Michael Hui
Encyclopedia
Michael Hui Koon-Man is a Hong Kong comedian, scriptwriter
and director. He is the eldest of the four Hui brothers (together with Ricky
, Sam
, and Stanley) who remain three of the most prominent figures in the Hong Kong entertainment circle during the 1970s and the 1980s. Hui is considered by many critics to be the foremost comedian in the Hong Kong film industry
before Stephen Chow
.
, and then earned a degree in sociology
from the United College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
. Michael remains one of the very few Hong Kong film artistes who holds a non-honorary degree from a university.
After a spell hosting quiz show
s on TVB, Hui gained popularity in the Hong Kong entertainment industry with his variety show stints in the Hui Brothers Show. He then moved from television to film. Hui's first work was in a film by Taiwan
ese director Li Han-Hsiang called The Warlord (大軍閥 or "The Great Regime", 1972), where he played a farcical warlord
in post-revolutionary China.
In 1974, he set up his own film company, the Hui Brothers Company, with Golden Harvest
, with his brothers Ricky and Sam. Between 1974 and 2000 he was involved in over 20 films, mostly as actor and scriptwriter.
The earliest Hui comedies combined episodic gags with the comedic appeal of Michael and his brothers. This usually involved the trio of actors—Michael, Sam and Ricky—pitting their wits against the odds to earn quick bucks and their livelihood. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, with upbeat soundtracks performed by Sam himself, these works became wildly popular amongst the working classes in the 1970s and early 1980s. Games Gamblers Play
(1974), The Private Eyes
(1976), The Contract (1978) and Security Unlimited
(1981) – the last of which won him the first Hong Kong Academy
Best Actor award – are often seen as the quintessential comedies made by the company. Games Gamblers Play was a huge success when first released and paved the way for Cantonese movies to hold their own against the colonial trend of Mandarin production.
After a breakup with his brothers in the early 1980s, Hui developed a new brand of satirical comedy, one which capitalized on his deadpan comic timing, using a more character-driven storyline. Some of his more renowned works came during this period in the 1980s. Hui frequently acted out the archetypal "ne'er-do-well" driven on by a cash-mad Hong Kong society. Equally caustic and funny, they are set against the backdrop of present-day Hong Kong consumerism
. He would make a rare North American film appearance as the Subaru
mechanic/engineer with Jackie Chan
in the Burt Reynolds
comedy The Cannonball Run. In Inspector Chocolate (1986), he plays a chocolate-eating inspector who must solve a kidnap case while his subordinate is involved in a Miss Hong-Kong pageant. In Chicken and Duck Talk
(1988), opposing restaurateurs come to blows to secure profits. Front Page (1990), which reunited the three brothers, lampoons the Hong Kong press, while The Magic Touch
(1991) satirizes the Chinese obsession with fortune-telling
and wealth. Always on my Mind (1993) continues in this vein of self-deprecating humour: Hui plays the head of a family, a news anchor, who will stop at nothing to grab money.
Hui continued acting and producing his own comedies, at a less prolific rate, in the 1990s and 2000s. Chinese Box
(1997), directed by Wayne Wang
, remains Hui's only starring film in the West. One of his most recent movies is the action-comedy Rob-B-Hood
, starring alongside Jackie Chan and Louis Koo
. He plays a talented safe-cracker who kidnaps a baby for money from Triads, but is kind-hearted and dignified. In 2006, he became the host of the quiz show Deal or No Deal
.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and director. He is the eldest of the four Hui brothers (together with Ricky
Ricky Hui
Ricky Hui Koon-Ying was a Hong Kong movie star. He and his brothers, Michael and Sam, made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
, Sam
Samuel Hui
Samuel Hui Koon-kit , usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, lyricist and film actor. He is credited with popularizing Cantopop both with the infusion of Western-style music and using popular, street Cantonese jargon in his lyrics writing...
, and Stanley) who remain three of the most prominent figures in the Hong Kong entertainment circle during the 1970s and the 1980s. Hui is considered by many critics to be the foremost comedian in the Hong Kong film industry
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
before Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
.
Life and Works
He studied in La Salle CollegeLa Salle College
La Salle College is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St...
, and then earned a degree in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
from the United College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...
. Michael remains one of the very few Hong Kong film artistes who holds a non-honorary degree from a university.
