Hello; I'm new here. My arrival comes as part of an effort to wite an essay on the work of Godfrey Ho. Ho directed quite a number of films, most of which have been dumped on by critics as hack-work (and most of them are). He received notoriety in the late-1980s for a series of films that patched footage of bad Anglo actors wearing silly "ninja" costumes onto parts of uncompleted or poorly released HK & Phillipino films.

But circumstantial evidence is mounting that Ho
a) was actually of Korean, not Cantonese, descent;
b) was involved in the making of more than 200 films over a 30 year period, which would make him the most prolific filmmaker in history;
c) frequently produced his films"tongue-in-cheek", more as parodies than straight martial arts films;
d) helped develop several careers, including those of Phillip Ko, Hwang Jang Lee, Chang Ling, and the Liu Brothers;
e) lent his name to productions he was not involved in, while occasionally claiming credit for films he was not involved in;
f) directed under many more pseudonyms than he is known for (especially films directed in Korea - which indicates a possible political issue in his decision to move to Hong Kong and claim anscestry there).

These would seem to indicate that "Godfrey Ho" was a shared pseudonym - that is, that the name was also spurious, used by various directors engaged in hackwork - EXCEPT THAT:
1) There really is a Godfrey Ho, currently teaching film at a university in Hong Kong;
2) There are stylistic similarities (especially in the scripting & cinematography) that most of the films credited to him share;
3) Ho is credited as director for a small number of little known but highly impressive GOOD films (which would make no sense were the name used as a hack-pseudonym).

I am looking for any information that might help confirm - or refute - the implications here, so that I can write an essay that eitrher credits Ho as he deserves, or discredits his myth. Opinions are useful, but I also would like info and websites to visit.

Personally I am fascinated by Ho's work which is exciting, laughable, bewildering, and even heroic, by turns; and I suspect that a lot can be learned about how HK films were made in the "Old School" days, in any event.

I can only visit here once a week, so don't be surprised if it takes a while for me to post a thank you - but thank you advance.

A very good link... but in french :

http://www.nanarland.com/acteurs/Main.php?id_acteur=godfreyho

I believe the review compilation book VIDEOHOUND'S ASIAN DRAGON has an actual sidebar entry on Ho, his history and his films, probably a page or two in length. I'll need to verify this later tonight before confirming that, but I'm fairly certain that's where I read it as the book has many sidebars on key figures - both famous and infamous - in the Asian film industry. It's probably not worth buying the book - which is just average as a reference guide - just to get this information, so perhaps you might be able to find it at a library or bookstore and take from it what you need.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578591414/qid=1124114611/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-2051612-0285749?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Best of luck. It's the people who DON'T get all the attention that usually interest me the most!

Thank you very much to both Brian Thibodeau and Loulou!
Sources offered look proming; the links led to other links. I can get the french translated; but if I understand it (given the little french i know) a couple hints seem hidden at that site; that Ho was an actor; that at least one of his supposedly chinese films was actually Korean (which, geven the location shooting and ensemble cast, means that many of his other films from the same era, early-'80s, were also korean (which supports my suspicion as to his nationality); and that the "Ninka" movies of the late-'8os involved actual piracy, which led to a break with long-time Ho producer Joseph Lai (which suggests that he may not even have been involved the movies he is most notorious for!). But perhaps a translation will clear up things more.

By the way, one reason I 'm interested in Ho is because I've read critics/reviewers who write as if his career started with the Ninja films; but I clearly remember discussing a Ho film with a friend back in 1974. Also, his name appears on a film released as "Rivals of ythe Dragon, which could not have been made later than 1975 (d/t the costuming, the graininess of the film, visual allusions to Blaxpoitation films).

BTW, I'm still doing work on the photos I could download, but doesn't there seem to be at least a family resemblance between Ho and the actor "Elton Chong" who played in a series of kung-fu comedies directed by Ho (mostly under pseudonyms).

Well, at any rate, this is definitely a guy who loved making movies, whether he had the talent for it or not; and people with a passion for their art (any art) are always a fascination for me.

Again, thanks!

