Dir: Lee Tit
Scr: Luk Chung (aka Luk Wan-fung)
Prod: Luk Wan-fung
Prod Co: Seven Happiness
Cast: Ng Cho-fan, Lam Dan, Pak Yin, Lee Ching
1959 B&W D Beta Cantonese 89 min

Hong Kong detective films, especially those made in the 1950s and 1960s, belong to a genre that prompts dismissal today, largely because most films were haphazardly written. Luk Wan-fung's The Three Murderers is a rare exception. The film, which he scripted under the pseudonym Luk Chung, is an astute blend of mystery film, family drama and crime thriller, with a deft touch of psychology that, though rudimentary, testifies to the rising sophistication in Hong Kong popular culture. This is the story of a writer (veteran Ng Cho-fan in a flamboyant performance at once subtle and over the top) who, after divorced by his wife, channels his anger and psychosis into his writing. His life takes a turn stranger even than his fiction, as the wife (Pai Yin, as sophisticated as ever) returns with a new lover (Lee Ching, ever enigmatic), vying for their daughter's affection… Lee Tit directs with style and precision, all the more amazing considering that, in the same year, he also gave us The Legend of Purple Hairpin and Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom, both outstanding films.