After a spell hosting quiz show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
s on TVB, Hui gained popularity in the Hong Kong entertainment industry with his variety show stints in the Hui Brothers Show. He then moved from television to film. Hui's first work was in a film by Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese director Li Han-Hsiang called The Warlord (大軍閥 or "The Great Regime", 1972), where he played a farcical warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
in post-revolutionary China.
In 1974, he set up his own film company, the Hui Brothers Company, with Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan...
, with his brothers Ricky and Sam. Between 1974 and 2000 he was involved in over 20 films, mostly as actor and scriptwriter.
The earliest Hui comedies combined episodic gags with the comedic appeal of Michael and his brothers. This usually involved the trio of actors—Michael, Sam and Ricky—pitting their wits against the odds to earn quick bucks and their livelihood. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, with upbeat soundtracks performed by Sam himself, these works became wildly popular amongst the working classes in the 1970s and early 1980s. Games Gamblers Play
Games Gamblers Play
Games Gamblers Play is a 1974 Hong Kong film directed by Michael Hui with action direction by Sammo Hung.-Cast:*Chan Lap Ban*Cheng Kwan-Min*Cheung Wah*Chiao Roy*Fung Ging Man*Ho Pak-Kwong*Michael Hui*Ricky Hui*Sam Hui*Benz Hui*Sammo Hung...
(1974), The Private Eyes
The Private Eyes (1976 film)
The Private Eyes is a 1976 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui and co-starring Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui and featuring Richard Ng in his second film role. John Woo was the production designer and also co-director though he was uncredited. Sammo Hung served as the film's...
(1976), The Contract (1978) and Security Unlimited
Security Unlimited
Security Unlimited is a 1981 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui and co-starring his brothers Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui, who are known as the Hui Brothers...
(1981) – the last of which won him the first Hong Kong Academy
Hong Kong Academy
Hong Kong Academy is a co-educational English-language day school enrolling students from PK1 through Grade 12. The school is presently centrally located in Kennedy Town and the primary, middle and high schools are all housed on one campus...
Best Actor award – are often seen as the quintessential comedies made by the company. Games Gamblers Play was a huge success when first released and paved the way for Cantonese movies to hold their own against the colonial trend of Mandarin production.
After a breakup with his brothers in the early 1980s, Hui developed a new brand of satirical comedy, one which capitalized on his deadpan comic timing, using a more character-driven storyline. Some of his more renowned works came during this period in the 1980s. Hui frequently acted out the archetypal "ne'er-do-well" driven on by a cash-mad Hong Kong society. Equally caustic and funny, they are set against the backdrop of present-day Hong Kong consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
. He would make a rare North American film appearance as the Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
mechanic/engineer with Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
in the Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
comedy The Cannonball Run. In Inspector Chocolate (1986), he plays a chocolate-eating inspector who must solve a kidnap case while his subordinate is involved in a Miss Hong-Kong pageant. In Chicken and Duck Talk
Chicken and Duck Talk
Chicken and Duck Talk Chicken and Duck Talk Chicken and Duck Talk (Chinese: 雞同鴨講 (Gai tung aap gong (Chicken with Duck Talk)) is an award-winning 1988 film co-written by Michael Hui, who also starred. It was directed and co-written by Clifton Ko...
(1988), opposing restaurateurs come to blows to secure profits. Front Page (1990), which reunited the three brothers, lampoons the Hong Kong press, while The Magic Touch
The Magic Touch
The Magic Touch can refer to an R&B female vocal group from Long Island, which featured Pat Carty as lead vocalist [Diane Tyler would later take over as lead], Marsha Bivens and LaRonda Williams, that recorded the hit single Step Into My World on the Black Falcon label in April 1971, or a 1962...
(1991) satirizes the Chinese obsession with fortune-telling
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
and wealth. Always on my Mind (1993) continues in this vein of self-deprecating humour: Hui plays the head of a family, a news anchor, who will stop at nothing to grab money.
Hui continued acting and producing his own comedies, at a less prolific rate, in the 1990s and 2000s. Chinese Box
Chinese Box
Chinese Box is a 1997 movie directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Michael Hui.The movie is set and was made at the time of Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 1997...
(1997), directed by Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang is a Chinese American film director.-Biography:Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne...