When we read Ho's actors interviews, we feel that Godfrey Ho doesn't like cinema as you said.....

http://www.nanarland.com/interview/

Read Bruce Baron's interview (a gweilo worked as a ninja...) :

http://www.nanarland.com/interview/inte ... ronvo&vo=1
(4 pages)

Max Thayer :
http://www.nanarland.com/interview/inte ... yervo&vo=1

Richard Harrisson : http://www.nanarland.com/interview/inte ... sonvo&vo=1

It's very intructive...

An important theme here, as me and calros would shed a lot of light about him very, very soon with hundred of updates in the database.

Don't take seriously most of materials about him in internet, as 99 % are fake. Don't know why, but some people tend to create things that they ignore...

Godfrey Ho....he's not a nicknake...he's real and he does teach cinema, and he's working right now as salesman of film rights for My Way Film Co. (I arranged some movie rights for Spain with him).

He only directed less than 10 movies in his life. The rest are mainly korean production directed by korean directors. I'll give you some examples.

Movies directed by Lee Hyeok-Su:

CHAMP VS. CHAMP - Twelve Gates of Hell (Ji-og 12gwanmun)
BUDDHIST FIST & TIGER CLAWS - Yong-ho's Cousins (Yongho-ui sachondeull)

Directed by Kim Jeong-Yong:

RIVALS OF THE SILVER FOX - The Five Barriers (Odaegwanmun)
SNAKE STRIKE'S BACK - Dae-bok's Martial Arts (Boggwon)
SHAOLIN DRUNK MONKEY - The Shaolin Chief Cook (Solimsa jubangjang)
ZOMBIE RIVAL - SUPER NINJA MASTER - The Undertaker in Sohwa Province (Sohwaseong jang-ui-sa)

Directed by Kim Si-Hyeon:

GOLDEN DRAGON, SILVER SNAKE- A Fight at Hong Kong Ranch (Ilso-ilgwon)
ENTER THE INVINCIBLE HERO - Secret Bandit of Black Leopard (Heugpyobigaeg)
SECRET NINJA, ROARING TIGER - Duel of In-ja Hall (Injamunsalsu)
MARTIAL MONKS OF SHAOLIN TEMPLE - Shaolin Yong-pal (Sorimsa Yong-pal-i)
5 PATTERN DRAGON CLAWS - Nwoi Fighting Technique (Noegwon)
NINJA TERMINATOR - The Uninvited Guest of the Star Ferry (Seutaperi-ui bulcheonggaek)

These are onle an advance.

Godfrey just cut to 90 min the movies (usually longer) and adapted the screenplay to avoid korean references. It's easy to spot in all them famous korean actors from 80's and korean language signs in modern action movies. All these movies are featured in the korean movie archive with official english title. IFD and Filmark just purchased a lot of korean, thai and taiwanese movies to be released worldwide, and tried to adapt them to international tastes. In the ninja movies made for IFD, Godfrey Ho (and other times Kao Fei) shot new footage (about 10-20 min per movie) featuring western actors like Bruce fontaine and Mark Houghton, and some non-professionals found in HK streets.
The Firmark team was composed by ex-Shaw Bros veterans like Tony Kong (CHiang Tao) or Tommy Cheng. Everything that links Godfrey Ho with Tomas Tang productions is a blatant LIE.

I hope all that info help you...There's a lot of work to do in the DB...

Everything that links Godfrey Ho with Tomas Tang productions is a blatant LIE.

If this is true, and judging from the amount of informed detail in your post, Dlopez, I have little reason to doubt it, then the Godfrey Ho entry in the book I recommended in my earlier post, Videohound’s Asian Dragon, should probably itself be regarded with some suspicion, because if I recall correctly, the main jist of the article is that Godfrey Ho IS Tomas Tang, but the evidence they provide seems at best circumstantial, even to someone like me who knows little about the Godfrey Ho timeline outside of personal patchwork favourites like ANGEL ENFORCERS.

Nonetheless, I'll try to put together a brief overview of the article, since Winjen5555 may not want to pay for the whole book just to get some information that, from the sounds of things, is highly suspect and probably repeats the usual urban legends about the man. I'll try to post that info soon.

By they way, does anyone know offhand if the film PRINCESS MADAM has any connection to Godfrey Ho. Can't remember if I heard this somewhere or if I'm just thinking about another, similar film.

And another by the way, has anyone every simply contacted Ho himself. I'd think that as a university teacher, he might be reasonably easy to access for an interview if he knew the interviewer was a serious as Winjen5555 sounds.

