John Law Ma
Directing
Biography
John Law (born Nov 4, 1938) i a Hong Kong film director and screenwriter best known for his films of the 1970s. Law is credited with 10 films as an actor, 35 films as a director, 15 films as a writer and 7 films as a producer. In 1957, Law started his acting career in Hong Kong. Law first appeared in He Has Taken Him for Another, a 1957 Mandarin Comedy film directed by Li Han-Hsiang. Law also appeared in The Lady of Mystery, a 1957 Mandarin thriller film directed by Wa Hak-Ngai. Law wrote the script for the 1961 film The Search Of Loved One but by 1968 he had moved into directing and writing, directing his first film in this year entitled A Time for Reunion , a film which starred Alan Tang who would feature in many of his later films in the 1970s. In the 1970s, John began working under the renowned Hong Kong film studios, Shaw Studio, responsible for producing many of Hong Kong's classic martial arts film during this period. In 1976 John directed and wrote the script for The Girlie Bar, an adult film oriented drama featuring Chan Ping, Yau Fung, Lin Chen Chi and James Nam and Tony Liu. Similarly his film later that year Bruce Lee and I starred Betty Ting, Danny Lee, Yuen Cheung and Tony Liu. His 1977 romance film Orchid In The Rain, which also starred frequent star in his films, Alan Tang, Brigitte Lin also pushed boundaries in terms of intimacy on screen. He would however, direct several kung fu films, notably in 1979 the films Monkey Kung Fu and Five Super Fighters, and Boxer From The Temple in 1981. Boxer From The Temple was to be his last film as a director and under Shaw Studios. Law is credited with 10 films as an actor, 35 films as a director, 15 films as a writer and 7 films as a producer. [Wikipedia]
Known For
In this dreamy romance set in China during the fourth-century, a young woman convinces her parents to allow her to dress as a boy and attend university.
The Love Eterne
The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.
Empress Wu
A small-time crook goes in search of the other half of a wooden keepsake which will lead him to the legendary kung fu technique of the Gibbon Clan Fist.
Monkey Kung Fu
A movie on the life of the renowned Bruce Lee, especially his relationship with his mistress.
Bruce Lee and I
Three young martial arts students and their teacher are beaten up badly by a wandering man who proclaims himself "a corrector of bad kung-fu." Determined to avenge their teacher and regain their honor, the three students all go their separate ways to find kung-fu masters who will take them as students.
Five Superfighters
A bittersweet comedy about a simple hick who arrives in the big city to seek his fortune, "The Crazy Bumpkins" is about Ah Niu, who leaves his native village to live with an uncle in Hong Kong, not realizing he is a crook. After taking on a hilarious series of illegal jobs with his uncle, he meets and falls for a single mother and decides to find some real work. However, bad luck and naivete soon conspire to keep him from true happiness.
The Crazy Bumpkins
The noted actress Li Li-hua, star of more than sixty films since 1947, beautifully portrays the drugged, then disgraced wife of a peddler in the waning days of the Ching Dynasty. To make matters worse, she’s soon framed for her husband’s murder by her rapist - the son of the local magistrate! And even that isn’t the end of her woes. It’s best to have a box of tissues nearby as two expert directors ratchet up the emotional suspense in this consummate tearjerker.
The Adulteress
A widower forces his three beautiful daughters to work in his seedy bar and must do what they are told no matter what. The film features Lin Chen-chi who had just starred in Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold.
The Girlie Bar
Complex plots? This director didn't want them. Expensive, famous stars? Didn't need them. Glorious sets and costumes? He could take them or leave them. With his choreographer Hsu Hsia, John Lo Mar liked making lean, mean, fighting movies, and fans rejoiced. Here Wu Yuan-chin stars as "the Kid," a monk whose education in the aptly named "Crazy Lo Han Fist" finds him battling a cruel bandit's son and befriending an abused prostitute. From then on, it's one fight after another in another John Lo Mar martial arts marvel.
The Boxer from the Temple
A gangster thriller.
Bus Stop
Following the lives of three downtrodden but resilient outcasts, John Lo Mar's gritty social drama paints a sense of realism rarely seen in Hon Kong movies. Li Ching - the best actress of her era - play Ah Chiao is a girl from a rural village stranded in the city, who befriends a kind-hearted transient and a retired actor. They are poor, but they are happy. Although her fortune changes for the better when she becomes a singer, she ultimately learns money can't buy happiness.
The Happy Trio
Two brothers, one wrongly accused of a crime, go on a mission of vengeance to find the men who framed him.
Black List
Hong Kong movie
The Chase
Boss Chai (Wang Sha) serves as the leader of a group of thieves and skilled pickpockets. One fateful night, his most prized possessions fall into the hands of his senior disciple, Hsiao Hsiang Kung (Ye Feng), a renowned master thief among thieves. The two embark on a series of escapades marked by intense rivalry, crafty betrayals, and occasional partnerships. Amid their adventures, Hsiao Hsiang Kung demonstrates that he is not just a thief but also a compassionate man, assisting the less fortunate and coming to the rescue of distressed damsels.
Thief of Thieves
Early Shaw Brothers comedy
The Magic Touch
Spies, Military Documents and Traitors.
The Lady of Mystery
The sequel to John Lo Mar and Chang Yang's original film finds the naive village immigrant, Ah Niu (Yeh Feng) leaving jail to work and live with his crooked Uncle Chou (Wang Sha) again. But now, his girlfriend Ah Hua (Ai Ti) has become the wife of an abusive husband. As with the bittersweet original, Ah Niu -- with his kind heart but simple mind -- gets caught in various rackets and silly situations.
Return of the Crazy Bumpkins
Love story about a man who falls for a cabaret hostess.
Orchid in the Rain
hong kong film
姐姐的情人
In 1974, John Lo Mar co-directed The Crazy Bumpkins, a new variation on the time-tested, beloved Cantonese comedy "Country Bumpkin" tradition. That proved such a success that a sequel, Return Of The Crazy Bumpkins, soon appeared. Now, the third time's the charm, as John Lo Mar gets to both write and direct the third slapstick-filled installment, once again starring Yeh Feng and Wang Sha as the hapless and hilarious yokel Ah Niu and his crafty city-slicker Uncle Chou.