It Takes a Thief (1979 TV series)
| It Takes a Thief | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Wuxia |
| Written by | Gu Long (original story) |
| Directed by | Lee Wai-man Siu Hin-fai |
| Starring | Pat Poon Kenneth Tsang Paul Chun Alex Man Bonnie Ngai Law Lok-lam Mary Cheung Man Man-yee Wen Hsueh-erh Yuen Pui-jan Miu Kam-fung Chan Yuen-mei Yung Wai-man Nancy Sit Choi King-fai |
| Opening theme | Hap Dou Fung Lau (俠盜風流) performed by Amy Chan |
| Ending theme | Siu Wan Kei Sum Sing (簫韻寄心聲) performed by Nancy Sit |
| Composer | Michael Lai |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Original language | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Kong Lung |
| Producers | Johnny Mak Tsui Hark |
| Production location | Hong Kong |
| Running time | 60 minutes per episode |
| Production company | RTV |
| Original release | |
| Network | RTV |
| It Takes a Thief | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 俠盜風流 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 侠盗风流 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
It Takes a Thief is a Hong Kong television series adapted from Gu Long's Chu Liuxiang Series. The series was first broadcast on RTV (now ATV) in Hong Kong in September 1979.
Changes in title and characters' names
The series' original Chinese title was 盜帥留香 (Dou Seoi Lau Heung; lit. "Bandit Chief Liuxiang"). It was released around the same time as Chor Lau-heung, a similar television series produced by TVB. RTV and TVB became involved in copyright lawsuits against each other because of similarities between It Takes a Thief and Chor Lau-heung. TVB won the lawsuits and eventually RTV had to change the Chinese title of It Takes a Thief from 盜帥留香 to 俠盜風流, and the names of characters in the television series. The name of the protagonist Chor Lau-heung (Cantonese for "Chu Liuxiang") was changed to "Dou Seoi" (盜帥; lit. "Bandit Chief"), one of Chu Liuxiang's nicknames in the novels. It Takes a Thief started airing on 1 September 1979, two days earlier than TVB's Chor Lau-heung.
Cast
- Note: Some of the characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation.
| Cast | Role | Original character |
|---|---|---|
| Pat Poon | Dou Seoi | Chor Lau-heung |
| Kenneth Tsang | Kung Bing-ngan | Kei Bing-ngan |
| Paul Chun | Mo-tsan | Mo-fa |
| Alex Man | Nam-kung Yat | Nam-kung Ling |
| Law Lok-lam | Yat-dim-hung | Chung-yuen Yat-dim-hung |
| Lau Kwok-sing | Koo Tit-fa | Wu Tit-fa |
| Bonnie Ngai | To Hung-kuen | So Yung-yung |
| Ma Man-yee | Chor Seung-wan | Shum Wai-san |
| Mary Cheung | Kung Fei-yin | Kung Nam-yin |
| Wen Hsueh-erh | Hak Fu-pak | Black Pearl |
| Yuen Pui-jan | Yip Siu-sin | Lei Hung-sau |
| Chan Yuen-mei | Lau Ching-ching | Sung Tim-yee |
| Miu Kam-fung | Chau Hung-yip | Chau Ling-so |
| Nancy Sit | Princess Lung-siu | Princess Pei-pa |
| Yung Wai-man | Kuk Mo-sau | Kuk Mo-yung |
| Kwan Suet-lai | Kam Pou-sat | Shek Koon-yam |
| Yik Kar | Sheung-koon Ching | Cheung-suen Hung |
| See Ming | Sheung-koon Yin | |
| Miu Kar-lai | Princess Consort | Imperial Consort of Lou-lan |
| Choi King-fai | Lang Mou-mei | Lau Mou-mei |
| Mannor Chan | Sui-mou Tin-kei | Sui-mou Yam-kei |
| Leung Tin | Pik-yuk Mo-koi | |
| Yip Tin-hang | Tin-fung Sap-say-long | |
| Wong Wai | Ja-kam-yee | Ja-mo-hup |
| Ling Man-hoi | King of Yin-hap | King of Lou-lan |
| Cheung Hoi-yiu | To Fan | To Wai |
| Cheng Lui | General Man | |
| Kui Ngok | Hung Tung-kwok | |
| Ma Tsung-tak | Lau Fei-yin / Tsui Fung-muk | |
| Ko Hung | Sze-to Lau-sing | |
| Lee Tin-ying | Mak Chun-tin | |
| Ng Wing-sum | Green Beard | |
| Mok Hing-chung | Lung Kim-fei | |
| Ng Tung | Lee Koon-yu | |
| Lee Gong | Lei Suet-hang | Lei Yuk-ham |
| Yuen Wai-hung | Golden Monkey | Monkey Suen |
| Cheung Hung-cheung | Au-yeung Yuk | |
| Tung Piu | Ng Kuk-hin | |
| Man Chin-sui | Sheung-koon Seon | |
| Lam Kam-tong | Iron Ear Divine Constable | |
| Nora Miao | Ko Nga | Ko Nga-nam |