Well, he DON'T like to talk about the days at IFD....I know of first hand, but you can contact him at My Way Films Co. As I told you, he's the sales manager...

If that book says Ho is Tang...well, who wrote it used internet as main information...

Tomas Tang was Tomas Tang. Not any other person.

Tomas Tang founded Asso Asia with Joseph Lai in mid-seventies, first to produce kung fu movies shot in korea & Taiwan. Later found more profitable just dub the local product or adapt it. In 1982/83 the association is broken, and thus Filmark & IFD were formed.

who wrote it used internet as main information...

No doubt. That's just one of my (admittedly minor) problems with the Videohound guide, in addition to it's unecessary weight and it's tendency toward run-on plot synopses. But at this point, it's still one of the better reference books out there. I just wish it was more...portable!

Anyways, just for the sake of comparison, and NOT to cast doubt on any of Dlopez's comments, which I suspect are FAR closer to the truth, here's the basic gist of the Videohound Asian Dragon entry on Godfrey Ho. I'm paraphrasing here to avoid blatantly re-writing the entire article:

According to Ho (author doesn't expressly admit that he spoke with him), he hooked up with Tomas Tang in 79, when making movies with Joesph Lai at IFD Arts & Entertainment. Ho was an assistant to Ngai Hong at Shaw Bros., eventually becoming a full-time screenwriter and ultimately graduating to directing.

Ho then split to form Filmark and took Tang with him, and they made stuff like SHAOLIN vs. LAMA and NINJA HUNTERS, among others.

In 1986, Ho sold FIlmark to Tomas Tang, who made films in Taiwan and the Phillipines. Ho made films for BoHo in Hong Kong with Phillip Ko.

In 1993, Tomas Tang died in an apartment fire in Hong Kong.

The author of the article then claims that all of this might be bullshit since Ho's backstory and the details he has provided often change. He then provides this material as a sort-of "What We DO Know..." explainer:

According to the article, the young Ho sized up the Peking Opera Schools as a dying institution, and decided his future lies elsewhere.

Joesph Lai's dad buought a failed production company in 79, renamed it IFD (??) and put Joesph in charge. Ho "elbowed" his way into the company as fiance to Lai's sister, Betty Chan. They set up operations in Korea and Taiwan, where Ho made films like DRAGON ON FIRE, FURY IN SHAOLIN TEMPLE, RAIDERS OF THE WU TANG and other assorted product (some good, some bad). Betty Chan co-produced some of them, but more credit often gwent to Tomas Tang, one of an ever-growing list of pseudonyms (remember, this is according to the article, not ME).

In the back offices of IFD, Ho concocts his "secret technique" of filmmaking, which the book claims Ho denies to this day (true???). In essence, they find a treasure trove of finished and unfinished films at the company, film new footage to pad them out and sell them as "new," creating pen names galore and making films in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Phillipines, often using expired film stock to save money. Some of the films were all new, but most featured footage from other movies. Many of the credits on these films are supposedly fake.

The writer claimes Ho is more Jess Franco than Roger Corman when it comes to his extensive - though confusing - list of credits, which included films like SCORPION THUNDERBOLT and ROBOVAMPIRE.

Richard Harrison met Ho on the set of MARCO POLO. Ho hired him for a couple days work on a ninja flick, footage from which would turn up in over a dozen films.

Ho sold Filmark to Tang (himself, according to the author of the piece) as a tax dodge. When the "heat was off" Tang sold it back to Godfrey Ho, who then re-sold it to Tang a few years later. He ALSO sold it (or part of it??) to Malaysian producer/director Ratno Timoer, who also used the Tomas Tang credit. Timoer later learned that producer Wu Kuo-jen (Taiwan? Article doesn't say...) was also releasing Tomas Tang movies using the Filmark name and logo.

When the fire "killed" Tomas Tang, Ho allegedly faced a police investigation, but ultimately continued to make movies, including LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL, THUNDER NINJA KIDS and its sequels, and many others.

The article wraps up by pointing out the since Lai, Timoer and Wu also use a variety of pseudonyms, determining credit for EVERY FILM made by all four men (five if you include Tang), is virtually impossible.

