MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE (1989)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic)
Sound format: Mono

1930's Shanghai: A naive country bumpkin (Jackie Chan) is appointed leader of a shady criminal gang and helps an impoverished flower-seller (Gui Yalei) to convince her unwitting family that she's a wealthy society figure with important political connections. Hilarious complications ensue...

Eager to dispel the notion that he was little more than an action star, Jackie Chan directed and co-wrote this sumptuous 'homage' to Frank Capra's POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961), distinguished by its high profile cast and breathtaking cinematography by industry veteran Arthur Wong. Beloved by Hong Kong movie fans worldwide, the film's mixture of period detail, balletic action (among the best of Chan's career), uproarious farce and slapstick comedy is undeniably entertaining, but it's also something of a mixed bag. The emphasis on pratfalls and comic complications serves to dilute the basic storyline, and the running time is excessive. But as spectacle, it's hard to beat: The late and much-lamented Anita Mui emerges from Chan's shadow to camp it up as an old-fashioned chanteuse (get a load of her Busby Berkeley-esque musical number!); the fight scenes are timed and filmed with jaw-dropping style and precision; and Wong's camera swoops and dives over some of the most eye-popping production design this side of a Hollywood blockbuster. Also known as BLACK DRAGON, THE CANTON GODFATHER and MIRACLES.