Pituitary Hunter (1982) Year and director (merge candidate?)

[Chen Hung Lieh]

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

The current year 1982 is only an estimated one. According TMDB, the Singapore release was 1984-09-06 and I indeed found an advertisement in the Singapore newspaper archive for that day.

I also found an article in the Hong Kong newspaper archive (工商晚報, 1983-10-24, page 4) reporting the movie was shot to over the half so far, but the filming was slowed down due to conflicting schedules of the main actors Kwok Fung and Lau Kong who were working on a TV series at the same time. I think this is another good argument to change the year from 1982 to 1984.

Current director in the database is 陳地 Chan Ta who is credited in the movie and on the Tai Seng cover. However, according both HK article and SG advertisement, the director's name was 班騰 Ban Tang (the article quotes him several times and describes him as a disciple of T. F. Mou Tun-Fei):
https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml? ... ay_set=eng
He has only assistant director jobs in the database, maybe he changed his name to 陳地 when he began to direct movies himself? Possible merge candidate?

[J.J.Hayden]

I agree with you on the 1st part.

And the 2nd part seems promising too. Funnily enough, just the other day I finally figured out a Korean name mystery that was in a similar “two completely different names” situation, that was bugging me for years. But he went back and forth between names over the years, including on the same film in one case. What a pain

I had a quick look about but didn't find anything further to support you I'm afraid. The only thing was that there's no other Chan Ta films post 1982, but that's nothing solid. But the news articles you described make it seem more likely than not to me.

You've got my vote. Nice work.

[Chen Hung Lieh]

Yes, after a closer look, it seems risky to merge them just like that. HK film business can be quite nebulous at times.

A few points make me think the movie credits could be fake to some extent:

1) Chan Siu-Kwan (5) is credited as assistant director in the movie. So if the credits are not fake, BOTH he and Chan Ta started their career in 1983, then BOTH disappeared for nine years (!), and then BOTH reappeared and directed the movie Endless Temptation together in 1992!

2) Cinematographer Sung Kong started his career with a cinematographer's job in 1983, then took a break of five years, continued working in 1987 as assistant only (focus puller) until he eventually became cinematographer in 1992 again. Wouldn't it be more plausible if he started as an assistant in his very first movie?

I wonder if they just bought the rights and then put their name on it? IFD was not the only company that used this style of work. The original Film company, Golden Phoenix, didn't seem to have been overly successful in the past, with BRAIN THEFT as their only known movie, maybe they dissolved soon afterwards and then the copyrights were available for a few bucks.

Unfortunately, the SG advertisemnt and HK article doesn't reveal any other crew members than director and some actors. Here's the full translation of the HK news article:

The shooting of "Brain Thief" is halfway through and desperately needs a female midget.

Recently, the Hong Kong film industry has often seen the entry of capital from other industries, just like the newly established Golden Phoenix Film Company that was formed by two young garment manufacturers, Ng Kwan and Ng Fai, whose venture, "Brain Thief", started shooting a few weeks ago. The director, Ban Tang, was Mou Tun-Fei's assistant in the past, but now both master & disciple have left Shaw Brothers to pursue their own careers.

The two youthful actresses in the film, Leung Lam-Neng and Cheung King-Fong, were also former Shaw Brothers actresses who asked to terminate their contracts because they wanted to develope their careers in the outside world. According to director Ban Tang, Leung Lam-Neng and Cheung King-Fong's bold style of work is very suitable for the plot of the film. "Brain Thief" has been shot to over the half so far and the filming has been slowed down because the two main characters, Kwok Fung and Lau Kong, have to work on a TV drama series.

Director Ban Tang also said: In addition to Kwok Fung's conflicting schedules, there was also the need for a female midget to participate in the movie. Despite many contacts, no female midget could be invited to participate in the movie because they felt that appearing in front of the screen would be a bit awkward. However, since the plot requires a male and a female midget, it cannot be changed. Ban Tang said, "If we can't find a female midget for the movie, we will have to use only a male midget, at present we have already secured a male midget to co-star in the movie".

If no one objects, I will change the year to 1984 and add Ban Tang as a second director. As long as we don't have more information, I will not remove Chan Ta.

brain theft HK newspaper.jpg (163.68 KiB) Viewed 704 times

Brain Theft singapore ad.jpg (175.43 KiB) Viewed 704 times