Richard Loo Movies

This videocassette consists of "The Secret Jade of Kuan Yin," an episode from the weekly Hardy Boys TV series (1977-78). While snorkeling, teenaged detectives Joe and Frank Hardy (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson) come across a jade statuette. Before long, the boys discover that the artifact was stolen by an extortionist. It all ties in with a plan to gain a mob stranglehold on the city's Chinese community. Rosalind Chao, Richard Loo and Richard Lee Sung co-star in this 48-minute adventure, which originally aired May 15, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dana Wynter guest stars as Alexandria, a former sweetheart of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr. Now that Alexandria has returned to San Francisco, the Chief is anxious to rekindle their romance. Alas, the course of true love is destined not to run smoothly: Alexandria happens to be a professional thief--and Ironside knows all too well that she is currently planning to swipe an ancient Chinese statue left in his care. This episode features the original composition "December Song", which like so many other incidental themes heard on Ironside was written by Marty and David Paich and performed by Carol Carmichael. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Evidently, this episode of Bewitched was scripted by Lila Garrett and Bernie Kahn before the "birth" of Samantha's son Adam, but not filmed until afterward; as a result, the action is framed in the form of a flashback. Darrin recalls how he was cloned by Endora so that he could spend time with his pregnant wife Samantha while simultaneously attending a business conference in Japan. Richard Loo, the "heavy" in many a World War II propaganda film, is here cast as Mr. Tanaka. "Samantha's Better Halves" first aired on January 1, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve McQueen received his only Academy Award nomination for his performance in this epic-scale war drama, based on the novel by Richard McKenna. In 1926, as China teeters on the edge of political revolution in the midst of a civil war, the USS San Pablo, is ordered to patrol the Yangtze River to represent and protect American interests. While the San Pablo may be an American ship, much of the labor is actually performed by Chinese locals willing to work for American money, while stern but inexperienced commanding officer Captain Collins (Richard Crenna) frequently drills his charges, unsure what else to do. A machinist's mate with just under a decade of navy service behind him, Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) is assigned to the San Pablo and immediately makes enemies among the crew -- he prefers to do his own work rather than farm it out to others, and the one Chinese man who works by his side, Po Han (Mako), is treated as an apprentice rather than a servant. Holman also falls in love with an idealistic American missionary (Candice Bergen), while his shipmate Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls for a Chinese girl and - with marriage plans in mind - kidnaps her to prevent her from being auctioned off. As Holman's methods and attitudes continue to anger his comrades, they find themselves increasingly at odds with the Chinese, especially after Frenchy's girlfriend becomes pregnant and Po Han is captured by revolutionary forces and branded a traitor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Juli Eng (Irene Tsu) travels from San Francisco to Hong Kong to claim the cache of precious diamonds left to her by her grandfather. Alas, the gems are missing, so Juli returns to America and asks Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to help her track them down. Eventually, the identity of the thief, Ralph Iverson (Jerry Oddo), is revealed--but by this time Iverson has been murdered, and poor Juli has been charged with the crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Very freely based upon the book by Thomas DeQuincey, Confessions of an Opium Eater is set in San Francisco during the Tong Wars of the 1800s. Lotus is one of a group of women kidnapped from China and brought to the United States, where they are to be traded in exchange for precious opium. Fortunately, Lotus and her compatriots are rescued by mysterious benefactors and are spirited away. Soon after, DeQuincey sneaks into Chinatown and contacts a merchant by the name of Chin Foon. Both men share the mark of the Moon Serpent, signifying that they work for the enigmatic Ling Tang, who is the mastermind behind the human auctions. Foon instructs DeQuincey to locate Lotus. He finds her but tries to escape with her, rather than handing her over to Foon. His treachery is discovered, and he admits that he is working for both sides in the Tong conflict. He escapes and, stumbling through the bowels of Chinatown, discovers many other bizarre secrets. He also learns that another of Tang’s employees, Ruby Low, is not as loyal as supposed. DeQuincey continues prowling around Chinatown; obviously, he has some sort of plan in mind – but what is it? And who is he really working for? ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