So there you have it, in a nutshell. The article probably propagates more myths than it debunks, and if the suspicious "fire" scam is true, then I can see why Ho would be so reluctant to discuss much of his past, as certain people and films within his undoubtedly storied career could inadvertently point people in the direction of a potentially damaging and complicated bit of misdirection and tax evasion.

Again, I suspect dlopez and calros are planning on shedding more light on the subject in the future, so perhaps their information will help shed light on a man who, no matter how much he's told them so far, IS still rather elusive on certain topics.[/i]

I just picked up one of the orig. VHS versions of Vampire Raiders: Ninja Queen LOL , What a trip and I have several other films the the Devil Boxer etc..

dlopez and Brian are very right, I am going to have to track down somebody named Godfrey Ho and try to get some information direct...
The links from loulou were very useful; I had not explored the nanarland site carefully enough, but I am still piecing together what I am looking for.
I wish I could say I had a better idea of that; but, rather, I have more ideas, and they are still not coming together.
Here is a quote from the Richard Harrison interview at nanarland, concerning Harrison's first meeting w/ Ho on the set of Chang Cheh's Marco Polo: Refering to Ho as a "young boy,"
"I remembered him because he was so enthusiastic about one day becoming a director."
As I noted in a previous post, I remember discussing a Ho film with a friend as early as 1974; and I have a Ho film on DVD called "Rivals of the Dragon", in Chinese but filmed in the US no later than 1976! (Some of this film could have been made elsewhere, but there are a couple identifiable "location shots" that could not have been simply lifted from other movies.) According to his generally credited biography, Ho would have been about 29 when he met Harrison, and had already received director's credit on two films - hardly a "young boy" hoping to "become a director".
The information concerning the Korean films is creditable; if so, then what I have pegged as a "style" that recurs through these films may be more properly credited to the cinematographers. (The stylistic signature most obvious in these films is a depth-of-focus shot that films one half of the frame with a close up and one half with a far shot, but both in equal focus - a tricky shot to make, usually requiring a telephoto lens and/or a real craftsman.)
BTW, note the period-range of the making of Rivals of the Dragon; this would find Ho in the US almost at the same time as Lo Wei, making his "San Francisco Slaughter/ Karate Cop" film w/ Chuck Norris. Since the Marco Polo episode is fairly well-established, there's no reason to doubt that Ho would pick up work with Lo Wei as well, if this can be discovered; on the other hand Lo Wei was certainly not the kind of director to lend Ho a production unit for Rival's of the Dragon.
This story is getting cluttered with wierd coincidences and eyewitness reports of one "Godfrey Ho" after another, each physically real and yet each with just enough difference from the others as to make the very existence of the man suspect.
Could the Godfrey Ho making films w/ Cynthia Rothrock & Philip Ko really be the college instructor loosely connected with one of Korea's most controversial film "Men Behind the Sun"? Did Godfrey Ho wrap up the silly but technically proficient Rivals of the Dragon and rush back to Hong Kong to meet Richard Harrison at the airport, to work with him at Shaw Bros.? Could the Godfrey Ho who claims to have made ten films have lent his name (or had it "stolen") for credit on 190+ other films, HK, Phillipino, Taiwanese, South Korean - and a few made in the US for that "international" flavor?
In a previous post I said that one possibility is that "Godfrey Ho" is just a kind of trade name any director might use for an alias; but I didn't like that idea, because there seemed to be a real Godfrey Ho, with bio, photos, etc. Now the problem seems to be that several filmmakers do not "share" the name "Godfrey Ho" - rather, each IS somebody named Godfrey Ho.
There IS a Godfrey Ho who met Richard Harrison and directed him in the Ninja films; there IS a Godfrey Ho who re-edited a set of Korean films for Chinese-market distribution; there IS a Godfrey Ho who helped Phillip Ko succeed as, first, an actor, and then as producer -
They just don't happen to be the same Godfrey Ho.
well, this is either getting too serious, ortoo silly - which doesn't mean I want this topic closed. I've already found out a lot about how asian films are produced through this, and it remains an intriguing mystery.
Also, at some point I'm going to have to formulate exactly why I think "Godfrey Ho" films are so much fun to watch, even at their silliest - perhaps then most of all.
Again thanks to all contributing to this topic;you've been more helpful than I can say.

I'm glad to see someone is trying to dig into this - there is probably a masters thesis in it somewhere!!

