The Private Eyes
1976 1h 34m movie Film Hong Kong

The Private Eyes

半斤八兩

“Asia's top international comedy star creates the world's funniest private-eye.”

Synopsis

半斤八兩

“Asia's top international comedy star creates the world's funniest private-eye.”

The film revolves around the exploits of a detective agency in Hong Kong called Mannix Private Detective Agency. It is headed by private detective Wong Yeuk Sze (Michael Hui) with his emotionally drained assistant Puffy (Ricky Hui). Meanwhile, Lee Kwok Kit (Samuel Hui), a kung fu expert, who works at a Vitasoy plant factory and spends most of the time doing kung fu tricks to impress a girl, ultimately loses his job. Seeking to find another line of work, Lee attempts to joins Wong's detective agency. Despite Lee's impression with his kung fu talent which involves his snatching trick, Wong was not impressed. Then, as it appears that Lee would not get the job, Wong discovers that his wallet was missing and was presumed stolen by one bystander who bumped into them. Lee intercepts him and recovers the wallet, thus impressed Wong to hire him for the job.

The 1975–1977 Hong Kong Window

38 Hong Kong films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. The Private Eyes sits at position #12.

  1. The Man from Hong Kong
    #1

    The Man from Hong Kong

    ★ 6.9 · 1975

  2. Shaolin Wooden Men
    #2

    Shaolin Wooden Men

    ★ 6.8 · 1976

  3. Executioners from Shaolin
    #3

    Executioners from Shaolin

    ★ 6.7 · 1977

  4. The Flying Guillotine
    #4

    The Flying Guillotine

    ★ 6.7 · 1975

  5. The Magic Blade
    #5

    The Magic Blade

    ★ 6.6 · 1976

  6. The Invincible Armour
    #6

    The Invincible Armour

    ★ 6.6 · 1977

  7. Disciples of Shaolin
    #7

    Disciples of Shaolin

    ★ 6.6 · 1975

  8. All Men Are Brothers
    #8

    All Men Are Brothers

    ★ 6.6 · 1975

The 1970s Hong Kong Landscape

Catalog density by release year in the 1970s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Private Eyes premiered. 122 total titles in this decade from Hong Kong.

'703'7111'7210'737'749'758'7618'7712'7822'7922

Reception Benchmarks

6.3
TMDB Rating
28
Audience Reviews
Well Received
Critical Tier

Ranked #428 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (49th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Among Hong Kong Comedy productions specifically: #136 of 266 (top 51%).

Production Details

Primary Country Hong Kong
Original Language Cantonese
Production Companies Hui's Film Production Co., Ltd., Orange Sky Golden Harvest
Runtime 1h 34m
Release Date December 16, 1976
IMDb tt0074179

External Catalogs