Cantonese: Sing gei cha lau
Mandarin: Cheng ji cha lou
English: Sing's Teahouse or Cheng's Teahouse

Transplanted mainlander Wang Cheng (Chen Kuan-tai) runs a successful HK teahouse that employs or otherwise aids immigrants like himself. Underage waiter Blackie (Wong Yue) slacks off from his duties and is arrested trying to rob a pair of lovers at the local makeout spot. The dotty judge only sentences him to one year of probation, so Cheng tells the youth that, if he wishes to stay in the teahouse, he must serve the appropriate punishment. As a result, Blackie has to go out and commit a second robbery for the express purpose of getting arrested, a task that proves surprisingly difficult. When he finally is collared after vandalizing a bank, Blackie has to hurl one of his shoes at the judge in order to get his sentence up to the required twelve months! Meanwhile, Cheng is having his own problems with law breakers, first juvenile delinquents and, then, senior members of the 18K triad gang who are out to force one of his waitresses into prostitution. When the girl is killed in a skirmish, the two teenage attackers are acquitted, causing the situation to gradually escalate into retaliatory violence. The situation grows more complicated when Cheng is mistaken for a triad boss himself and must bluff his way through negotiations with the 18K.

As the early Celestial DVD releases go, THE TEAHOUSE is a fairly minor film but of definite interest to Westerners wishing to sample the kind of contemporary fare Shaw Brothers produced in addition to their more widely seen kung fu and horror pictures. The commentary here on the hardships faced by the poor, crime among the upper and lower classes, and the ludicrous HK justice system of the time (which gives teen felons probation for serious crimes, while adults get a month in jail for spitting on the street) is far from subtle, with almost all of the characters and situations representing some form of extreme. However, audiences no doubt loved the catharsis provided by bits that denigrate those in authority, and a scene in which the teahouse workers get vigilante revenge on some teen thugs. Known mostly for far more extreme exploitation titles like KILLER SNAKES and BAMBOO HOUSE OF DOLLS, director Kuei Chi-hong directs confidently and the cinematography offers some impressive evening exterior set-ups. As the righteous boss (who helps not only his underlings but also a pair of young beggars and their ailing single mother), Chen Kuan-tai gives a low-key but convincingly authoritative performance that helps one to forgive the episodic storyline (which, with its clearly delineated beginnings and wrap-ups, almost seems like episodes of a TV show edited together). Tony Ching Siu-tung served as the movie's action director but there are no martial arts here, just the visual triad violence. Karen Yeh Leng-chi, Ha Ping, and a rather slim Fan Mui-sang co-star (Danny Lee Sau-yin is apparently also in there somewhere). A sequel, BIG BROTHER CHENG, followed the next year and is also now out on DVD. The new Category III rating given to THE TEAHOUSE is presumably due to its depiction of goo wak jai and triad rituals, areas of sensitivity for HK censors.

THE TEAHOUSE is available at Poker Industries.