Its this film that has been fascinating me:

dlopez wrote:Directed by Kim Jeong-Yong:

ZOMBIE RIVAL - SUPER NINJA MASTER - The Undertaker in Sohwa Province (Sohwaseong jang-ui-sa)

Charles Lee is listed as the director (date given as 1984) and then he recut it with more footage to make Zombie vs Ninja in 1987:

www.imdb.com/title/tt0094384/

That is only availble on VHS but Zombie Rival is available on DVD and Groundzero/Wu Tang released it as Gravedigger. They list it as starring Elton Chong and directed by Elton Chong (no suprise as their releases are iffy).

IMDB gives Elton Chong and Charles Lee as pseudonyms that Ho used (a writing credit for Benny Ho also traces back to him):

www.imdb.com/name/nm0387301/

Soooooo if a theory is that he may be a pseudonym for a lot of people it alos appears he used a lot fo pseudonyms. Could it be that all these pseudonyms are actually different people (or pseudonyms fo different people) and they have somehow all been lumped together under the name Godfrey Ho?

For example Charles Lee is the most common credit as director for Zombie Rivals - what if he was actually Charles Lee rather just being a Godfrey Ho pseudonym?

-------
The versions:

Zombie Rivals

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007 ... ntmagaz-21

Gravedigger

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000D0 ... enantmc-20

Zombie vs Ninja

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6301609 ... enantmc-20

---------------
Anyway I look forward to hearing how your investigations progress - good luck.

For french readers and (others), this the "INMDB : The Internet Ninja Movies Database", to know all the important things you must know on the theme !

You dreamt of it, nanarland did it !


http://www.nanarland.com/dossiers/ninjas/inmdb/inmdb1.htm

Charles Lee could be anybody at IFD team, Ho, Philip Ko or other person. But be aware that this person only added 15 min of new footage to a korean film.

Elton Chong is not Godfrey Ho. It's a famous korean actor called Jeong Jin-Hwa. He made a lot of kung fu movies and comedies in 80's.

All of that videohound biography is AN INVENTION. Each word of it. (I know personally WHO spreaded all these fake rumours in internet, a palestinian guy with great imagination). Filmark in Phillipinnes??????

Robovampire used a thai movie (In a few days I'll update the title and director) from 70's starring Sorapong Chatri, Nart Phunawai & Aphiradee Phawaphutanon. New scenes were shot by Tommy Cheng in 1986/87, with action direction by Tony Kong (Chiang Tao). Kong appeared along with some regulars.

I repeat, Godfrey Ho never did anything to Filmark. It's was Cheng and his team. Ho worked for IFD & Asso Asia. That's it.

All of that videohound biography is AN INVENTION. Each word of it. (I know personally WHO spreaded all these fake rumours in internet, a palestinian guy with great imagination). Filmark in Phillipinnes??????

I don't doubt that the Videohound bio is suspect, but I have to wonder just WHY someone, let alone someone in or from the Middle East, would make up ANY rumours concerning a cut-rate hack that few people outside of bad movie aficionados even know about, much less care about. What would be the point. At best, I could see just about anyone piecing that bio together based on the information that's simply been at hand up to now.

There are those of us out here who would love to know the true story of Godfrey Ho, and judging by your posts here, dlopez, you sound as informed as anyone, especially having dealt with the man, but I'm still not getting much of a picture from what you've submitted here.

Is the Godfrey Ho story really much simpler than everyone wants to believe? And if so, what would keep Ho from being more public about his career. We could be left thinking he's ashamed of the junk that bears his name, or simply proud of all the money he made off of it, or even genuinely keen to put it all behind him and move on. Nonetheless, it makes piecing together a history needlessly difficult, as I'm suer Winjen5555 is finding out.

Perhaps he should write a book:

"How I Made A Hundred Movies in Greater Asia and Never Lost A Dime" By Godfrey Ho.

I'd buy that.

As I noted in a previous post, I remember discussing a Ho film with a friend as early as 1974; and I have a Ho film on DVD called "Rivals of the Dragon", in Chinese but filmed in the US no later than 1976! (Some of this film could have been made elsewhere, but there are a couple identifiable "location shots" that could not have been simply lifted from other movies.) According to his generally credited biography, Ho would have been about 29 when he met Harrison, and had already received director's credit on two films - hardly a "young boy" hoping to "become a director".

