Jackie Chan in America: how The Cannonball Run and The Big Brawl, Hong Kong martial arts star’s early Hollywood movies, persuaded him to turn focus back to home

Battle Creek Brawl (also called The Big Brawl) has martial arts scenes that are neatly choreographed and showcase Chan’s skills, but it wasn’t a box office hit

Chan had a small role in The Cannonball Run, but the focus was on its star, Burt Reynolds. ‘I knew If I stayed in the US, my career would be finished,’ he said

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Jackie Chan in a scene from Battle Creek Brawl (also called The Big Brawl). One of Chan’s earliest international films, it was a box office failure.

Published: 4:15am, 2 Jan 2022

Although it’s almost lost to film history, Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest studios was very active in international film production during the 1970s.

Spurred by the worldwide success of their Bruce Lee films, Golden Harvest moved into English language-productions such as Amsterdam Kill, which featured Robert Mitchum, and Night Games, a sex fantasy by French erotica specialist Roger Vadim. The films performed adequately, and the studio proved itself more adept at international co-production than local rival Shaw Brothers.

Golden Harvest’s international forays had a big effect on the career of Jackie Chan. Both it and Shaw Brothers wanted to sign Chan after his hit 1970s kung fu comedies Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, and a bidding war ensued. Chan would negotiate with Shaw Brothers in the morning and Golden Harvest in the afternoon, and each would top the other’s cash offer.

What finally sealed the deal for Golden Harvest was that company boss Raymond Chow Man-wai promised Chan that he would make him an international star.

Jackie Chan (left) and Raymond Chow celebrate his role in The Cannonball Run. Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

“Shaw Brothers offered me more money, but Golden Harvest told me they would make me a star in America,” Chan told this writer in an interview.