Between September 5th and 9th, Films At The Gate will be showing free Chinese-language films in the open air in the heart of Boston’s Chinatown. This year’s program is focusing on Hong Kong comedy. While the screenings have not yet all been announced, I am told that that classic Hong Kong comedy will definitely be represented in Jackie Chan’s Project A and Sammo Hung’s Shanghai Express (aka Millionaires’ Express) - two true crowd-pleasers. There will also be films featuring favorites Sam Hui, Leung Sing-po, and Stephen Chow.

While most fans of Hong Kong cinema will be familiar with Project A, Millionaire’s Express may come as more of a pleasant surprise. Packed to the gills with a veritable who’s who of HK slapstick and action talent, including Sammo, Yuen Biao , Yasuaki Kurata, Rosamund Kwan, Lam Ching-ying, and Eric Tsang, Wu Ma, and Shaw Brothers stalwarts like Hou Hsiao and Fan Mei-sheng. There are also fight cameos by Shaw nogoodnik Wang Lung , Richard Norton, and Cynthia Rothrock during the insanely-long and impressive final brawl, as well as kid fu. Honestly, I’m only scratching the surface - almost every face in this film willbe familiar. Plot threads and pants are left a-flappin’ in the breeze as Sammo leads his army of firefighters and hookers against the greatest collection of banditos since Blazing Saddles.

Films will be preceded by shorts or documentaries including some locally made Chinatown videos, martial arts documentaries, and two rarely seen silent Chinese films from the 1920s, all of which are accompanied by English subtitles or summaries, in addition to a live martial arts demonstration. According to the website, takeout is welcome.

For more information, see below:
::: Films at the Gate