltd., in 1970. Maron was not only a great distributor, but someone conscious of choices. If you’re four paragraphs into this article and still following me, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or at least heard of a few of the movies released by Maron Films: B.J. LANG PRESENTS (a.k.a. THE MANIPULATOR), CIAO MANHATTAN!, DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS, GODZILLA’S REVENGE, GROUPIES, ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED, NEXT! (a.k.a. THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH), THE PROJECTIONIST, THREE BULLETS FOR A LONG GUN, TOWER OF SCREAMING VIRGINS, TOYS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN, TRISTANA, and the unforgettable double bill of WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and MONSTER ZERO. Maron also had a subsidiary company, Duffy Films, Inc., to handle soft-X features like THE CULT, a quickie cash-in on the Tate-LoBianco killings that would later be re-titled THE MANSON MASSACRE (Filmed in 1970, THE CULT premiered in Philadelphia on February 26th, 1971).

 

Source- https://www.movieart.com/kung-fu-fury-1983-26502/

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Source- http://faces-of-fu.blogspot.com/2010/

Quote

Here's an admat for a Shaw Brothers double feature that played at the Lyric Theatre on the Deuce back in the early 1980's... The first film, "Kung Fu Warlords" is better known under it's actual title of "The Brave Archer." This classic starring Alexander Fu Sheng and directed by Chang Cheh spawned three sequels. The second film, "Masked Avengers," was another feature directed by Chang Cheh, this time starring three of the famous Venoms.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by DragonClaws

[odioustrident]

On 5/28/2019 at 8:25 AM, thekfc said:

Actually no. 

A lot of Martial Arts movies  were playing were playing in "high end" cinemas back then, especially the one's distributed by the big companies like Warner Brothers (looking at old ads King Boxer did play in some regular theaters & that was before ETD). 

In addition to these movies playing on 42nd St, they also played in neighborhood theaters throughout the city but 42nd St was the go to place because there was a much bigger selection as multiple theaters were playing different movies - you could have done theater hopping (spend your entire day going from one movie theater to the next).

For many fans/people this was a 2nd showing as many of these movies had already play in some of the Chinatown movie theaters as was now getting a "new" life in these theaters (& many were now dubbed in English).

It is a little bit deceiving thinking that area was all "bad" but that is what gets the most press (sex sells).

Right there was the Theater district and Broadway shows like A Chorus Line, Cats, Grease, Annie, La Cage aux Folles, the Wiz, et al, we playing a few blocks away.

Right to the south is the Garment district where tailors & store keepers would go buy fabric, accessories and the likes. 

Also the New Year's Times Square Ball drop is right there on 42nd St.

On a side note, the "famed" Studio 54 was about 12 blocks north.

I talked to someone about this recently and heard some new information. Supposedly most kung fu films released between the March '73 release of Five Fingers of Death and the August '73 release of Enter the Dragon got some kind of national release theatrically. Duel of Iron Fist came out almost immediately after Five Fingers of Death.  Distributors ran into trouble selling kung fu on the big theater circuits when none of their new titles could match the production levels of Enter the Dragon (including Bruce's later films).

I believe Warner Bros did release Sacred Knives of Vengeance to wider release in Jan. '74.

Chinese Professionals / One Armed Boxer also got one.

Howard Mahler did get some wider releases for the following films through 1974:

Stranger from Canton / Karate Killers

Chinese Dragon / Chinese Mechanic

Black Belt (1973)

Dragon's Vengeance / Chinese

Some others probably got bigger releases as well like Mandarin Magician. I think anything that got TV spots also got a wider theatrical release. Dragon's Vengeance was actually reviewed in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine.

Most kung fu films played in urban theaters and drive in's only after that.

Edited September 23, 2019 by odioustrident

[thekfc]

2 hours ago, odioustrident said:

I talked to someone about this recently and heard some new information. Supposedly most kung fu films released between the March '73 release of Five Fingers of Death and the August '73 release of Enter the Dragon got some kind of national release theatrically. Duel of Iron Fist came out almost immediately after Five Fingers of Death.  Distributors ran into trouble selling kung fu on the big theater circuits when none of their new titles could match the production levels of Enter the Dragon (including Bruce's later films).

I believe Warner Bros did release Sacred Knives of Vengeance to wider release in Jan. '74.

Chinese Professionals / One Armed Boxer also got one.

Howard Mahler did get some wider releases for the following films through 1974:

Stranger from Canton / Karate Killers

Chinese Dragon / Chinese Mechanic

Black Belt (1973)

Dragon's Vengeance / Chinese

Some others probably got bigger releases as well like Mandarin Magician. I think anything that got TV spots also got a wider theatrical release. Dragon's Vengeance was actually reviewed in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine.

Most kung fu films played in urban theaters and drive in's only after that.

Completely agree that  a lot of these movies did not get a national/wider release during that time period.

However, when they played they were not just playing in "rundown" theaters like you see in some of articles/pictures posted in this thread but also in "regular" theaters.

Most of what you see in those pics are I would say more of a "resurgence" to capitalize on the popularity/success of a movie/event. 

There is also a great article posted by @DragonClaws, which covers the drive-in scene as well as World Northal (which distributed a lot of the Shaw's movies in theaters). That article was written by Chris Poggiali who use to be a member here - not sure if he is still here or goes by a different name.

On 8/14/2019 at 2:34 PM, DragonClaws said:

Drive-In Movies on WNEW Metromedia Channel 5

Link- https://dvddrive-in.com/TV Guide/driveinmovie5.htm

Here is another article on World Northal, also by Chris.

http://templeofschlock.blogspot.com/2012/08/updating-imdb-world-northal-edition.html

Also those of us (who had a Chinatown in our City) also had Chinatown theaters that would also show these movies.

 

[DragonClaws]

 

Appreciate your informative posts @thekfc and @odioustrident.

 

 

Leg Fighter's week at The Roxy in 1983, anyone know if Twister Kicker is an alais for another Kung Fu flick?.

Source- http://templeofschlock.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-week-on-42nd-street-1983.html

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by DragonClaws

[thekfc]

16 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

anyone know if Twister Kicker is an alais for another Kung Fu flick?.

Twister Kicker is a Taiwanese basher which is also known as Tornado.

I use to have it on VHS.

[DragonClaws]

6 hours ago, thekfc said:

Twister Kicker is a Taiwanese basher which is also known as Tornado.

I use to have it on VHS.

 

Thankyou @thekfc, just looked the title up on the HKMDB where it doesnt receive a very positive review. Described as a eldrama with little in the way of Martial Arts display's. Star Sun Yueh is mostly known for playing sneeky sidekicks to a movies main villain.

 

Link- http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=9199&display_set=eng

[DragonClaws]

 

 

 

[Killer Meteor]

I'd love to travel back in time to those showings...might need a bodyguard though!

[DragonClaws]

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

 

Anyone here watched this show yet?.

 

Quote

The Deuce is an American drama television series created by David Simon and George Pelecanos. The series' pilot began filming in October 2015 and was commissioned in January 2016.^[1] It is broadcast by HBO in the United States and premiered on September 10, 2017.^[2][3] HBO made the pilot available through its video-on-demand services and affiliates on August 25, 2017.

Edited December 26, 2019 by DragonClaws