# The Chinatown Kid (唐人街功夫小子)
**The Chinatown Kid** (唐人街功夫小子) is a 1977 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh for Shaw Brothers, starring Alexander Fu Sheng as a young martial artist who flees gang trouble in Hong Kong and rises through the criminal underworld of San Francisco's Chinatown. It opened in Hong Kong on December 2, 1977.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 唐人街功夫小子 (Mandarin: Tángrénjiē gōngfu xiǎozi; Cantonese: Tong⁴yan⁴-gaai¹ gong¹fu¹ siu²zi²)[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) |
| Release | December 2, 1977 (Hong Kong); Shaw Brothers[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Chang Cheh; written by Ni Kuang, James Wong, and Chang Cheh[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) |
| Lead cast | Alexander Fu Sheng (Tam Tung), Sun Chien, Philip Kwok, Lo Meng, Jenny Tseng, Shirley Yu, Susan Shaw[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) |
| Running times | 115-minute international cut; about 90-minute Mandarin re-release cut[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076797/alternateversions/) |
| Hong Kong box office | HK$1,537,867, ranking 37th for the year[3](https://kungfutube.info/13200) |
| Restorations | Celestial Pictures remastered the shorter alternate version in the early 2000s; Arrow Video restored the 115-minute international cut for Shawscope Volume One (2021)[4](https://www.silveremulsion.com/2018/09/07/chinatown-kid-1977/) • [1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Tam Tung (譚東), a young martial arts street fighter played by Alexander Fu Sheng, struggles to survive the gang wars of Hong Kong until he runs up against the [Triad](https://www.edgepedia.org/triad-organized-crime) underworld empire. Framed on drug charges, he escapes to San Francisco, hides out in a [Chinatown](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinatown) restaurant, and befriends Yang Jianwen (楊堅文), a student working his way through school.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/chinatown-kid) • [6](https://www.litv.tv/movie/watch/VOD00298166) There he again tangles with criminal gangs, fighting his way to the top of the city's most feared gangster organization led by the White Dragon boss.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/chinatown-kid) Philip Kwok plays the White Dragon and Lo Meng the Green Dragon.[7](https://www.playpilot.com/co/movie/chinatown-kid-pptiCfj/)
The story follows Chang Cheh's recurring pattern in which a hero's rise through violence ends in destruction; one account describes the arc as materialism and heroism leading to "nihilistic desecration," with Tan Tung defeating each triad-linked villain one by one while falling under the influence of Shirley Yu's character.[8](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Chinatown_Kid?id=r3_Y1amxz4g)
## Production
**Shooting.** Most of the film was shot at Shaw Brothers' Movietown studios in Hong Kong, but Chang Cheh shot footage of [Fu Sheng](https://www.edgepedia.org/fu-sheng) on the actual streets of San Francisco in 1976, a year before release, some of which appears in the final film.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) Chang was criticized for using San Francisco stock shots to make the film seem American-made.[8](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Chinatown_Kid?id=r3_Y1amxz4g)
**Languages.** With one lead from Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong and another from Mandarin-speaking Taiwan, the cast mixes [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) and Mandarin throughout; in one scene the two leads switch between the languages depending on whom they address. The sanitized Mandarin-only version was exhibited in more conservative territories such as Malaysia.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
**Music.** Most of the score comes from the De Wolfe Music library. The opening credits song, "The Ghost Calls You Poor" (Gwai gui nei foon), was written by James Wong, the Cantonese singer-songwriter who also co-wrote the screenplay and appears in a cameo as a gambler.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
## Versions and restoration
The film exists in two substantially different cuts. The original cut, a Cantonese/Mandarin hybrid also used for the English-dubbed export release, runs 115 minutes and includes more fight footage, darker material showing the hero's villainous side, and an ending in which the hero dies in the final battle along with the villain. The Mandarin-language re-release cut runs about 90 minutes and ends with the hero and villain being arrested instead.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076797/alternateversions/)