Interesting but never heard of Ho working with Lo Wei. But, hey, some of the later Jackie Chan Lo Wei directed movies, are IN FACT korean movies with a real korean director behind the camera. This happens in 2 movies, and I don't remember right now the titles. Lo Wei served as coproduced with the korean co.

It's true that Ho met Richard Harrison in the old days working in Shaw Bros. But Rivals of the Dragon is not directed by him. He's not credited in the copy. Also, it has the aspect of, as happened to other IFD movies, to be an old HK production finished by other director some years later. This happened with Golden Ninja Warrior, where the use of a HK unfinished movie was to form a new ninja one, shooting new scenes with the original cast. I don't know of other IFD movies where they completed some unfinished materials. The regularly used completed movies.


The information concerning the Korean films is creditable; if so, then what I have pegged as a "style" that recurs through these films may be more properly credited to the cinematographers. (The stylistic signature most obvious in these films is a depth-of-focus shot that films one half of the frame with a close up and one half with a far shot, but both in equal focus - a tricky shot to make, usually requiring a telephoto lens and/or a real craftsman.)

Well, if you know the original directors of these korean kung fu movies, you can find al lot of recurrent styles. But thinking of all these as Godfrey Ho directed is crazy, as the style and appoach of the genre varies from director to director. Some more classics, some more comedy oriented, adn other just experimentals.


This story is getting cluttered with wierd coincidences and eyewitness reports of one "Godfrey Ho" after another, each physically real and yet each with just enough difference from the others as to make the very existence of the man suspect.
Could the Godfrey Ho making films w/ Cynthia Rothrock & Philip Ko really be the college instructor loosely connected with one of Korea's most controversial film "Men Behind the Sun"?

Men Behind the Sun is a taiwanese movie. I'm sure you mean the unofficial sequel Laboratory of the Devil shoot in China for Korean market. Yeah, he did not directed that one, either. He was just producer. MY Way needs HK movies for the films they distribute so Ho is the Choice nº 1. (This has been reported by korean producers working in this film)

But, YES, he directed the Cynthia Rothrock movies for Filmswell in their entirety. That's true.

Did Godfrey Ho wrap up the silly but technically proficient Rivals of the Dragon and rush back to Hong Kong to meet Richard Harrison at the airport, to work with him at Shaw Bros.? Could the Godfrey Ho who claims to have made ten films have lent his name (or had it "stolen") for credit on 190+ other films, HK, Phillipino, Taiwanese, South Korean - and a few made in the US for that "international" flavor?

Yes, he directed the inserts. But these are not so many (190???????). Let's make them 60-70 in a 10 years period. Not so many. The other movies with new inserts were made by other directors, like Kao Fei.



In a previous post I said that one possibility is that "Godfrey Ho" is just a kind of trade name any director might use for an alias; but I didn't like that idea, because there seemed to be a real Godfrey Ho, with bio, photos, etc. Now the problem seems to be that several filmmakers do not "share" the name "Godfrey Ho" - rather, each IS somebody named Godfrey Ho.
There IS a Godfrey Ho who met Richard Harrison and directed him in the Ninja films; there IS a Godfrey Ho who re-edited a set of Korean films for Chinese-market distribution; there IS a Godfrey Ho who helped Phillip Ko succeed as, first, an actor, and then as producer -

I don't agree with that. And that theory of various Godfrey Ho??????
There's only one. Who worked in Shaw's company (first seventies, very very young, still not director). Later as freelance (he directed that trash called Zen Kwan Do) (till later 70's) Later in Joseph Lai's IFD (till 88). And later in My Way Films Co./Filmswell (the same company) -till today). That's the real truth.

Two things.

One about this: I don't doubt that the Videohound bio is suspect, but I have to wonder just WHY someone, let alone someone in or from the Middle East, would make up ANY rumours concerning a cut-rate hack that few people outside of bad movie aficionados even know about, much less care about. What would be the point.

He's not in the Middle East right now. It's a kung fu fan who was an usual presence in KF movie forums. He commited the fatal error of steal information from a webpage from mine written in spanish, and he mixed up everything: filipinos, Ho, Tang and more. Don't know why he made all this. In their webpages, he said Dragon Lee was russian!!! and that he was dead!!!! (another data spreaded in internet webpages...) As I said, good imagination. Just a poor man with problems.

