''The Contract'' (Chinese: 賣身契) is a 1978 Hong Kong

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written, directed by and starring

Michael Hui Michael Hui Koon-man (born ; 3 September 1942) (also known as Mr Boo!) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, scriptwriter and director. He is the eldest of the four Hui brothers (together with Ricky, Sam, and Stanley) who were prominent figures in ...

. The film also co-stars Hui's brothers,

Samuel Hui Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantone ...

and

Ricky Hui Ricky Hui Kwun-ying (3 August 1946 – 8 November 2011) was a Hong Kong actor and singer. He along with his brothers, Michael and Sam, made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Ricky Hui Kun-ying was born 3 August ...

. It was very successful at the Hong Kong box office being the second-highest-grossing film there at the time.

Cast

as Sit Chi-man *

as Chiu Sai-kit *

as Sit Chi-ying *Tiffany Bao as Ms. Wang *Ellen Lau as Chu Ling-ling *Yeung Wai as Ms. Wang's eye-path assistant *Cheng Fu-hing as King Kong *Russell Cawthorne as Guru *Chan King-cheung as MTV chairman *Cheng Siu-ping as Mrs. Li *Kwong Kwan-ning as Mr. Kwong *Lee Pang-fei as Cat TV manager *Chiu Chun as MTV board of director *Fong Yue as Woman coming out of elevator *Huang Pa-ching as Mrs. Li *Man Sau as Man's mother *Pan Yung-sheng as Audience for alien show *Kwan Yan as Audience at magic show *Cheung Sek-Au as Audience at magic show *Johnny Koo as one of three bank robbers *Kam Tin-chue as MTV board of director *Si Lau-wa *Lau Cheun *Hoh Wan

Reception

''The Contract'' was a commercial success, earning HK$7,820,019 at the box office, making it the second highest-grossing films in Hong Kong at the time, behind only the Hui brothers' last film, '' The Private Eyes''. In ''The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997'', John Charles described ''The Contract'' as "totally disarming and one of The Hui's Brothers most consistently amusing efforts" while Stephen Teo in his book ''Hong Kong Cinema: the Extra Dimensions'' wrote "Michael Hui ended the decade with arguably his best film". The film was nominated for three Golden Horse Awards in 1978, and was Michael Hui's first and last nomination for a Golden Horse Award, until his nomination for Best Actor for his work in the 2016 film Godspeed at the

53rd Golden Horse Awards The 53rd Golden Horse Awards (Mandarin:第53屆金馬獎) took place on November 26, 2016, at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the awards honored the best fi ...

Accolades

Album

''The Contract'' is Sam Hui's fifth Cantopop album with the title track being the film's theme song. In Asia soundtrack has shifted 500,000 units.

Track listing

# "賣身契" # "舞伴" # "男兒漢" # "世事如棋" # "應該要自愛" # "人生的道路" # "學生哥" # "杯酒當歌" # "拜拜" # "相思萬千重" # "飲勝" # "父母恩" # "太空舞"（音樂）

References

External links

* 1978 films 1978 comedy films Hong Kong slapstick comedy films 1970s Cantonese-language films Golden Harvest films Films directed by Michael Hui Films about actors Films about television Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong 1970s Hong Kong films {{1970s-comedy-film-stub