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Richard James Havis

Kung fu and action comedies dominated Hong Kong’s comedy genre in the late 1970s and 80s, but the city’s film industry was also still making mainstream comedies at the time – and audiences loved them.
We take a deep dive into three crowd favourites.
Itchy Fingers (1979)
Hugely popular upon its release, this odd-couple comedy might feel a bit tame for modern viewers.
But director Leong Po-chih, a notable member of the Hong Kong New Wave, was a consummate craftsman. He delivers a well-paced romp that trades action and slapstick for a well-structured script, solid characterisations and some carefully designed physical gags.


“This comedy is slick and sparkles with smoothness,” wrote critic Mel Tobias when the film was released.
“It has a professional look and touch which distinguishes it from routine comedies. It features first-rate clowning without the excessive use of insane slapstick. Itchy Fingers can easily compete with any of the Hui Brothers comedies,” he added.
The story revolves around Tiny (Richard Ng Yiu-hon) and Biggie (Roy Chiao Hung), two childhood friends who have taken divergent paths in life – Tiny is a small-time criminal, while Biggie is a detective.
Although the two are on opposite sides of the law, they still manage to keep their friendship alive. When the famed “Star of the South” diamonds go missing, they decide to team up, find the loot and split the reward.

Much of the humour in this film consists of standard boyish antics, although the final third features the duo floating around in suits filled with helium in a James Bond-like sequence, and posing as Arab sheikhs to find the diamonds.
Pom Pom (1984)
While Cinema City’s Aces Go Places series ruled the 1980s box office with mad stunts, the relatively mild-mannered Pom Pom – whose title mimics the Cantonese sound of gunfire – reserves its action for a rollicking truck chase at the climax.
Until then, it operates as a situation comedy focusing on the physical and verbal repartee of two incompetent but ambitious policemen, the bumbling duo of Beethoven (John Sham Kin-fun) and Ah Chiu (Richard Ng). The crime story merely frames their humorous exchanges.
Produced by Sammo Hung Kam-bo’s Bo Ho Films and directed by Joe Cheung Tung-cho, Pom Pom capitalised on Sham and Ng’s popularity from Hung’s 1983 blockbuster Winners and Sinners, which featured them goofing around.


South China Morning Post critic Terry Boyce called the reunion a “sure-fire winner” and “probably the best that Hong Kong has produced in recent times”, praising the Sham-Ng dynamic and Hung’s solid backing.
Beethoven and Ah Chiu are ostensibly trailing a drug dealer for an incriminating ledger. However, they spend most of their time making a mess of things or leching after women with a vigour that would make even bawdy British comedian Benny Hill – whose presence on local TV influenced such films – blush.
Much of the plot is also hijacked by an unusual romance where Ah Chiu’s supervisor (Deanie Ip Tak-han) aggressively seduces him, rather than the other way around.
Brief, non-action cameos from film celebrities like Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, Wu Ma and Hung himself add sparkle to the pedestrian plot.
While less crude than the Wong Jing comedies that came later, Pom Pom suffers from the decade’s pervasive misogyny, including unsavoury rape jokes.

Sham later admitted to the Hong Kong Film Archive that he was embarrassed by the role: “Did I really want to play such silly and embarrassing roles as Beethoven? I don’t like my performance at all, but I knew that if I didn’t make blockbusters to make money, I wouldn’t be able to make the alternative films.”
Nevertheless, the film’s success spurred Sham, Hung and businessman Dickson Poon to form D&B Films. The sequel, The Return of Pom Pom, was the studio’s first production, paving the way for Sham to produce more intelligent features.
Where’s Officer Tuba? (1986)
Although the comedy scenes are a bit sluggish, the action in this D&B Films production is no-holds-barred, old-style kung fu and stunts.
The scene is set right at the start, with an opening that features some top-notch car stunts, including a character’s difficult leap through the windscreen of an oncoming car.
Directed by Philip Chan Yan-kin and Ricky Lau Koon-wai, the film stars Sammo Hung as a nerdy tuba player in a police band who is unknowingly used as a decoy in a drug bust. When Rambo Chow (David Chiang Da-wei), the detective leading the operation, is shot and killed, he makes Tuba promise to avenge him.


