Bruce Lee's Secret
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Bruce Lee's Secret
| image = Bruce Lee's Secret poster.jpg
| caption =
| director = Chan Wa
William Cheung Ki
| producer = Ng Yuk Wan
| writer = Chan Wa
Cheung San Yee
| starring = Bruce Li
Carter Wong
Chang Kuei
Hwang Jang Lee
Roy Horan
Robert Kerver
Gary Hester
Alan Ellerton
Charles Bonet
Phil Cohen
Greg Talovic
Dan Schwarz
| music = Stanley Chow Fook Leung
| cinematography = William Cheung Ki
| distributor = Golden Sun Films
| released = {{Film date|1977}}
| country = Hong Kong
| runtime = 91 minutes
| language = Cantonese
| budget =
}}
Bruce Lee's Secret is a 1977 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Chan Wa and William Cheung Ki, which is also a pseudo biopic of Bruce Lee.{{Cite book |last=Meyers |first=Richard |url=https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Great_Martial_Arts_Movies/FAyyith2j_QC?hl=fr&gbpv=1&bsq=bruce+lee's+secret+1977&dq=bruce+lee's+secret+1977&printsec=frontcover |title=Great Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan-- and More |date=2001 |publisher=Citadel Press |isbn=978-0-8065-2026-1 |language=en}} It stars Bruce Li (not to be confused with Lee) as "Bob" Lee, whose life is essentially the same as Lee's and is on two occasions actually referred to as "Bruce".{{Cite web |last=Gothic |first=Bruce Lee |date=2014-10-28 |title=Bruce Lee’s Deadly Kung Fu |url=https://medium.com/kung-fu-movies/bruce-lees-deadly-kung-fu-7a379a95012e |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Kung Fu Movies |language=en}} The film has also been released under three other English titles: The Story of the Dragon, Bruce Lee's Deadly Kung Fu and Bruce Lee: Master of Jeet Kune Do.{{Cite web |title=The Clones of Bruce Lee |url=https://www.silveremulsion.com/film-festivals/the-clones-of-bruce-lee/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Silver Emulsion Film Reviews |language=en-US}} This film is not to be confused with another Bruce Lee biopic, Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story.
Synopsis
In San Francisco, Bruce "Bob" Lee works in a Chinese food restaurant with his wacky friend Chang Ming. When a gang of hoodlums is making trouble, Bob puts a lot of pepper on their chicken, making them sneeze a lot (and inspiring the line, "This is pepper chicken. Good for gut's ache!").
Unfortunately, Bob and Chang are blacklisted from the bustling San Francisco Chinese restaurant community by the gang. They accidentally land a job at a shipyard after narrowly averting being run over by the owner's daughter's car. She tells them to get back to work, assuming they already work there unloading speaker cabinet boxes. The shipyard is attacked by members of the boxing gang that Bob beat up in the beginning of the film. At first, Bob and Chang refuse to fight to prevent losing their jobs again. However, they are called chickens by the shipyard owners, and after finally beating up some bad guys, people realize what an amazing martial artist Bob is, and encourage him to start his own kung fu school.
Bob's school opens to boffo business, but there is controversy among the powerful rival kung fu schools because Bob is teaching to non-Asians. He also creates Jeet Kune Do, and uses his newly improves martial arts ability to whup the baddies once and for all.
Cast
- Bruce Li as Bruce "Bob" Lee
- Carter Wong as Mr. Liu Cousin
- Chang Kuei as Chang Ming
- Hwang Jang Lee as Jin Yong Ji
- Roy Horan as Thug
- Robert Kerver as Thug
- Gary Hester as Thug
- Allan Ellerton as Thug
- Charles Bonet as Thug
- Phil Cohen as Thug
- Greg Tavolic as Thug
- Dan Schwarz as Mr. Grace
Production
Filming started in late 1975 and finished early 1976. The film was made in Taipei and nearby areas. The restaurant scene at the start is in Bo-Ai street, Taipei. The bungalows are in a former US military housing complex near Taipei. The docks scenes are at Keelung. Some scenes were shot in the suburb of Beitou.
Reaction
The film was poorly received by critics. Despite the negative reaction to this film, actor Hwang Jang Lee would later achieve stardom after appearing as the bad guy in Jackie Chan's breakout films, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master.
References
{{Reflist}}
See also
External links
- {{IMDb title|0071253}}
- [https://www.silveremulsion.com/2010/05/31/uncle-jasper-reviews-bruce-lees-deadly-kung-fu-1976/ Review of the film at SilverEmulsion]
Category:1976 martial arts films
Category:Hong Kong action films
Category:Bruceploitation films
Category:Hong Kong martial arts films