Giant of Casino (1981) title, year

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Giant of Casino (1981) title, year

Postby Chen Hung Lieh » Fri Mar 31, 2023 11:12 am

https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml? ... ay_set=eng

The current year 1981 is consistent with the HK release date, but I don't know the exact Taiwan release date. Several sources are hinting to 1980:

1) According TFAI it is from 1980:
http://fmdb.tfai.org.tw/filmmaker/content.php?id=631

2) This blog shows a Taiwanese newspaper advertisement described to be from 1980:
http://suling213.blogspot.com/2013/02/blog-post.html

3) Liu Cheng-Chien won the Golden Horse Film Award for the best Adapted Screenplay in 1980.


----

Current main titles:
賭王千上千
The Giant of Casino

I was chatting with yukabacera about the title and we both think they belong to the HK version and should therefore be moved to the aliases. Like yukabacera, I would vote to replace the english one with "A City of Vengeance", if no one else objects.

But the question remains how to replace the Chinese title?
賭城風雲 according the poster, or 賭國仇城 according Taiwan newspaper?
Even though the newspaper might name an earlier title, it is still a newspaper only, which is why I would vote for the poster title for the time being. Any opinions? Or better, more information/sources?

This are the only sources I know:
World Video tape (Cantonese dubbed): 賭王千上千 / The Giant of Casino
Hong Kong Newspaper advertisement: 賭王千上千
Mainland tape/vcd: Duel in Gambling Den / 賭城風雲 (looks inserted/laid over the original title)
Taiwan newspaper advertisement: 賭國仇城 (like the adapted novel)
Taiwan poster: A City of Vangean [sic] / 賭城風雲
Chinatown vhs cover (Pan-Asia or Rainbow, unknown content): A City of Vangean [sic]
TFAI website: 賭城風雲 / 賭國仇城 / A City of Vengeance
Spanish tape on-screen title: A City of Vangeance
Chen Hung Lieh
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Re: Giant of Casino (1981) title, year

Postby yukabacera » Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:22 am

Chen Hung Lieh wrote:Even though the newspaper might name an earlier title, it is still a newspaper only, which is why I would vote for the poster title for the time being. Any opinions? Or better, more information/sources?

Thanks for opening this topic. I spent some time looking into it more, and here's what I was able to find. I thought 賭城風雲 might be a re-issue title, just based on the design of the poster, and it seems like my hunch was correct: the Taiwan Cinema database records that title with a cast and crew that match our movie, but with 1983 as the year: https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/Film/ ... tUrl=25191

Contemporary Taiwanese sources also note that a movie entitled 賭國仇城 and directed by Chen Chun-liang was released "between August 1979 to June 1980" (so it must be 1980 at the latest, as you pointed out.) I even managed to find a partial reproduction of the poster in an article about the Golden Horse Awards:

Image

The goldenhorse.org.tw website also gives the title as 賭國仇城 (with no English title given.)

I think this is sufficient proof that 賭國仇城 must be the original title. So, my vote definitely goes to 賭國仇城 / A City of Vengeance.
yukabacera
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Re: Giant of Casino (1981) title, year

Postby Chen Hung Lieh » Mon Apr 03, 2023 9:34 pm

Great work, thanks yukabacera. I see this poster for the first time now :shock:
I still could kick myself for losing the ebay auction of that Chinatown "Vangean" tape years ago, I can't remember its Chinese title anymore. If 賭國仇城, then it might have been the only version with the original on-screen title.

I have changed the title into 賭國仇城 / A City of Vengeance and the year into 1980.
Chen Hung Lieh
HKMDB Editor
 
Posts: 261
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 12:58 pm
Location: Germany


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