John Law Ma

Directing

John Law Ma

Born 1938-11-04

John Law (born Nov 4, 1938) i a Hong Kong film director and screenwriter best known for his films of the 1970s. Law is credited with 10 films as an actor, 35 films as a director, 15 films as a writer and 7 films as a producer. In 1957, Law started his acting career in Hong Kong. Law first appeared in He Has Taken Him for Another, a 1957 Mandarin Comedy film directed by Li Han-Hsiang. Law also appeared in The Lady of Mystery, a 1957 Mandarin thriller film directed by Wa Hak-Ngai. Law wrote the script for the 1961 film The Search Of Loved One but by 1968 he had moved into directing and writing, directing his first film in this year entitled A Time for Reunion , a film which starred Alan Tang who would feature in many of his later films in the 1970s. In the 1970s, John began working under the renowned Hong Kong film studios, Shaw Studio, responsible for producing many of Hong Kong's classic martial arts film during this period. In 1976 John directed and wrote the script for The Girlie Bar, an adult film oriented drama featuring Chan Ping, Yau Fung, Lin Chen Chi and James Nam and Tony Liu. Similarly his film later that year Bruce Lee and I starred Betty Ting, Danny Lee, Yuen Cheung and Tony Liu. His 1977 romance film Orchid In The Rain, which also starred frequent star in his films, Alan Tang, Brigitte Lin also pushed boundaries in terms of intimacy on screen. He would however, direct several kung fu films, notably in 1979 the films Monkey Kung Fu and Five Super Fighters, and Boxer From The Temple in 1981. Boxer From The Temple was to be his last film as a director and under Shaw Studios. Law is credited with 10 films as an actor, 35 films as a director, 15 films as a writer and 7 films as a producer. [Wikipedia]

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Bruce Lee and I poster
4.3

A movie on the life of the renowned Bruce Lee, especially his relationship with his mistress.

Bruce Lee and I

1976

No artwork available
NR

shaw production

Young Outcasts

1980

Back Street poster
NR

Two rival street gangs from Kowloon go to war over turf and bar girls so as to dominate the area and maximize their takings; however things go from bad to worse as the girls start to get involved in the bloody feud.

Back Street

1973

Five Superfighters poster
6.8

Three young martial arts students and their teacher are beaten up badly by a wandering man who proclaims himself "a corrector of bad kung-fu." Determined to avenge their teacher and regain their honor, the three students all go their separate ways to find kung-fu masters who will take them as students.

Five Superfighters

1979

Black List poster
5.4

Two brothers, one wrongly accused of a crime, go on a mission of vengeance to find the men who framed him.

Black List

1972

Black List poster
5.4

Two brothers, one wrongly accused of a crime, go on a mission of vengeance to find the men who framed him.

Black List

1972

No artwork available
NR

hong kong film

姐姐的情人

1967

Monkey Kung Fu poster
7.0

A small-time crook goes in search of the other half of a wooden keepsake which will lead him to the legendary kung fu technique of the Gibbon Clan Fist.

Monkey Kung Fu

1979

Monkey Kung Fu poster
7.0

A small-time crook goes in search of the other half of a wooden keepsake which will lead him to the legendary kung fu technique of the Gibbon Clan Fist.

Monkey Kung Fu

1979

The Boxer from the Temple poster
6.7

Complex plots? This director didn't want them. Expensive, famous stars? Didn't need them. Glorious sets and costumes? He could take them or leave them. With his choreographer Hsu Hsia, John Lo Mar liked making lean, mean, fighting movies, and fans rejoiced. Here Wu Yuan-chin stars as "the Kid," a monk whose education in the aptly named "Crazy Lo Han Fist" finds him battling a cruel bandit's son and befriending an abused prostitute. From then on, it's one fight after another in another John Lo Mar martial arts marvel.

The Boxer from the Temple

1980

The Girlie Bar poster
4.0

A widower forces his three beautiful daughters to work in his seedy bar and must do what they are told no matter what. The film features Lin Chen-chi who had just starred in Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold.

