Half a Loaf of Kung Fu

Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1978) is a Hong Kong action comedy with a young Jackie Chan that you can watch online on iFILM. A penniless daydreamer takes on the identity of a dead martial-arts hero and is instantly swept into a hunt for a stash of sacred artifacts.

Several clans are scheming to seize the precious cargo an escort company is transporting, and our fraud of a hero — no training, all bluff — has to learn to fight for real, fast. From there it runs on Chan's early signature: acrobatics, slapstick gags, sly parody of self-serious wuxia, and a couple of teachers hammering the basics into him. Chen Chi-Hwa, a regular Chan collaborator of that era, directs.

This is the period when Chan was still sculpting the lovable clown who wins through wit and stubbornness rather than brute force. The draw here is mainly for fans of 1970s Hong Kong cinema and anyone curious where comedy kung fu began. Stream Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1978) online on iFILM.