The actors do the best they can with this undistinguished wartime melodrama about a group of women caught in New Guinea just when the Japanese are taking over Indonesia and its contiguous islands in 1942. The women range from an ornithologist, to a nurse, to a thief, and a waitress, all captured and put into a Japanese prison camp. But the women manage to escape, though not all survive, and later on they encounter a double-dealing plantation owner (Cesar Romero) who unknown to them, is collaborating with the Japanese and plans on sending them back to their captors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bart (Jack Garner) offers a helping hand to farmer Henry Albright (John Qualen), who wants to start a gold mining company. Briefly putting his gambling activities on the back burner, Bart goes into the stockbroking business, issuing certificates for Albright's mine in a frontier "Chinatown" district. As usual, however, things go awry for Mr. Maverick, and before long the only thing he is brokering is a heap of trouble. The great Asian character actor Richard Loo plays a key role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Quiet American was the first major American-financed film to touch upon the powder-keg situation in Vietnam (still referred to as Indochina in 1958). Audie Murphy plays an enigmatic American who comes to Saigon, ostensibly on an economic mission. He meets an embittered journalist (Michael Redgrave) who is living with an Indochinese girl (Giorgia Moll). The American falls for the girl and promises to marry her. In retaliation, the reporter tells the communists that the American GI's economist stance is a cover, and that he is actually selling munitions to non-communist troops. Graham Greene had intended his novel The Quiet American to be an attack against American influence in Southeast Asia. Producer/director/adapter Joseph L. Mankiewicz would have none of that, so he changed the ending into a pro-Yankee tract -- thereby killing any impact the film might have had. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of two Clark Gable films produced by 20th Century-Fox, Soldier of Fortune casts Gable as an American mercenary, running a successful smuggling operation in and out of Hong Kong. Gable is hired by Susan Hayward, who hopes to locate her missing husband, photographer Gene Barry. Upon discovering that Barry is being held by the Communists somewhere on the Chinese mainland, Gable risks his neck to rescue the man. Along the way, he falls in love with Hayward, which may or may not compromise his dedication to saving Barry's neck. Filmed largely on location, Soldier of Fortune deserves to be seen in its original CinemaScope form--or, at the very least, in the "letterboxed" version recently made available to cable television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced and directed by the prestigious Frank Lloyd, The Shanghai Story was promoted as a "class" production by the bread-and-butter firm of Republic Pictures. The film takes place in the eponymous far-eastern metropolis (courtesy of the Republic backlot), where Communist police chief Colonel Zorek (Marvin Miller) hopes to trap an American spy. Zorek rounds up the usual suspects and sequesters them in a seedy hotel. Could the spy be Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien), a cynical doctor? Is it munitions profiteer Ricki Dolmine (Barry Kelley)? Perhaps it's two-fisted mercenary seaman Knuckles Greer (Richard Jaeckel). Orrrrrrr, maybe it's the mysterious Rita King (Ruth Roman), who is inexplicably given permission to come and go as she pleases by the otherwise intractable Zorek. True to form, this Republic A-picture resolves its problems with a final reel of good old B-flick action and violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1954 Martin-and-Lewis romp Living It Up is an amusing remake of the 1937 comedy classic Nothing Sacred. More specifically, it is the film version of the Broadway musical Hazel Flagg, which was based on Nothing Sacred. The heroine of the original undergoes a sex change to become feckless Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis), who is led to believe that he's dying of radiation poisoning. Manhattan newspaperwoman Wally Cook (Janet Leigh), hoping to improve circulation of her paper, convinces her boss, Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), to fete Homer as a hero with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Homer learns from local doctor Steve (Dean Martin) that he isn't dying at all. But Steve talks Homer into taking advantage of the celebrity treatment bestowed on him by Wally, and a good time is had by all -- until medical specialist Dr. Egelhofer (Sig Rumann) insists upon examining Homer. Highlights include a hilarious bit at Yankee Stadium, and an energetic jitterbug number featuring Jerry Lewis and Sheree North. The handful of songs retained from Hazel Flagg include "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In late 1944, an American guerilla unit led by Capt. Matt Reardon (Edmond O'Brien) learns that a Japanese plane carrying Admiral Amara (Philip Ahn) has crashed in China, in warlord-held territory. Reardon and his men are placed under the command of Naval Intelligence officer Commander Bert Thompson (Barry Sullivan) and sent on a mission to ransom Amara -- who is not only the head of Japanese naval intelligence, but also one of the few ranking officers in the Japanese high command known to have questioned the wisdom of continuing the war -- treat his injuries, and bring him back into American hands. Apart from the instant dislike that Reardon takes to Thompson -- a staff officer with no jungle combat experience, who has spent most of the war working in diplomatic circles -- the mission is complicated by the large amount of emergency surgical gear, plus the doctor and his aides that Reardon has to get alive through the jungle, and this is made even worse by the fact that one of them is his surgical nurse, a woman (Jocelyn Brando). When Wu King (Leon Askin), the warlord with whom they're dealing, proves to be less than trustworthy, Reardon and Thompson have to come up with a way of getting past his larcenous nature and getting Amara out of China before the Japanese soldiers sent to rescue him arrive. In the end, the two officers discover that, though they may have gotten to this place by very different paths, they have the same goal -- and each is prepared to go as far as the other to see it through. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide