The Contract (1978 film)

The Contract
賣身契
The Contract; 賣身契
Studio album by Sam Hui
Released	July 1978
Genre	Cantopop
Language	Cantonese
Label	PolyGram
Sam Hui chronology

The Contract
The Contract
Traditional Chinese	賣身契
Simplified Chinese	卖身契
Hanyu Pinyin	Mài shēn qì
Jyutping	maai6 san1 kai3
Directed by	Michael Hui
Screenplay by	Michael Hui; So Chi-hung
Produced by	Raymond Chow
Starring	Michael Hui; Samuel Hui; Ricky Hui
Cinematography	Tom Lau
Edited by	Peter Cheung
Music by	Samuel Hui
Production; company	Golden Harvest
Distributed by	Golden Harvest
Release date	3 August 1978;
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$7,823,019

The Contract (Chinese: 賣身契) is a 1978 Hong Kong comedy film written, directed by and starring Michael Hui. The film also co-stars Hui's brothers, Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui. It was very successful at the Hong Kong box office being the highest-grossing film there at the time.^[3]

Cast

Michael Hui as Sit Chi-man
Samuel Hui as Chiu Sai-kit
Ricky Hui as Sit Chi-ying
Tiffany Bao as Ms. Wang
Ellen Lau as Chu Ling-ling
Yeung Wai as Ms. Wang's eye-path assistant
Cheng Fu-hing as King Kong
Russell Cawthorne as Guru
Chan King-cheung as MTV chairman
Cheng Siu-ping as Mrs. Li
Kwong Kwan-ning as Mr. Kwong
Lee Pang-fei as Cat TV manager
Chiu Chun as MTV board of director
Fong Yue as Woman coming out of elevator
Huang Pa-ching as Mrs. Li
Man Sau as Man's mother
Pan Yung-sheng as Audience for alien show
Kwan Yan as Audience at magic show
Cheung Sek-Au as Audience at magic show
Johnny Koo as one of three bank robbers
Kam Tin-chue as MTV board of director
Si Lau-wa
Lau Cheun
Hoh Wan

Reception

The Contract was a commercial success, earning HK$7,820,019 at the box office^[4]

In The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997, John Charles described The Contract as "totally disarming and one of The Hui's Brothers most consistently amusing efforts"^[5] while Stephen Teo in his book Hong Kong Cinema: the Extra Dimensions wrote "Michael Hui ended the decade with arguably his best film".^[6]

The film was nominated for three Golden Horse Awards in 1978, and was Michael Hui's first and last nomination for a Golden Horse Award, until his nomination for Best Actor for his work in the 2016 film Godspeed at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.^[7]

Accolades

Award	Date	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
15th Golden Horse Awards	1978	Best Film Editing	Peter Cheung	Won	^[8]
		Best Director	Michael Hui	Nominated
		Best Feature Film	Golden Harvest (HK) Limited	Nominated

Album

The Contract is Sam Hui's fifth Cantopop album with the title track being the film's theme song. In Asia soundtrack has shifted 500,000 units.^[9]

Track listing

"賣身契"
"舞伴"
"男兒漢"
"世事如棋"
"應該要自愛"
"人生的道路"
"學生哥"
"杯酒當歌"
"拜拜"
"相思萬千重"
"飲勝"
"父母恩"
"太空舞"（音樂）

References

^ "Mai shen qi (1978)". internet movie database. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
^ "Hong Kong's 20 Alltime Top Pix". Variety. 3 January 1979. p. 42.
^ "The Contract - Hong Kong Film Archive". www.filmarchive.gov.hk. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
^ Tong Cheuk Pak; Botang Zhuo (2008). Hong Kong New Wave Cinema (1978-2000). Intellect Books. p. 44. ISBN 9781841501482.
^ Charles, John (14 June 2015). The Hong Kong filmography, 1977-1997 : a complete reference to 1,100 films produced by British Hong Kong studios. Jefferson, N.C. p. 61. ISBN 9781476602622. OCLC 911054921.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Teo, Stephen (1997). Hong Kong cinema : the extra dimensions. British Film Institute. London: BFI. p. 143. ISBN 0851704964. OCLC 38303187.
^ "Hong Kong comic actor Michael Hui out to direct films after 25-year gap". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^ Leo, Christie (29 September 1979). "Polygram Gets Local Acts In Malay Drive". Billboard. p. 62. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 October 2022 – via Google Books.