And 2.

Yes, eveything is as simple as sounds. If you ask Ho he will clarify everything to you. Is as simple as to call My Way Film Co and he will get the phone and answer to you. No mysteries.

BTW, he never, read NEVER, said he did not directed the movies with his name attached, ever the completely korean ones. He rewrote stories, directed the dubbing, altered the cuts, and in some cases mixed scenes from different kung fu movies making new ones (without shoot a single frame). I suspect (and this is the only data I can't say is 100% sure) some of the movies they used they never paid for them, or at least to do what they did. Maybe they purchased regional distribution rights and made a fortune selling internationally these movies, never crediting the real actors. Who were to know....

Just talk with the man. He's not hidden. I talked with him two days ago regarding the Shaolin vs Evil Dead rights to Spain (releasing in January here).

Just talk with the man. He's not hidden. I talked with him two days ago regarding the Shaolin vs Evil Dead rights to Spain (releasing in January here).

Just out of curiosity, dlopez. Do you work for a theatrical or DVD distribution company? I've always wondered what the cost would be to purchase the rights to older movies such as Ho's (though not Ho's in particular), or even how folks like you go about it. Is your company just screening the film in theatres or are you releasing it on DVD? If so, is there a different cost to do each thing?

Must be a cool business to be in. Probably wouldn't work so well in North America thanks to the glut of bootleg distributors like VideoAsia and Xenon killing the market for decent treatments of some of these classic "bad" movies, further altering and changing them in the process.

Just out of curiosity, dlopez. Do you work for a theatrical or DVD distribution company?

BINGO!

IFD don't have the theatrical rights anymore for these old kung fu movies. They sold rights for TV & dvd. Their 35 mm copies of all these went to the dust bin at the end of 80's.... Still in circulation for cinema screenings thru some distributors who still have copies...several of them in UK...

Yes, prices are different with cinema, dvd, & TV. You must pay for each separately. Also with language...if you need the english & cantonese audios, you must pay twice.

IFD give a lot of facilities if you buy them a pack, as I've done. Their 3 new movies and 10 old kung fu added for almost nothing. But they don't have widescreen anymore. Or chinese audio. They have starting to dub their movies in cantonese & mandarin for Cable TV, and you can still hear the english voices in the back.

Yeah, in the US, I think evebody goes to search for a good master from old 35 mm copies, and ex-rental VHS...

With that system they can release widescreen copies that the own companies don't have anymore (75% of them transfered their movies to betacam and destroyed the 35 mm prints in the 80's) but it's not legal, and most of times unwatchable....

Interesting but never heard of Ho working with Lo Wei. But, hey, some of the later Jackie Chan Lo Wei directed movies, are IN FACT korean movies with a real korean director behind the camera. This happens in 2 movies, and I don't remember right now the titles. Lo Wei served as coproduced with the korean co.

Those two films were Killer Meteors and To Kill With Intrigue. Lo's credit is on both as director; but Wang Yu is acknowledged to have helped with the direction in KM and Jackie has stated that he has directed chunks in To Kill With Intrigue. It is possible with Lo to have "farmed" out the job; though I always see him pretending to direct while paying attention to horse races. I also don't believe Ho worked with Lo (yes I wrote it just to rhyme.)

Now please continue with more Godfrey Ho information.

There is an old entry in the HKMDB which states that Fong Ho is an alias for Godfrey Ho.
http://www.hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mht ... ay_set=eng
This sounds very wrong to me, as this Fong Ho is credited elsewhere with directing a number of Taiwan swordplay films. Can anyone authoritatively confirm whether or not this Fong Ho is Godfrey Ho? (And if not, then the alias note for Fong Ho should be deleted.)

Fong Ho is not Godfrey Ho. That's part of the misinformation of some people regarding the Joseph Lai productions. In Phoenix the Ninja (a retitled Pearl Cheung swordsplay movie made in Taiwan and released worldwide by IFD) the credit goes to Fong Ho. Some people assumed this was an alias to Godfrey, just because the surname was also Ho.

