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Cast:
Michael
Hui
Cherie
Chung
Bill
Tung
Michael
Lai
Wong
Wan See
Yuen
Cheung Yan
Producer:
Raymond
Chow
Director:
Michael
Hui
Score:
 
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HAPPY
DING DONG
AKA:
Happy Din Don
Year:
1986 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
After
ruining the performance of a nightclub diva (Anita Mui with a
cameo role), hopeless guitarist Michael (Hui) and his equally
destitute friend find themselves out of work. Down to their
last dollars, the unfortunate duo scour the city for work, but
to no avail. Things go from bad to worse when Michael
witnesses a mob killing and barely manages to escape with his
life. Even after reaching hospital he realises that he is far
from safe as the mob leader sends one of his henchmen to
silence Michael forever. This proves to be the encouragement
that the hunted pair need to try something completely
different to escape Hong Kong. Therefore Michael dresses up as
a somewhat awkward looking woman and joins an all-female band
that plays aboard an exotic cruise liner. With the two friends
managing to get work in the lap of relative luxury and their
pursuers left far behind, all seems to head towards an easy
life. Complications arise when the female-impersonator
befriends the singer of the band and must add another identity
to his life, namely that of a wealthy tycoon, to get to know
her better. Juggling his three sides to keep everyone happy
proves to be a stressful exercise with matters not helped by
his acquisition of a male admirer (Tung) for his feminine
alter-ego. Then there's the persistent killers who quickly
locate the whereabouts of their target, leading to the
conclusion of the many loose ends in Michael's multi-layered
life.
It's
somewhat disappointing to see a comedian of Michael Hui's
pedigree reverting to, what is essentially, a reworking of the
classic Jack Lemmon/Tony Curtis/Marilyn Monroe comedy 'Some
Like It Hot'. Borrowing the storyline, many of the jokes and
even the closing line, this is definitely not Michael Hui's
best work. Western audiences will find it hard to stop
recalling 'Some Like It Hot' while watching this and even the
most forgiving viewer cannot doubt that the film drags in
places. The original Hollywood hit was also blessed with an
iconic leading lady and, while Cherie Chung is a splendid
actress, she cannot compare in this particular production.
What
'Happy Ding Dong' does have in its favour is some inspired
moments that have Michael Hui's handwriting all over them.
Indeed his best scenes are ones that keep their distance from
the original and focus on the canto-comic's own talents. Two
very amusing sequences are pure Hui: the first one sees the
hero pretending to be blind after the mob killing and being
subsequently tested by the aggressors; the second is a battle
with one of the villains where Hui borrows moves from a
kung-fu film that is being shown on a nearby television.
Flashes of brilliance like these makes sure that this is a
pleasing slice of entertainment. Comparisons to its
inspiration and Hui's other work mean 'Happy Ding Dong' comes
off a poor second to all though.
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