The Girlie Bar

1976

The Crazy Bumpkins poster
7.0

A bittersweet comedy about a simple hick who arrives in the big city to seek his fortune, "The Crazy Bumpkins" is about Ah Niu, who leaves his native village to live with an uncle in Hong Kong, not realizing he is a crook. After taking on a hilarious series of illegal jobs with his uncle, he meets and falls for a single mother and decides to find some real work. However, bad luck and naivete soon conspire to keep him from true happiness.

The Crazy Bumpkins

1974

The Happy Trio poster
7.5

Following the lives of three downtrodden but resilient outcasts, John Lo Mar's gritty social drama paints a sense of realism rarely seen in Hon Kong movies. Li Ching - the best actress of her era - play Ah Chiao is a girl from a rural village stranded in the city, who befriends a kind-hearted transient and a retired actor. They are poor, but they are happy. Although her fortune changes for the better when she becomes a singer, she ultimately learns money can't buy happiness.

The Happy Trio

1975

The Chase poster
NR

Hong Kong movie

The Chase

1978

Impetuous Fire poster
NR

Hong Kong movie

Impetuous Fire

1972

Thief of Thieves poster
6.0

Boss Chai (Wang Sha) serves as the leader of a group of thieves and skilled pickpockets. One fateful night, his most prized possessions fall into the hands of his senior disciple, Hsiao Hsiang Kung (Ye Feng), a renowned master thief among thieves. The two embark on a series of escapades marked by intense rivalry, crafty betrayals, and occasional partnerships. Amid their adventures, Hsiao Hsiang Kung demonstrates that he is not just a thief but also a compassionate man, assisting the less fortunate and coming to the rescue of distressed damsels.

Thief of Thieves

1975

Maria poster
NR

Romantic tragedy based on John Lo Mar's story "Love Under the Cross".

Maria

1971

Maria poster
NR

Romantic tragedy based on John Lo Mar's story "Love Under the Cross".

Maria

1971

Bus Stop poster
8.0

A gangster thriller.

Bus Stop

1971

Bus Stop poster
8.0

A gangster thriller.

Bus Stop

1971

Big Times for the Crazy Bumpkins poster
NR

In 1974, John Lo Mar co-directed The Crazy Bumpkins, a new variation on the time-tested, beloved Cantonese comedy "Country Bumpkin" tradition. That proved such a success that a sequel, Return Of The Crazy Bumpkins, soon appeared. Now, the third time's the charm, as John Lo Mar gets to both write and direct the third slapstick-filled installment, once again starring Yeh Feng and Wang Sha as the hapless and hilarious yokel Ah Niu and his crafty city-slicker Uncle Chou.

Big Times for the Crazy Bumpkins

1976

Big Times for the Crazy Bumpkins poster
NR

In 1974, John Lo Mar co-directed The Crazy Bumpkins, a new variation on the time-tested, beloved Cantonese comedy "Country Bumpkin" tradition. That proved such a success that a sequel, Return Of The Crazy Bumpkins, soon appeared. Now, the third time's the charm, as John Lo Mar gets to both write and direct the third slapstick-filled installment, once again starring Yeh Feng and Wang Sha as the hapless and hilarious yokel Ah Niu and his crafty city-slicker Uncle Chou.

Big Times for the Crazy Bumpkins

1976

Return of the Crazy Bumpkins poster
NR

The sequel to John Lo Mar and Chang Yang's original film finds the naive village immigrant, Ah Niu (Yeh Feng) leaving jail to work and live with his crooked Uncle Chou (Wang Sha) again. But now, his girlfriend Ah Hua (Ai Ti) has become the wife of an abusive husband. As with the bittersweet original, Ah Niu -- with his kind heart but simple mind -- gets caught in various rackets and silly situations.

Return of the Crazy Bumpkins

1975

Red Light, Green Light poster
NR

A melodrama about a man from a rural shantytown who moves to urban Hong Kong to try and make it big.

Red Light, Green Light

1969