A CITY CALLED DRAGON (1970)
Directed by: Larry Tu Chong-hsun
Starring: Hsu Feng, Shih Chun

Hsu Feng debuted in a small part in King Hu’s Dragon Inn and almost immediately Hu tapped her to star in A Touch of Zen alongside Shih Chun. But Zen was a massive production that seemed to drag on forever, so during the downtime Hsu Feng, Shih Chun, and most of the Zen cast and crew teamed up with Hu’s assistant director, Larry Tu Chong-hsun, to make A City Called Dragon. Hsu’s performance in this flick is so hardcore that it won her “Most Promising Newcomer” at the Golden Horse Awards…before A Touch of Zen even came out!

Hsu plays a rebel infiltrating Dragon City to get a MacGuffin (battle plans) which will help overthrow the Northern Manchus. Her contact gets beheaded by the Governor (played by Shih Chun, as the bad guy this time) who then locks down the city, leaving Hsu with three missions: find those plans, take righteous revenge, and don’t get murdered. That last one’s harder than it sounds because Dragon City is crawling with spies and assassins and they’re all hunting for her. Sporting as much intrigue as action, Hsu Feng is a righteous sword of holy vengeance in this shadowy flick that’s like what would happen if John LeCarre’ decided to put down his pen and pick up a sword.