Angela Mao takes on evil princess in James Bond-inspired martial arts film with fight scenes by Sammo Hung

Filmmaker King Hu decided he wanted to make spy films set in ancient China after seeing Bond films, but his secret agents would be righteous, not amoral

The Fate of Lee Khan, about Han Chinese spies plotting against a lord of the Mongol dynasty ruling China, is one such film, and his most densely plotted work

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A still from King Hu’s 1973 film The Fate of Lee Khan, about a group of righteous spies in the Yuan dynasty era. Hu said he was inspired to make a spy film by the James Bond films.

Published: 5:15am, 16 Aug 2020Updated: 8:29pm, 16 Aug 2020

After watching James Bond films, the most popular franchise of the 1960s and early 1970s, wuxia filmmaker King Hu thought it would be interesting to make martial arts films about spies set in historical Chinese periods. He also wanted to make the spies righteous, rather than amoral like the Bond character.

Thus, in spite of their vastly different styles, Hu has said that “spy” films like The Fate of Lee Khan were partly motivated by Bond movies .

The Fate of Lee Khan, which Hu directed in 1973, features the most complex plotting of all his films, dealing with a group of Han spies who ensconce themselves in a rough-hewn frontier inn to steal a map from Lee Khan, a High Lord of the ruling Mongol Yuan dynasty.

The film features a plethora of female martial arts stars, including Hu regular Hsu Feng, the popular Angela Mao Ying, and Helen Ma Hoi-lun from The Deaf and Mute Heroine , as well as veteran actress Li Li-hua in a key role as the inn’s owner.

Hu’s period pieces were usually set during the Ming dynasty, so Lee Khan’s Yuan dynasty setting makes it unusual. The story takes place during the declining years of the Yuan, when the Mongol rulers were losing influence, political intrigue was rife, and banditry was common. In 1356, the Han rebel Chu Yuan-chang led an uprising and took control of Nanking, and battles were taking place between rebels and Yuan loyalists across China as the dynasty struggled to keep control.