When Celestial Pictures remastered the Shaw Brothers library in the early 2000s, the only print it found was the shorter alternate version with re-shot scenes and a unique ending, and that version became the standard DVD release for years.[4](https://www.silveremulsion.com/2018/09/07/chinatown-kid-1977/) In 2021, Arrow Video released the 115-minute international cut, scanned primarily from an internegative (intermediate film copy used to make release prints), in its Shawscope Volume One box set, with the original Cantonese/Mandarin hybrid audio and the export English dub, alongside the 90-minute alternate version.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076797/alternateversions/) • [9](https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2021/12/10/arrow-video-shaw-scope-box-set-chinatown-kid-1977/) The international cut was newly restored in 2K by Arrow Films in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, the Hong Kong Film Archive, and Celestial Pictures.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
## Release and reception
The film was distributed theatrically in the United States by World Northal in 1979 in a dubbed version, and later in Canada, West Germany, Portugal, and France.[10](https://grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Chinatown_Kid) In Hong Kong it earned HK$1,537,867, placing 37th for the year.[3](https://kungfutube.info/13200) It holds a 6.6 rating on IMDb.[7](https://www.playpilot.com/co/movie/chinatown-kid-pptiCfj/)
Critics have generally treated the film as a fan favorite with caveats. A lovehkfilm review called it enjoyable but muddled and choppily paced in its truncated form, while noting that some consider it Alexander Fu Sheng's signature picture.[11](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/chinatown_kid.htm) A review of the Arrow restoration praised Fu Sheng's charismatic presence and the film's blend of comedy with action, rating it 8.5 out of 10.[12](https://neofilmshop.com/blogs/news/film-review-chinatown-kid-1977-hong-kong-shawscope-volume-1-arrow-video) The film is noted as the first in which all five of the Venom Mob actors appeared together.[4](https://www.silveremulsion.com/2018/09/07/chinatown-kid-1977/)
## Context in Chang Cheh's career
Chang Cheh returned to Hong Kong from Taiwan in 1977, and in his memoir he dismissed the films he made for Shaw Brothers after that return as tired, worn-out wuxia and fist-and-kick action films that warranted little mention.[1](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf) Chinatown Kid belongs to this late Shaw Brothers period and to his line of contemporary-setting martial arts films, moving the studio's usual gang-and-revenge formula from period China to a Chinese immigrant community in the United States.[8](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Chinatown_Kid?id=r3_Y1amxz4g)
## References
1. [Chinatown Kid booklet notes, Arrow Video / Shawscope Volume One](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
2. [Chinatown Kid (1977) – Alternate versions, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076797/alternateversions/)
3. [ヒーロー・オブ･カンフー 猛龍唐人拳／唐人街小子（1977）, KUNGFU TUBE](https://kungfutube.info/13200)
4. [Chinatown Kid (1977), Silver Emulsion Film Reviews](https://www.silveremulsion.com/2018/09/07/chinatown-kid-1977/)
5. [Chinatown Kid streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/chinatown-kid)
6. [唐人街功夫小子 – Chinatown Kid, LiTV](https://www.litv.tv/movie/watch/VOD00298166)
7. [Chinatown Kid (1977), PlayPilot](https://www.playpilot.com/co/movie/chinatown-kid-pptiCfj/)
8. [Chinatown Kid, Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Chinatown_Kid?id=r3_Y1amxz4g)
9. [Arrow Video Shaw Scope Box Set: Chinatown Kid (1977), B&S About Movies](https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2021/12/10/arrow-video-shaw-scope-box-set-chinatown-kid-1977/)
10. [Chinatown Kid, The Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Chinatown_Kid)
11. [Chinatown Kid (唐人街功夫小子) (1977), lovehkfilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/chinatown_kid.htm)
12. [Film Review: Chinatown Kid (唐人街功夫小子) (1977), Neo Film Shop](https://neofilmshop.com/blogs/news/film-review-chinatown-kid-1977-hong-kong-shawscope-volume-1-arrow-video)
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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 › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Martial arts films › Released 1943 to 1985*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license