In Praise of The Clones of Bruce Lee Part I: BRUCE LUMP

Isn't it rich

a film genre niche

the Little Dragon is gone

the clones still fight on

SEND IN THE CLONES . . .

More than a few people have dubbed 2024, "The Year of  Bruceploitation", and who are we to argue?

We here at In Praise of Exploitation are not above jumping on, following and riding fads to the ground.  We still have our Pet Rocks, mood rings and wear our belted knit sweaters with pride.

As 2024 rolls along we will be featuring each Bruce Lee clone, from the one timer to most prolific.

The first clone that we will look at is Kwan Kin-Ping, who was predominantly billed under the Bruce Lump alias, but he was also credited under the name Hong Kong Loulee.  

On the spectrum of Bruce Lee clones, Kin-Ping was not the standard bearer. On the other hand, he certainly was not the nadir.  He couldn't be labeled an average imitator, nor could one consider him below average or above average either.  He most assuredly wasn't raw or well done.

Did Bruce Lump look like Bruce Lee?  Well, let's put it this way. . . He was Asian.

Did Bruce Lump fight like Bruce Lee?  Well, let's put it this way. . . He was Asian.

The main attribute that he did bring to his movie roles was a ton of fun.  Kin-Ping specialized in comedic roles in both comedies and the comedic presence in non-comedic movies including THE BOXER, THE SWORDSMAN AND THE CLOWN (1981), FIVE SILLY NINJAS (1983), ENTER THE DRAG QUEEN (1983) aka LA CAGE AUX FU, THE DEADLY, THE DEADLIER AND THE DEADLIEST (1983) and ANY WHICH WAY YOU FU (1980). 

Bruce Lump was not above doing anything to try to make audiences laugh. 

A pie fight . . . ☑

Dressing in drag . . . ☑

Using bodily fluids as important plot points . . . ☑

Falling face first into horse manure . . . ☑

Blackface . . . ☑

And all of these are featured in just in one movie, mind you.

ANY WHICH WAY YOU FU, originally titled, THE DRAGON SHOWS NO MERCY, was changed after the box office success of the Clint Eastwood comedies EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE (1978) and its sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN (1980).  The title switch was courtesy of Pepper Nelson, the empresario behind Titanic Film Releasing Corporation.  Nelson imported so many kung fu films from Asia that he would get free egg drop soup with each purchase.

In Praise of Exploitation will be giving Pepper Nelson and Titanic Film Releasing it's due in a future post.  But, back to Lump.

Actually, there is nothing more to add.