Das Todesduell der Tigerkralle (1977)

Das Todesduell der Tigerkralle: Directed by Yuen Chor. With Tung-Shing Yee, On-On Yu, Ping Chen, Yun Ling. This martial arts spectacular showcases 20-year-old Derek Yee, David Chiang’s younger brother, with ample swordfights, beautiful damsels in distress, and a great cast of kung-fu film stalwarts.

“There is this old concertmaster of the Cosmopolitian Orchestra and he is about to realize his life-long ambition of appearing as a soloist with the orchestra, when an accident robs him of use of his right hand. His children, upon learning of his misfortune, immediately desert him knowing he will no longer provide them with money.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo Adolph Greig (Al Shean) sinks lower and lower and becomes a street beggar, too proud to ask for help from his friends and unable to find his son or daughter. One night, standing in front of the concert hall, he sinks to the street from hunger and fatigue. He is picked up by two men associated with the orchestra, Mancini (Albert Conti)and Rozzini (Charles Judels), and they take him to Rozziniu0026#39;s and they develop a plan whereby they will set up Greig in a next-door studio where he can give violin lessons. Well, up shows a young violin genius named Carl Rupert (the 12-year-old Lester Lee)and, with the aid of Mancini and Rozzini, Greig starts the boy off on a brilliant career. Or, what promised to be a brilliant career but on his first public performance, a woman comes out of the audience, throws her arms around the boy and calls him u0026quot;Son.u0026quot; Well sir, it is indeed her son and the mother is none other than the former Paula Greig (Evelyn Brent), the daughter of old Adolph (who is somewhat stunned by this turn of events), and a little math calculation tells us that the ten minutes of running time that Adolph spent begging and starving was at least 13 years in real time, as Paula was neither married nor with child when last seen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow, ordinarily, a reunion of father and daughter, and mother and son, and a grandfather learning that his violin prodigy is actually his own grandson would appear to be the closing scene before u0026quot;The Endu0026quot; card, but there is another whole reel of weeping and big-time emoting—Paula is a bitch first class—before this one gets sorted out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOr, as they sang in the old days…Absolutely Mr. Gallagher…Positively, Mr. Shean.”