Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Jack Lord is Linc Bartlett, a freight line operator who stumbles upon a Chinese slave auction on a trip to San Francisco.

He can’t stand to see pretty 19-year-old Kim Sung (Nobu McCarthy) sold into a brothel, so he buys her for $750 in gold, then proclaims her a free woman.

Problem is, Kim Sung has been a slave all her life. Now she’s in a new country and completely ill-equipped to survive on her own.

Cheng Lu (James Shigeta), a young Chinese man who has purchased passage on Linc’s wagons, offers to buy her from him for the same $750, but Linc is adamant about this: You do not buy and sell human beings in American anymore.

So he takes Kim Sung home with him. She quickly wins over his mother; she eventually wins over Linc to the point where he wants to marry her.

The rest of the people in town are another matter altogether. They balk when she shows up in church. And they stop doing business with Linc once word of the impending marriage gets out.

Cheng Lu, meanwhile, is finding it difficult to maintain his self respect in the same California town. But he’s determined to “walk down the streets like a dragon.”

Figuring he can earn respect by learning to use a gun, he hires The Deacon (Mel Torme) to teach him.

Oh, and he hasn’t given up hope of claiming Kim Sung as his own, which just might put him on a collision course with Linc.

Jack Lord as Linc Bartlett, a man who tries to grant Kim Sung her freedom, then falls for her in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Nobu McCarthy as Kim Sung, rescued from a slave auction by Linc Barrett in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Review:

A wonderfully unique Western that tackles the issue of racism head on, but not racism against Indians or Mexicans for a change, but racism against anyone with “yellow skin.”

As much as Linc’s mother likes Kim Sung, she frets that she and Linc will never find happiness because of the way they’ll be treated by others.

Madame Lili Raide, Linc’s dance hall mistress, is even more convinced he’ll be throwing away any chance for happiness if he marries Kim Sung.

Mel Torme, much better known for his singing than acting, provides the theme song, but also was cast as a Bible-quoting gunman. And if Nobu McCarthy’s character learns English a wee bit too quickly and James Shigeta’s does the same with a quick draw, both do a splendid job of pulling off their roles.

This was one of only five films directed by James Clavell, who also wrote and produced the “Shogun” mini-series. His first writing credit in Hollywood came on the sci-fi classic “The Fly” in 1958. He also wrote the screenplay for 1967’s “To Sir with Love.”

James Shigeta as Cheng Lu, the man who wants Kim Sung for his own in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Mel Torme as The Deacon, talked into teaching Cheng Lu how to use a six-gun in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Directed by:
James Clavell

Cast:
Jack Lord .. Linc Bartlett
Nobu McCarthy … Kim Sung
James Shigeta … Cheng Lu
Mel Torme … The Deacon
Josephine Hutchinson … Ma Bartlett
Rodolfo Acosta .. Sheriff Marguelez
Benson Fong … Wu
Michael Pate … Rev. Will Allen
Lilyan Chauvin … Mme. Lili Raide
Don Kennedy … Masters
Don “Red” Barry … Cabot
Lester Matthews … Peter Mott
Michael Ross … Taffy
Charles Irwin … Angus
Tom Kennedy … Jethro (bartender)

Runtime: 95 min.

Title tune: “Walk Like a Dragon”
sung by Mel Torme

Josephine Hutchinson as Ma Bartlett, struggling with her son’s attraction to a young Chinese beauty in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Lilyan Chauvin as Madame Lili Raide, jealous of Linc Bartlett’s attraction to Kim Sung in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Memorable lines:

Linc Bartlett: “I don’t understand you barbarians.”
Cheng Lu: “My ancestors were civilized when yours were still living in caves.”

Ma Barlett: “Is it true? Did you buy a heathen woman? … All I know is I’m not living with a heathen who’s in league with the devil. Why else would you have bought her if she didn’t put an evil spell on you?”

Wu: “If you want to stay here and make money, you speak pigeon English.”

Kim Sung, referring to Lili Raide: “Is she your woman, master?”
Linc Bartlett: “Who?”
Kim Sung: “The one with eyes of fire.”

Wu: “Skill at killing is no measure of a man.”

Nobu McCarthy as Kim Sung with Ma Bartlett (Josephine Hutchinson) in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Jack Lord as Linc Bartlett, getting news about the effect his attraction to Kim Sung is having on his freighting business in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Benson Fong as Wu, dishing out advise on how Chinese should find a place in a white man’s world in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Rodolfo Acosta as Sheriff Marguelez, responsible for keeping peace in the town where Linc Bartlett lives in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Michael Pate as the Rev. WIll Allen, welcoming of all at his church in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Nobu McCarthy as Kim Sung, attending a church where she really isn’t welcome in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Nobu McCarthy as Kim Sung, making a surprising offer to Madme Lili Raide (Lilyan Chauvin) in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)

Jack Lord as Linc Bartlett, about to take a buggy ride with Kim Sung (Nobu McCarthy) in Walk Like a Dragon (1960)