# All for the Winner (赌圣)
**All for the Winner** (赌圣) is a 1990 Hong Kong Cantonese comedy directed by Jeffrey Lau (刘镇伟) and Corey Yuen (元奎), starring [Stephen Chow](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-chow) as a mainland youth with supernatural powers who is put to work at the gambling tables by his uncle in Hong Kong. Made as a low-budget parody of Wong Jing's *God of Gamblers* (1989), it earned HK$41,326,156, became the first Hong Kong film to pass the HK$40 million mark, and finished as the territory's top-grossing film of 1990.[1](https://moviecool.asia/film/mw9sfdOEV) • [2](https://static.nfnews.com/content/202408/17/c9663828.html?enterColumnId=39) The film established Chow's "mo lei tau" (nonsensical) screen persona and turned him from a rising television-trained actor into Hong Kong's dominant box-office star of the early 1990s.[3](https://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/documents/HKPOP60_Booklet_02.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 赌圣 ("Saint of Gamblers"), English title *All for the Winner*[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104147/releaseinfo/) |
| Release | 18 August 1990, Hong Kong; 100 minutes, Cantonese[1](https://moviecool.asia/film/mw9sfdOEV) • [5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) |
| Directors / writer | Jeffrey Lau and Corey Yuen; screenplay by Jeffrey Lau[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) |
| Production | Seasonal Film Corporation (Ng See-Yuen), co-produced with Golden Harvest[6](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Jeff-LAU_c.pdf) |
| Box office | HK$41,326,156; 1990 Hong Kong annual champion; first local film past HK$40 million[1](https://moviecool.asia/film/mw9sfdOEV) • [2](https://static.nfnews.com/content/202408/17/c9663828.html?enterColumnId=39) |
| Awards | Nominated, Best Actor (Stephen Chow) and Best Supporting Actor (Ng Man-tat), 10th Hong Kong Film Awards[7](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/all_for_the_winner.htm) |
| Principal cast | Stephen Chow, Ng Man-tat, Sharla Cheung, Sandra Ng, Paul Chun[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Sing (周星驰's 左颂星), a naive young man from [Guangzhou](https://www.edgepedia.org/guangzhou), arrives in Hong Kong to stay with his uncle Tat (吴孟达). Tat discovers that Sing can see through objects, including the backs of playing cards, and puts the gift to work in the gambling dens, billing him as the "Saint of Gamblers".[8](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/all-for-the-winner/) • [5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) Sing's winnings draw the attention of rival gambling bosses, the Hong Kong boss Hung (秦沛) and the Taiwan boss Chan Sung (played by Lau himself), who compete to sign him as their representative at a world gambling championship.[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) • [9](https://www.geocities.ws/hkmovies168/allforthewinner.htm) A romance with the beautiful Dream (张敏), who is in fact an undercover agent for the Taiwan side, leaves Sing heartbroken and unable to concentrate at the tables, and the plot turns on whether he recovers his nerve before the final.[10](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/LC0gLWI%3D)
The supernatural premise was Lau's answer to a casting problem. As he recalled in a 2005 interview, Chow lacked [Chow Yun-fat](https://www.edgepedia.org/chow-yun-fat)'s suave bearing as a gambling hero, and the mainland craze for reports of "special abilities" (特异功能) suggested a way out: a small man could become a convincing champion through psychic powers rather than glamour.[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2005-01-11/1713626089.html) The film's comedy works by puncturing the *God of Gamblers* iconography it borrows: the slow-motion walks, the gestures and the chocolate are reproduced just accurately enough to be broken, and when Sing must transform a card at a critical moment he produces only the top half of it, blank below, his panic carried by rapid shifts of expression.[8](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/all-for-the-winner/) • [12](https://oss0.changxianggu.com/book/chapter/269_9787040440713.pdf)
## Production
The film originated with producer Ng See-Yuen, who saw Wong Jing's *God of Gamblers* dominating the 1989 box office and decided to profit from the gambling-film wave by pairing Lau with Chow for Seasonal Film Corporation.[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2005-01-11/1713626089.html) • [6](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Jeff-LAU_c.pdf) Lau, who had built his reputation on horror comedies such as *[The Haunted Cop Shop](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-haunted-cop-shop)* (1987), co-directed with action specialist Corey Yuen, whose staging supplied the film's fight sequences and card-table set pieces; Lau wrote the screenplay and both men also acted in supporting roles.[6](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Jeff-LAU_c.pdf) • [13](https://fareastfilms.com/review/all-for-the-winner/) The score was composed by Lowell Lo (卢冠廷).[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html)
None of the leads was yet a first-rank star. Chow had become known through television, notably the 1989 series *The Final Combat*, and [Ng Man-tat](https://www.edgepedia.org/ng-man-tat), Sandra Ng, and the other supporting players were not yet household names; Lau himself played the Taiwan gambling king.[14](https://singchi.org/modules/tadnews/index.php?lang=english&ncsn=1&nsn=1395) Chow and Ng had already worked together in television, and the film made them one of Hong Kong comedy's most durable screen pairings.[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html)