I've seen also other credits like Alton Leung or Charles Lee credited to Ho. These are movies made post 88, so Godfrey was at that time making the femme fatale movies with George Lai (bro of Joseph) to enter in My Way at the start of 90's....so I think he did not have anything to do with them...

Alton Cheung and Charles Lee are pseudonyms for Kong Do, who was working in Thailand for IFD and Filmark at the time. Learned this from another kung fu forum years ago ago from a south east Asian movie expert.

Frank

I'm not at all a specialist of Godfrey Ho, Tomas Tang, etc.
But it can be interesting to notice that "Crocodile Fury", directed by "Ted Kingsbrook" and produced by Tomas Tang, is composed - for the totality of its crocodile sequences - of large extracts of the Thai movie "Krai Tong 2", starring Sorapong Chatri (Chatree). I have both films and I'm positive about that. So, Tomas Tang took movies from various Asian countries, not just Korea...
Both "Krai Tong" and "Krai Tong 2" starred Sorapong Chatree, and are available on VCD in Thailand. The sad fact being that the original movies are cropped in their video versions, and the prints in bad shape. To the contrary, the extracts of the second film, in "Crocodile Fury", are in Scope and brand new... A shame !!!

dlopez wrote:An important theme here, as me and calros would shed a lot of light about him very, very soon with hundred of updates in the database.

He only directed less than 10 movies in his life. The rest are mainly korean production directed by korean directors. I'll give you some examples.

Movies directed by Lee Hyeok-Su:
.........................

My mind is boggling.
Do you mean that you and calros have stacks of information like this, and are preparing to add the data to hkmdb ? Wow.

dlopez wrote:Everything that links Godfrey Ho with Tomas Tang productions is a blatant LIE.

Please clarify what the lie is.
If you mean stuff written on the internet, then it could well be.
However, I have seen at least a few films which show Tomas Tang listed as producer and Godfrey Ho as director. In these cases, are you asserting that Tang falsely included Ho's name in the credits ?

In these cases, are you asserting that Tang falsely included Ho's name in the credits ?

To tell you the truth nobody will really know. Tomas Tang put his name on all types of Thai and Korean movies which take up most of his filmography that weren't directed nor produced by him and the new footage shot by Kong Do edited in with the Thai old footage. I don't even think he produced his movies or had anything to do with their productions. They were left to Kong and the crew to do. He just put his name on it because he owned Filmark International. Maybe Tang directed and produced his Filmark movies made in Taiwan but he didn't do anything abroad except for the coproductions he made in Korea. I'm just guessing I'm probably wrong, but what the heck. But it looks like he wasn't involved in 90% of the movies released with his name.

Frank

As a Korean moviegoer in 80's, I believe that dlopez's infomation is quite correct. Elton Cheong is Jung, Jin-hwa and not Godfrey Ho. Elton is a locally well-known actioner and had very productive movie career in Korea. He never worked with foreign actors and/or directors as far as I know.

For example, the movie "Shaolin drunken monkey" is originally the "Chef of Shaolin (Solimsa Jubangjang in Korean) which is also arguably directed by Godfrey Ho, but originally and definitely directed by Jung-yong Kim. The US-release version is quite messy and its cut-scenes are all complicatedly relocated in order to appear different from the original Korean version. The oeuvre of Godfrey Ho is to make any Asian movie sellable with a few touch of any kind, and that is what we are currently experiencing some confusion about his identification.

It is more or less appropriate to take Godfrey Ho as a John Doe for asian film marketeer who crookedly monopolized the release and distribution rights of asian low-profile action films to North America because other than US and Canada, the name Godfrey Ho associated with Asian action movies is rarely found elsewhere, and it is hardly believable that Ho Chih-Chiang, the assistant director of Chang Cheh, has single-handedly manipulated all these crop-and-paste operation for such a long time in a wide basis. The name Godfrey Ho is sometimes believed to be a fictitious person who has a close connection to GH (Golden Harvest or Godfrey Ho or whatever!!!?) which had a wide-spread impact on film marketing for Chinese immigrants after the collapse of Shaw studio.


I will attach a recent photo of Elton Cheong who is currently owning a good restaurant in Korea. Reportedly, he is sometimes engaging in Korean local TV series. I am not sure if he knows he is known as Elton Cheong among foreign fans, because during the 80's, Korean actors rarely used his/her own authenticated English names.