Trouble is, Tuba is more interested in romancing Joey Wong Cho-yin’s character, who has a crush on him. To make sure revenge is taken, Rambo comes back as a ghost and threatens to wreck his romance unless Tuba turns into a killer.
Cantopop star Jacky Cheung Hok-yau made his film acting debut here as a naive policeman who tries to help Tuba, and pulled it off like a veteran.
The action, choreographed by Hung and his team, is excellent, and the star plays up his bulky appearance to get some laughs – although his kung fu is powerful and uncompromising throughout.
The only issue is that the violence is often much too brutal for a comedy, even by the standards of Hong Kong cinema at the time.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook.


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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Jacky Cheung (left) and Sammo Hung in a still from Where’s Officer Tuba?, a popular Hong Kong comedy film from 1986.

Richard Ng (centre) in a still from Itchy Fingers (1979).

Richard Ng (centre) and John Sham (right) in a still from Pom Pom (1984).

3 Anthony Wong films from the early 1990s that show the Hong Kong actor’s wide range

Anthony Wong in a still from Full Contact. The Hong Kong actor’s restrained turn as a cowardly gangster brought realism to the otherwise comic book-style 1992 action film.

Anthony Wong (front) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Full Contact.

Anthony Wong in a still from 3 Days of a Blind Girl (1993).

Anthony Wong in a still from Rock N’ Roll Cop (1994).

How did Ann Hui bring Eileen Chang’s Love in a Fallen City and Eighteen Springs to life?

Chow Yun-fat (left) and Cora Miao in a still from Love in a Fallen City (1984), directed by Ann Hui.

(From right) Cora Miao and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Love in a Fallen City (1984).

Director Ann Hui at an interview with the SCMP in 1984. Photo: Yau Tin-kwai

Leon Lai (left) and Wu Chien-lien in a still from Eighteen Springs (1997).

Anita Mui in a still from Eighteen Springs.

How two of Benny Chan’s 2000s films bridged old-school stunts and modern Hong Kong action

Nicholas Tse in a still from Invisible Target (2007), directed by Benny Chan, whose 2000s films were a blend of classic stunts and modern action.

Benny Chan Muk-sing directed films such as A Moment of Romance (1990) and The White Storm (2013).

Leon Lai (left) and Ekin Cheng in a still from Heroic Duo (2003), directed by Benny Chan.

Jaycee Chan (left) in a still from Invisible Target.

 Shawn Yue (centre) in a still from Invisible Target.

Cecilia Cheung: Hong Kong actress, sex scandal victim and Chinese social media star

Cecilia Cheung at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2004. The actress’ personal life garnered a lot of attention in the 2000s, with tabloids covering scandals and her high-profile romantic life. Photo: SCMP

Cheung in 1999. Photo: Oliver Tsang

Cheung speaks after receiving the award for best new performer, as veteran actors Liza Wang and Danny Lee look on, at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. Photo: Martin Chan

Cheung and Nicholas Tse in 2001. Photo: Reuters

Cheung in a still from Lost in Time (2003), for which she won best actress at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Cheung and Tse at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011, the year they filed for divorce. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Cheung and Stephen Chow in a still from King of Comedy (1999). Her feature-film debut remains one of her most memorable roles. Photo: The Star Overseas

Cheung and her three sons. Photo: Weibo

Cheung in a photo she posted on her Weibo account in 2023. Photo: Weibo

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Itchy Fingers, Pom Pom and Where’s Officer Tuba? were mainstream films that shone amid the proliferation of kung fu and action comedies


Itchy Fingers, Pom Pom and Where’s Officer Tuba? were mainstream films that shone amid the proliferation of kung fu and action comedies.


3 Hong Kong comedy classics from the 1970s and 80s that became local favourites

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Itchy Fingers, Pom Pom and Where’s Officer Tuba? were mainstream films that shone amid the proliferation of kung fu and action comedies

Itchy Fingers (1979)

Itchy Fingers, Pom Pom and Where’s Officer Tuba? were mainstream films that shone amid the proliferation of kung fu and action comedies