## Box office and the making of a star
Released at the end of the summer season on 18 August 1990, the film grossed HK$41,326,156 in Hong Kong, surpassing the previous year's champion *God of Gamblers* and breaking the all-time Hong Kong box-office record.[1](https://moviecool.asia/film/mw9sfdOEV) • [15](https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/entertainment/3ey6p8o.html) Chow later said he had expected about HK$20 million and was astonished at the result.[16](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/2008-01-21/ba1885904.shtml) Within days of the film's success, the nickname "星仔" (Little Chow) gave way to "星爷" (Master Chow), the honorific by which he has been known since.[17](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E8%B5%8C%E5%9C%A3%E3%80%8B/35664)
The commercial shock waves were immediate. Win's Movie Production, the company behind *God of Gamblers*, responded by merging the two properties: Wong Jing's *All for the Winner II* (赌侠), released on 13 December 1990, teamed Chow's Saint of Gamblers with [Andy Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-lau)'s character from the original, and grossed over HK$40 million, giving Chow the year's top two spots at the Hong Kong box office.[2](https://static.nfnews.com/content/202408/17/c9663828.html?enterColumnId=39) • [18](https://www.yicai.com/news/4753886.html) The only true sequel from Lau and Yuen's own team was *The Top Bet* (1991), which recast the premise with [Anita Mui](https://www.edgepedia.org/anita-mui) as Sing's sister and only a brief Chow cameo.[7](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/all_for_the_winner.htm)
## Style and legacy
The Hong Kong Film Archive credits the film with injecting "mo lei tau" nonsense comedy into the fashionable gambling genre, a style built on absurd, abrupt twists that disregard logic and common sense.[5](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html) • [3](https://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/documents/HKPOP60_Booklet_02.pdf) Commentators have linked its popularity to the mood of late-colonial Hong Kong, when audiences in the "pre-1997" period responded to comedy that treated authority with irreverence.[15](https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/entertainment/3ey6p8o.html) The film also introduced, for the first time in a Chow character, a devoted romantic thread that became a recurring theme in his later work.[12](https://oss0.changxianggu.com/book/chapter/269_9787040440713.pdf)
Its commercial record stood as a threshold for the industry: the film opened the string of Chow comedies, including *Fight Back to School* (1991) and *[Justice, My Foot!](https://www.edgepedia.org/justice-my-foot)* (1992), that held the annual Hong Kong box-office crown for four consecutive years, and in 1992 all five of the year's top-grossing local films were Chow comedies.[19](https://ent.sina.cn/film/2007-06-11/detail-icesifvy0080802.d.html) At the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards, Chow received a Best Actor nomination and Ng Man-tat a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the film.[7](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/all_for_the_winner.htm) A long-awaited DVD finally appeared in 2004; the first pressing was cut, and the excised scenes were restored in a remaster released at the end of that year.[7](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/all_for_the_winner.htm)
## References
1. [《賭聖》film record, 華文影視數據平台 (Moviecool)](https://moviecool.asia/film/mw9sfdOEV)
2. [从结缘到结怨，王晶开麦细述与周星驰的影坛往事, 南方都市报 via 南方+](https://static.nfnews.com/content/202408/17/c9663828.html?enterColumnId=39)
3. [《賭聖》電影海報, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, HKPOP60 booklet](https://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/documents/HKPOP60_Booklet_02.pdf)
4. [All for the Winner (1990) – Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104147/releaseinfo/)
5. [赌圣, 香港電影資料館 (Hong Kong Film Archive)](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2018-7-1-11.html)
6. [香港影人小傳檢索：劉鎮偉, 香港電影資料館](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Jeff-LAU_c.pdf)
7. [All for the Winner (1990), LoveHKFilm review archive](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/all_for_the_winner.htm)
8. [All for the Winner (1990): Plot, Cast & Rating, Pulse of Cinema](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/all-for-the-winner/)
9. [賭聖 All For The Winner (1990), hkmovies168](https://www.geocities.ws/hkmovies168/allforthewinner.htm)
10. [赌圣剧情简介, 电视猫](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/LC0gLWI%3D)
11. [专访刘镇伟：大话西游之一零二回传奇, 新浪娱乐 (2005)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2005-01-11/1713626089.html)
12. [周星驰表演艺术章节, 高等教育出版社 (9787040440713)](https://oss0.changxianggu.com/book/chapter/269_9787040440713.pdf)
13. [All for the Winner (1990) Review, Far East Films](https://fareastfilms.com/review/all-for-the-winner/)
14. [〖蘋話當年〗1990年《賭聖》上映 周星馳時代開始, 周星馳影迷會星樂園](https://singchi.org/modules/tadnews/index.php?lang=english&ncsn=1&nsn=1395)
15. [喜劇之王——周星馳, 每日頭條](https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/entertainment/3ey6p8o.html)
16. [周星驰二十年电影票房TOP6：《赌圣》, 新浪娱乐 (2008)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/2008-01-21/ba1885904.shtml)
17. [赌圣（1990年周星驰主演的喜剧片）, 百度百科](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E8%B5%8C%E5%9C%A3%E3%80%8B/35664)
18. [揭秘周星驰的电影王国和商业王国, 第一财经](https://www.yicai.com/news/4753886.html)
19. [回归前夕的香港电影：从喜剧化到悲情化, 新浪娱乐 (2007)](https://ent.sina.cn/film/2007-06-11/detail-icesifvy0080802.d.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1990 to 1994 › Titles symbols to J*
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