Cinema: Made in Hong Kong

GOLDEN NEEDLES

Directed by ROBERT CLOUSE Screenplay by S. LEE POGOSTIN and SYLVIA SCHNEBLE

There is a golden statue—isn’t there always?—that many men, and a couple of women, desire. Its origin is Chinese, not Maltese, and it has needles inserted in its body to indicate strategic points to be used in the ancient and trendy science of acupuncture. Why these points are not illustrated in some acupuncturist’s manual and why they should drive men into quite such acute frenzies of greed are matters that the film makers have chosen to keep pretty much to themselves. Giddy fun, usually provided by such matinee fodder, is also in short supply. The star is Joe Don Baker, a sort of upright Francis the Talking Mule, who appeared in Walking Tall wielding a baseball bat and busting heads. Here, as a Hong Kong soldier-of-fortune, he betrays an enthusiasm for breaking glass, either by shattering windshields with a two-by-four or hurling people through skylights. He performs all these feats with a great deal of gusto, but no finesse. He is fortunately not called upon to perform acupuncture, or to receive it.