THE ORPHAN
Ren Hai Gu Hong/Yen Hoi Koo Hoong (1960)

For the first time Bruce played the lead in a film. His character is named Ah Wun. Yen Hoi Koo Hoong means "the lone goose in the sea of faces" - the goose being a symbol for a drifter. This was also the title of the Auyeung Tin book on which the screenplay was based. An Eastman colour version of the film exists, but this was never shown. The film was directed by Lee San Fung, and the cast included Ng Choh Faan, Baak Yin, Lee Paang Fei and Go Liu Chuen.

The plot concerned Hong Kong street gangs. This was a hit, and remains the best-known of Bruce's childhood films. He looks as though he had just emerged from a James Dean film. His performance so impressed Hong Kong movie director and film critic Chang Cheh that he tried to have his studio sign on Bruce, only to find that the young actor had already left for the US. (Click here for an article written by Chang Cheh, in which he mentions Bruce and his impact on HK films.)

Unfortunately the film does not seem to be for sale anywhere. At least not on video. One can buy the book from Noel B. Caros Productions in Singapore or from Mona Books in the UK though: click here for more info. The collectible edition contains photos of Bruce and 2 essays.

I am indebted to an article in the June 2000 Bruce Lee magazine for some of this info

THE REST

Bruce's first HK film was The Birth of Mankind, which also featured his lifelong friend, Unicorn Chan. Bruce played a street kid fighting with a shoeshine boy (Chan). In My Son, Ah Cheun, Bruce acted under the Chinese name Lee Siu Lung - Lee Little Dragon - for the fist time. This is the name which was to become a household one in Asia. In this film too he played a streetkid.

The data below is from the Internet Movie Database. I think the dates may be suspect. Bruce made two films aged 6 - the ones I mention above, but the first date on the IMD list is 1948; also, there is always confusion - for me at least - between the Cantonese and Mandarin titles of HK films. If I mix the two on this site, let me know.

Lei yu (1957)
Zao zhi dang cu wo bu jia (1956)
Zha dian na fu (1956)
Ai xia ji (1955)
Er nu zhai (1955)
Gu er xing (1955)
Gu xing xue lei (1955)
Ci mu lei (1953)
Fu zhi guo/Blame it on Father (1953), dir. Suen Wai
Ku hai ming deng (1953)
Qian wan ren jia (1953)
Wei lou chun xiao (1953)
Ren zhi cu/Infancy (1951), dir. Chun Kim
Xi lu xiang (1950)
Fu gui fu yun (1948)