A prince enlists a thief to serve as his bodyguard to protect him from assassins.
Acting
Gordon Liu's secret genius hiding behind idiot grin
Costume
Wong Yu's gloriously tacky thief wardrobe as character statement
Director
Lau Kar-Leung
Wong Yu
Dirty Ho Ching
Gordon Liu Chia-Hui
11th Prince, Wang Chin Chen
Lo Lieh
General Liang Jing Cheng
Johnny Wang Lung-Wei
Mr. Fan Tian Kong
Hsiao Ho
Xiao Lu
Wilson Tong Wai-Shing
Mr. Chu Yi Feng
Kara Hui Ying-Hung
Tsui Hung
Helen Poon Bing-Seung
Tsui Bing
Yau Chui-Ling
Courtesan
Chen Szu-Chia
Courtesan
Liu Suk-Yee
Courtesan
Lui Hung
Brothel Boss Wang
San Sin
Blind Handicapped Devil (uncredited)
Lam Hak-Ming
One-Armed Handicapped Devil
Yang Chi-Ching
Art Admirer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title's crude joke — 'Dirty Ho' refers to both the character's name and his profession as a scavenger/thief — was deliberately provocative for 1979 Hong Kong audiences.
Lau Kar-Leung subverted the 'wise master' trope by making the teacher a deceptive peer who learns alongside his student, influencing later films like Iron Monkey.
HK
