There have been many books written about the charismatic
‘King of Kung Fu’ Bruce Lee since his untimely death in 1973. None, however, have captured his passion for
filmmaking quite like Bruce Lee:Â
Legends of the Dragon by Steve Kerridge. This three volume pictorial history of the
making of his third Hong Kong action film, Way
of the Dragon, follows ‘The little Dragon’ through true timeline from April
to August 1972 in Italy and Hong Kong. Each
book is lavishly illustrated with several rare and unseen photos that have come
from the Bruce Lee Estate archive and the personal collection of Bruce’s
friends and colleagues. Many of those
who were involved in the film, such as Bruce’s business partner Raymond Chow,
actor and American Karate Champion Chuck Norris, leading Lady Nora Miao and
production manager Chaplin Chang, share their stories. A foreword by Bruce’s daughter Shannon Lee,
now the president of the Bruce Lee Foundation (www.bruceleefoundation.com) is also included. Â
Presented here is an overview of the first two
volumes that were published in 2008, and an exclusive sneak preview of volume
three, which will be available in November 2009.
Volume One kicks off with photos of Bruce dining out with his
son Brandon and his former Wing Chun instructor Yip Man (portrayed by Donnie
Yen in the 2008 film Ip Man). These are followed by various  hand-written script notes and fabulous shots
of Bruce and Hollywood screenwriter Stirling Silliphant - responsible for
writing the script for The Towering
Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure
and for featuring Bruce in four episodes of the TV series Longstreet starring James Franciscus – at Kai Tak airport. However, a substantial part of the book is
relegated to the many b/w and colour photographs of the cast and crew on
location in Rome, Italy. Bruce had yet
to reach international stardom and was therefore able to visit many places
without being recognised; candid shots of Bruce and the team bargain hunting at
the Porta Potese flea market is proof of this. Â Other highlights include Bruce and his
co-stars, Chuck Norris and Bob Wall, appearing on the Hong Kong variety show
‘Enjoy Yourself’. The guys also make a
surprise visit to the set of Hapkido and
meet with Angela Mao Ying, a top Chinese female action star and martial artist
who would later be cast as Bruce’s sister in Enter the Dragon.
Bruce Lee's hand-written script notes.
Volume Two focuses on the team returning to Hong Kong to film
the interior scenes at the Golden Harvest studios and exterior shots at the New
Territories. Bruce is also photographed
with his wife Linda and son Brandon backstage at the HK-TVB studios. He was there to give his support for a live
fund- raising event that was held in aid of the victims of a devastating
landslide that happened the week before.Â
Ample attention is given to the infamous showdown at the Roman coliseum between
Bruce and Chuck Norris, which resulted in one of the greatest fight scenes ever
filmed.
Volume Three includes fantastic never-before-seen photos from a
deleted scene involving Bruce and the beautiful Nora Miao. Our hero can be seen demonstrating his nunchaku
skills against the hoodlums down the back alley of the restaurant he’s been
sent to protect. Fans will undoubtedly
be enthralled to see Bruce making frequent visits to the studio of Golden
Harvest’s rival the Shaw brothers and  choreographing fights scenes for the kung fu
flick Fist of Unicorn. This was done as a favour for his childhood
friend, and the leading actor, Unicorn Chan.Â
Bruce became enraged when he learned that his name and image were being
exploited by the company Starsea to promote the film. The friendship between Bruce and Unicorn was
not affected by this incident as many believe; Bruce’s grievance was only with
the producer’s.
Inspired by our recent publication of the near cat-fight between Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield (click here), The MovieQuest Archive sent this doozy of a photo depicting a similar situation between Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe. Mrs. Bogie, Lauren Bacall looks suitably amused, but we wouldn't have wanted to be in Bogart's shoes when the party was over!Â