The villain finally gets to be the hero—and he's surprisingly good at it.
In a rare reversal of typecasting, Shaw Brothers' perennial bad guy Lo Lieh breaks tradition to play the honorable and noble swordsman in The Swift Knight. It's a tale of brave knights, chivalry and fair maidens where the Swift Knight (Lo Lieh) finds himself involved in romance, court intrigue and deadly jousts while trying to protect the lives of a pair of siblings as the fate of the throne depends on them.
Acting
Lo Lieh's grinning villainy repurposed as reluctant nobility.
Cinematography
Technicolor palace intrigue meets cramped tavern brawls.
Stunts
Jousting on horseback in 1971 Hong Kong—pure ambition.
Director
Jeong Chang-hwa
Lo Lieh
Lai Ru Feng (Lei Feng)
Margaret Hsing Hui
Xian Qin
Chin Han
Liu Hsuan Ping
Wang Hsieh
Chu Pao
Chai No
Magistrate's man
Tung Lin
Prince Regent Jie
Huang Tsung-Hsun
Mr. Li
Fan Mei-Sheng
Constable Ji Fu
Yeh Pao Chin
Waitress
Shum Lo
Magistrate
Chan Shen
Brothel owner
Lee Pang-Fei
Lord Jia Ling
Hsu Yu
Xian Qin' s mother
Nau Nau
Qin Ruo
Sun Lan
Captain's comrade
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jeong Chang-hwa made this between King Boxer and The Five Fingers of Death, capturing Shaw Brothers at their most prolific.
Lo Lieh's rare heroic turn here arguably paved the way for his later complex lead in Five Fingers of Death—studio finally trusting audiences to follow him beyond villainy.
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