''The Terror of the Tongs'' is a 1961 British

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and als ...

and starring

Geoffrey Toone Geoffrey Toone (15 November 1910 – 1 June 2005) was an English character actor and former matinee idol, born in Ireland. Most of his film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead ...

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

and

Yvonne Monlaur Yvonne Monlaur (born Yvonne-Thérèse-Marie-Camille Bédat de Monlaur; 15 December 1939 – 18 April 2017) was a French film actress of the late 1950s and 1960s best known for her roles in the Hammer horror films. Early years Monlaur was born ...

Plot

In the year of 1910,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

members of the secret Red Dragon Tong

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activit ...

protect their identities by murdering Helena Sale, the daughter of Captain Jackson Sale, a British sea officer who vows revenge and defies the spread of fear created by the tongs. Helped by a mysterious beggar and a young serving girl named Lee, Sale discovers there is an inside traitor who has been giving vital information to the tongs, thus making them one step ahead of Sale's findings...

Cast

as Chung King, Leader of the Red Dragon Tong's Hong Kong division and the primary antagonist. *

as Captain Jackson Sale, a leading figure in the colony and primary protagonist whose daughter is murdered by the tongs. *

as Lee, a mixed-race serving girl and Sale's love interest. *

Marne Maitland James Marne Kumar Maitland (18 December 1914 – March 1992) was an Anglo-Indian character actor in films and television programmes. Biography Maitland was born in Calcutta, and educated at Bedales School before going up to Magdalene College, ...

as the Beggar, an agent of an underground movement against the tongs. *

Brian Worth Brian Worth (30 July 1914 – 25 August 1978) was an English actor, known for '' Scrooge'' (1951), ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951) and ''An Inspector Calls'' (1954). He died on 25 August 1978 aged 64. Educated in Britain and America, ...

as District Commissioner Harcourt. *

Ewen Solon Peter Ewen Solon (7 September 1917 – 7 July 1985) was a New Zealand-born actor, who worked extensively in both the United Kingdom and Australia. At the outbreak of World War II, Solon became a member of the First Echelon, 2nd NZEF that saw ...

as Tang How, Tong Leader's Aide and Chung King's right-hand man. *

Roger Delgado Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973) was a British actor. He played many roles on television, radio and in films, and had "a long history of playing minor villains" before becoming ...

as Tang Hao, tong enforcer. *

Richard Leech Richard Leeper McClelland (24 November 1922 – 24 March 2004), known professionally as Richard Leech, was an Irish actor. Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Isabella Frances (Leeper) and Herbert Saunderson McCl ...

as Inspector Bob Dean. *

Charles Lloyd-Pack Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor. Life and career Lloyd-Pack was born at Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He was seen in several horror films produced by th ...

as Dr. Fu Chao, tong member who murders people mainly by giving then lethal injections. *

Marie Burke Marie Burke (born Marie Rosa Altfuldisch, later Holt, 18 October 189421 March 1988) was an English actress of stage, cinema and television. She appeared in over 40 films between 1917 and 1971, and appeared in TV series between 1953 and 1969. B ...

as Maya, a friend of Captain Sale. * Barbara Brown as Helena Sale. Captain Sale's daughter who is murdered by the tongs. *

Burt Kwouk Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Ma ...

as Mr. Ming, a diplomat carrying important documents concerning the tongs.

Production

''The Terror of the Tongs'' was quickly shot within the months of April and May 1960. The film is a quasi-remake of Hammer's 1959 film ''

The Stranglers of Bombay ''The Stranglers of Bombay'' is a 1959 British adventure horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Films dealing with the British East India Company's investigation of the cult of Thuggee stranglers in the 1830s. The film stars Guy Rolfe ...

''. The setting is changed to Hong Kong in 1910 from India in the 19th century but the basic plot of a middle-aged, yet youthful hero attempting to uncover the crimes of a secret sect in a British colony, being captured by the sect, and later released, having a personal stake in the outcome, finding that there is an inside villain, and losing friends or family are all there. The film is notable in that is the first Hammer horror film to afford Christopher Lee top billing. Lee also reported to work on the film after a vacation in Northern Italy with a deep tan, which was problematic for the make-up department since his character was supposed to have very pale skin. Lee later said in interviews that the make-up to make him appear Chinese in this movie was the most uncomfortable make-up he had had to endure up to that time.

Critical reception

''The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films'' wrote of the film: "''The Terror of the Tongs'', perhaps thankfully a rarely-seen film, remains resolutely undistinguished in almost every department." A tie-in to the film written by Jimmy Sangster and based upon his screenplay was published by Digit Books in 1961.

Cultural references

On the film's opening matinee showing at a Picture House in Sauchiehall Street Glasgow, a crowd of rowdy teenagers and young adults both male and female ran down the street shouting "tongs" causing a melee in which the police had to be called. To this day in Glasgow gang culture the cry of "tongs ya bass" can often be heard wherever youths come together to fight in a show of territorial loyalty.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terror Of The Tongs, The 1961 films 1960s historical adventure films 1960s crime thriller films British historical adventure films British crime thriller films Films directed by Anthony Bushell Films scored by James Bernard Films set in 1910 Films set in Hong Kong Hammer Film Productions films Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster 1960s English-language films 1960s British films