Stunts (response to Jing Wu Men in previous boards)

I knew about Jackie Chan doubling Riki Hoshimoto for that long fall following Bruce Lee's jumping side kick on his chest. If you look carefully in the shot of the Jing-Wu school after Lee got his revenge in the Bushido school following the funeral invasion by Wei Ping-Ao, you'll see a man dressed in grey sparring against a girl; the guy there is Jackie Chan, and you get a clearer view of him a bit later on, but bear in mind that he had yet to have his eye-opening cosmetic surgery (which didn't happen until 1976), so he has very slit eyes in that scene.

Other people to look out for are Yuen Wah making a cameo at the park gate taunting Bruce Lee (Wah also doubled Bruce Lee for the two flips), and Lam Ching-Ying as the Japanese fighter using the broom as a weapon during Lee's final attack on the school. The most surprising small appearance is from American comedian Steve Martin as one of the hoods outside the Jing-Wu School gates after Lee has unleashed his final vengeance on the Bushido school.

I agree with Hong Kong expert Bey Logan that I don't think Bruce would have included the scene where his character goes unarmed against a guy armed with a katana had he had more control over the content of the final movie. He wanted realism, and this sort of thing wasn't very realistic (it even looks a little fake and staged in comparison to the rest of the action), not to mention a very dangerous situation! Those katanas were known to be so sharp that a well-folded blade could cut through stone!

This movie still contains some of the best martial arts action in Lee's short action career (he was once a James Dean-like child star who played rebellious roles — as far as I know none of these earlier movies got a release in the West).

Anthony