The Bad Guys (1952 film)

The Bad Guys (Cantonese: 壞蛋聯盟 Jyutping: waai6 daan6 lyun4 mang4) is a 1952 Hong Kong heist comedy film directed by Chan Pei. It stars, , , and  as the eponymous group. The film tells the story of a group of criminals who, upon being caught, pretend to attempt to reform themselves as model citizens, only for their leader to find himself genuinely drawn to changing his ways as a new villain has his own plans.

Produced by Daat Zing Film Company (now known as Braulia, Peruru and Leap Movie Co., Ltd.), The Bad Guys was given a limited release by Cri-Kee Pictures on 29 April 1952. It saw negative reception upon its release, and has been considered as "one of the worst movies ever made".

Plot
The Bad Guys, a gang of infamous criminal animals led by the cool-headed Mr. Wolf, commit brazen thefts and successfully evade the authorities due to the public's interpretation of them as inherently "bad" criminals.

After being insulted by Governor Chiu Yee-Hang on live television, Wolf convinces his gang to pull off a heist to steal a valuable award called the Golden Dolphin from philanthropist Professor Cheung Ho-Yin, during his inauguration at a gala. During the heist, Wolf takes some free time to pickpocket various people, but inadvertently helps an elderly woman and is praised for the good deed, leading to Wolf finding himself affected by his wrongdoings. After the gang is exposed and arrested, Wolf persuades Cheung with Chiu's approval to reform them, planning to take advantage of the pretense to steal the award again.

Cheung invites the Bad Guys to his home, but his lessons prove to be a struggle with them, seemingly unable to adapt to the concept of good behavior. After a "heist for good" to rescue a herd of guinea pigs from a research lab fails due to Wolf's second-in-command, Mr. Snake, eating them, Chiu decides to call off the experiment but relents when Wolf confesses that he despises being hated for his species, with Chiu admitting that she understands him and that she has hope for him. Wolf contemplates the matter and finds himself rescuing a cat from a tree, which Cheung records and publishes, turning the public image of the Bad Guys around. However, Snake fears that he is losing touch with his friend.

When the Bad Guys execute a new heist to steal the award again, Wolf cannot bring himself to finish the plan. Suddenly, a meteorite on display is stolen, causing the Bad Guys to be blamed for its theft. When the gang is arrested again, Cheung meets them in private and reveals that he stole the meteor and disguised himself as the old lady Wolf helped earlier to manipulate the gang into taking the blame while Chiu suspects Cheung. In prison, Wolf explains to his gang that he doesn't want to be a criminal anymore and that they can be better, but Snake refuses, feeling that the world will never change to see them as less than monsters. Wolf yells at him for his stubbornness, infuriating Snake into attacking him until the Crimson Paw, a notorious criminal, rescues them, revealing herself to be Chiu, who reformed when she attempted to steal the Golden Dolphin herself.

Upon reaching safety, the Bad Guys, including a bitter Snake, who reveals that birthdays are a reminder of what he's seen as, abandon Wolf for betraying them, but when they return to their hideout, they find it completely emptied of their loot, as Wolf revealed its location to Chiu earlier as compensation for his crimes. After Snake willingly gives Mr. Shark his last possession out of kindness, the other Bad Guys realize that they can change their ways and proceed to help Wolf. However, Snake denies it and abandons them to ally with Cheung, who plans to use the meteor to power a mind-control device to hypnotize an army of guinea pigs into stealing charity funds to rob the city.

Meanwhile, Wolf and Chiu break into Cheung's home to steal the meteor, only to be captured by Cheung and Snake. Before they can finish off the two, they are rescued by the remainder of the Bad Guys. They then take the meteor and proceed to foil Cheung's plans. After a hectic effort, the Bad Guys arrive at the police station to turn in the meteor until they decide to go after Snake and bring him back despite his apparent betrayal. During the chase, Cheung betrays Snake as an advantage, and the Bad Guys risk their lives to save him, bargaining with Cheung for his safety in exchange for the meteor.

After rescuing Snake and destroying Cheung's mind-control helmet, the Bad Guys surrender themselves to the authorities to prevent Chiu from revealing her former criminal past. Cheung attempts to take credit for recovering the meteor, but it is revealed to be a fake one planted by Snake, who reveals that he was working undercover and has planted the real meteor on the mansion before overcharging it, causing it to violently explode alongside the mansion from afar, exposing Cheung as the thief. When the fake meteor falls on Cheung, a diamond he stole from Chiu falls out, which authorities recognize as having been stolen by the Crimson Paw years ago. As a result, Cheung is framed, destroying his reputation and leading to his arrest.

One year later, the Bad Guys are released from prison in light of their good behavior, partnering up with Chiu to begin their new crime-fighting careers.

Cast

 * as Mr. Wolf / Cheung Yuen-Fong
 * as Mr. Snake / Wong Kan-Kuen
 * as Mr. Piranha / Chen Yiu-Man
 * as Mr. Shark / Leung Hoi-Dik
 * as Ms. Tarantula / Pak Wai-Han
 * Ng Cho-Fan as Professor Cheung Ho-Yin
 * as Chiu Yee-Hang
 * as Police Chief Tam Ka-Wai
 * as Lee Hoi-Ting, a news reporter
 * Luk Siu-Sin as Old Lady

Release
The Bad Guys was released in Hong Kong by Cri-Kee Pictures on 29 April 1952, to critical and commercial failure. Because of "how bad this film is", released a Gag Dub in the United States on 16 March 1964.

To promote the, The Bad Guys was re-released theatrically in several countries on 16 March 2022.

Home media
Between 1986 and 1989, the VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc releases of the film were released.

As part of their Hong Kong film retrospective, Braulia, Peruru and Leap Movie Co., Ltd. released The Bad Guys on Region 0 DVD as part of "Braulia, Peruru & Leap's Masterpiece Collection" on 1 July 2015. The DVD includes subtitles in Cantonese and English.