| Inoue Umetsugu (alias Inoue Umeji and Jin Shang Mei Zi) shows us his versatile skills as a filmmaker in 'The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy' (1969), a murder-mystery-thriller. Three young ladies from Hong Kong (Margaret Hsing Hui, Wang Ping, and Kuo Man No) recieve letters from Mr. Lin, the wealthiest Chinese guy working in Japan. Mr. Lin claims in the letters that he's their father and they're his illegitimate daughters. Feeling guilt for not being a paternal figure for them, he invites them to his villa in Japan, as Mr. Lin is dying from illness. When the three young ladies from Hong Kong arrive at Mr. Lin's villa in Japan, they find out that Mr. Lin's greedy nephew is trying to get his hands on all of Lin's assets. There are also friends, family, and other acquaintances who are willing to do some unsavory things to get their hands on Mr. Lin's 5 Billion Dollar Legacy! There's also an "ogre/ghost" that keeps showing up at Lin's villa, but is it a menace...or an ally?
'The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy' works quite well, aside from some flaws. Kuo Man No's on-screen boyfriend is framed for murder and the cops haul him away. What about his whereabouts? As in Irvin Kirshner's 'The Eyes of Laura Mars', the audience can pretty much figure out the real identity of the villain before the climax rolls around, even with the plot twists, double-crosses, and double-double-crosses.
If one thinks that Inoue Umetsugu is a mere sissy because of his musicals, this non-musical film may prove one wrong. Graphic footage of heart surgery, a guy getting a hammer bashed into his head (not for the sake of comedy), and scenes involving a nude woman taking a shower are used by Inoue Umetsugu to get a reaction out of the audience. Margaret Hsing Hui does a fine acting job in 'T5BDL'. According to a number of sources, Hsing Hui retired from acting in early 1970's and she moved to the U.S. after appearing in a number of Shaw Brothers films. Her mother's body was found dead by the authorities in 1994 and Hsing Hui later confessed to killing her. She is serving a ten or eleven year prison sentence (does this mean that she'll be released from prison soon?). Wow! Of the many actresses on the face of this planet, I never would've thought that Margaret Hsing Hui would do something like that! Whoa!
!Que increible! Oh, well! I still appreciate her contributions to the Shaw films that she appeared in. Wang Ping's character, Jingxian, has got be the loveliest, blind character since Jenny (Sally Yeh) in John Woo's 'The Killer'. With Jingxian's reliance on senses other than vision, she tries to find a way to communicate with the ogre and she listen for the "patterns" in one's footsteps. Kuo Man No is one voluptuous, leading lady and she does a good acting job. 'The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy' is another solid film in the latter part of Inoue Umetsugu's career and something his fans and casual viewers may or may not want to sample. |
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