The Film
Cynthia Rothrock made her film debut in Yes Madam, subsequently going on to great success in supporting roles in the likes of Righting Wrongs and Millionaires Express. Lady Reporter (also known by the much cooler title The Blonde Fury) though would be her first true vehicle. It was conceived for her and directed largely by her Yes Madam colleague (and sometime partner) Mang Hoi. It’s a ground-breaking film in one major way: it was the first, and to date remains the only, time that a non-Asian actress was top billed in a Hong Kong martial arts film.
The film finds Rothrock playing Cindy (the same name her character had in Yes Madam, but this doesn’t seem to be the same character), and FBI agent recruited to go undercover at a Hong Kong newspaper which the Feds think is being used as cover for a counterfeit money operation. As you might expect, kicking ensues.
The plot isn’t particularly complicated, but it doesn’t always connect perfectly from scene to scene. This is hardly a surprise given that Rothrock says, in her interview for the disc, that there was never a complete screenplay; she would simply turn up and be told what they were shooting that day. Add to this the fact there were fairly extensive reshoots (directed by Yes Madam director and Mang Hoi’s creative partner Corey Yuen Kwai) including an entirely new final action set piece, and its something of a miracle that Lady Reporter works at all.
The fact it does work is down to two things: Cynthia Rothrock and the action sequences. It’s never particularly fair to judge someone’s acting in a performance where they are dubbed, but I’ve seen some of Rothrock’s American work, and let’s just say she was never cast to give a nuanced exploration of her character’s inner life (“We’re not going to cast her in a drama”, notes Mang Hoi in his interview). What does work here though, even apart from her prowess in the action sequences, is the energy she gives off. There’s a playful quality in her scenes with Elizabeth Lee (as a friend she stays with while undercover in Hong Kong). This may have come from their relationship off camera, as Lee was one of the few people on set who could converse in English. However it came about, there’s a lightness in that relationship that I’ve not often seen from Rothrock otherwise.
Of course, we’re not really here for nuanced portrayals of cross-cultural friendship, or even, if we’re honest here, for a coherent plot about money laundering. What Lady Reporter is about for most of its audience is a simple question: how creatively, and how awesomely, can Mang Hoi and Corey Yuen Kwai invent ways for Rothrock to kick the living shit out of everyone else in the movie? Happily, the answers are ‘very creatively’ and ‘escalatingly awesomely’. A relatively early highlight comes with an extended fight sequence on some bamboo scaffolding on the outside of a tall building. This looks genuinely perilous, and still allows Rothrock to show off some intricate moves. It’s also clear that Shang Chi owes this sequence a massive debt. Rothrock throwing down with Billy Chow was, she says, one of the most brutal fight sequences she ever shot, and the breathless speed and obvious full contact impacts of many of the blows bear that out.
The film’s finale was shared half and half between directors. The incredible fight on a huge piece of rope netting is an interesting one, because Rothrock seems to recall that being Mang Hoi, while Mang Hoi says it was Yuen Kwai who shot it. Either way, the stunt work is terrifyingly gnarly even before you know that a stuntman was paralysed shooting the sequence. Hoi also shot the sequence with Rothrock fighting Vincent Lyn in between several industrial containers, which again shows off the inventiveness of his work (and allows Rothrock to get her trademark scorpion kick in). The end of the finale sequence, with Rothrock climbing over and fighting across a massive truck as a cackling Ronny Yu (yes, the director of Bride of Chucky) drives it and Elizabeth Lee is supended between the cab and the trailer, was shot by Yuen Kwai. It’s an incredibly dangerous looking sequence again, and the camera and editing only accentuate that.
On the whole, you can’t fault the action here. Rothrock is firing on all cylinders, and she’s backed up by a talented crew of choreographers and stuntmen. The wheels come off only in a couple of brief instances of too obvious wire work, but otherwise, this very cheap movie from more than 30 years ago utterly shames anything Hollywood deigns to call action cinema today. On that level, it’s perhaps its star’s finest hour.
★★★★
I’ve said before that Eureka’s transfers of these films are never likely to be your go to disc for demonstrating how good your setup is. That’s true again, but again this is a spectacular image given the way these films have been treated in the past. Everything is sharp and detailed, colours are bright (it’s 1989) and black levels solid. What needs to be emphasised is the upgrade. To my knowledge, this film has only previously been released in the UK on a VHS that maimed the action sequences because it was in the wrong ratio and, in terms of picture quality, was a VHS. They may not be benchmark setting Blu-rays, but this transfer and Eureka’s work in this arena more generally, is revelatory.
A solid extras package arguably begins with the English dubbed international cut of the film. It’s a little longer (2 minutes) and I did sample it to see if Cynthia Rothrock does her own voice for it. She does not. Again, if you’re nostalgic for these dub tracks, go ahead, I personally can’t stand them. However, it will be worth watching the international cut for another info packed commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. The Theatrical cut also features a commentary, this one with Frank Djeng and Vincent Lyn. Djeng’s usual motormouthed style is present and correct, but he does take some time to slow down and really engage with his commentary partner and get some interesting details from Lyn.
Video extras begin with an interview with Cynthia Rothrock, which touch on a lot of aspects of the production over 16 minutes. She also sits for a 17 minute select scene commentary, which is also interesting, but given that the interview often focuses on the fight sequences, repeats quite a lot of information.
Mang Hoi’s interview is about 9 minutes, covering the story, casting Rothrock, and plenty of time on the action and the way the workload was shared between him and Yuen Kwai.
Add the usual trailers and a booklet (not supplied for review), with a contextualising essay from James Oliver, and you’ve got another release that martial arts fans need for their collection.