, remains Hui's only starring film in the West. One of his most recent movies is the action-comedy Rob-B-Hood
Rob-B-Hood
Rob-B-Hood is a 2006 action comedy film directed by Benny Chan, and starring Jackie Chan, Louis Koo and Michael Hui. It was produced with a budget of HK$130 million and filmed between December 2005 and January 2006...
, starring alongside Jackie Chan and Louis Koo
Louis Koo
Louis Koo is a Hong Kong actor. He was once a notable local television series actor, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 for Detective Investigation Files IV. In recent years, he has focused on film...
. He plays a talented safe-cracker who kidnaps a baby for money from Triads, but is kind-hearted and dignified. In 2006, he became the host of the quiz show Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal (Hong Kong)
The Cantonese Version Deal or No Deal is broadcast in Hong Kong by TVB. It has been casting through its website and its magazine, and premiered on October 29, 2006 at 9:30pm. The first season of the show was hosted by Michael Hui, but was since then hosted by Alfred Cheung. It airs on the TVB Jade...
.
Select Filmography
- Rob-B-HoodRob-B-HoodRob-B-Hood is a 2006 action comedy film directed by Benny Chan, and starring Jackie Chan, Louis Koo and Michael Hui. It was produced with a budget of HK$130 million and filmed between December 2005 and January 2006...
(2006) - Three of a KindThree of a Kind (2004 film)-Cast and roles:* Michael Hui - Dragon Lone* Benz Hui * Elaine Jin* Lau Ching-Wan - Frankie* Tiffany Lee * Lo Meng* Monica Lo * Kristal Tin * Courtney Wu - Advertising agency owner* Miriam Yeung - Sophia-External links:* * *...
(2004) - Fantasia (2004)
- Funny Business (2000)
- Chinese BoxChinese BoxChinese Box is a 1997 movie directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Michael Hui.The movie is set and was made at the time of Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 1997...
(1997) - Wealthy Human Realm (1995)
- Always on My Mind (1993)
- The Magic TouchThe Magic TouchThe Magic Touch can refer to an R&B female vocal group from Long Island, which featured Pat Carty as lead vocalist [Diane Tyler would later take over as lead], Marsha Bivens and LaRonda Williams, that recorded the hit single Step Into My World on the Black Falcon label in April 1971, or a 1962...
(1992) - Hero of the Beggars (1992)
- The BanquetThe Banquet (1991 film)The Banquet , also known as Party of a Wealthy Family, is a 1991 Hong Kong comedy film...
(1991) - Front Page (1990)
- Mr. Coconut (1989)
- Chicken and Duck TalkChicken and Duck TalkChicken and Duck Talk Chicken and Duck Talk Chicken and Duck Talk (Chinese: 雞同鴨講 (Gai tung aap gong (Chicken with Duck Talk)) is an award-winning 1988 film co-written by Michael Hui, who also starred. It was directed and co-written by Clifton Ko...
(1988) - Inspector Chocolate (1986)
- Happy Din Don (1986)
- Mr. Boo Meets Pom Pom (1985)
- Teppanyaki (1984)
- Security UnlimitedSecurity UnlimitedSecurity Unlimited is a 1981 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui and co-starring his brothers Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui, who are known as the Hui Brothers...
(1981) - The Cannonball Run (1981)
- The Contract (1978)
- The Private EyesThe Private Eyes (1976 film)The Private Eyes is a 1976 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui and co-starring Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui and featuring Richard Ng in his second film role. John Woo was the production designer and also co-director though he was uncredited. Sammo Hung served as the film's...
(1976) - The Last MessageThe Last MessageThe Last Message is a 1975 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui and co-starring Samuel Hui and a cameo appearance by Ricky Hui. This is the second film of the Hui Brothers.-Plot:...
(1975) - Games Gamblers PlayGames Gamblers PlayGames Gamblers Play is a 1974 Hong Kong film directed by Michael Hui with action direction by Sammo Hung.-Cast:*Chan Lap Ban*Cheng Kwan-Min*Cheung Wah*Chiao Roy*Fung Ging Man*Ho Pak-Kwong*Michael Hui*Ricky Hui*Sam Hui*Benz Hui*Sammo Hung...
(1974) - The Warlord (1972)