Yes, this sex drama is Jackie Chan’s first acting role, but you have to watch it closely, as it’s not like he’s a major part of it.

Based on the book by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng — a pseudonym of someone who didn’t want their identity known — called Jin Ping Mei, it gets its name from three of the female characters: three central female characters: Pan Jinlian, whose name means Golden Lotus; the concubine Li Ping’er, whose name means Little Vase and maid Pang Chunmei, whose name means Spring plum blossoms, which means sexuality.

The book is a spin-off, of sorts from The Water Margin and All Men Are Brothers. It starts with Wu Song avenging the murder of his older brother by killing his brother’s former wife — and killer — Pan Jinlian. She was one of the many wives of Ximen Qing, who is killed in The Water Margin by Wu Song. In Jin Ping Mei, Pan Jinlian overdoses him on aphrodisiacs.

While only a small portion of the book is pornographic, it’s enough to get it banned from many libraries. That said, it has also been named as one of the “Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel” by scholar Andrew H. Plaks.

In the movie, Ximen Qing (Yueng Kwan) is a rich man who keeps adding to his collection of wives. One day, as he sees the dwarf Wu Dalang (Chiang Nan) selling pancakes in the street, he takes notice of the man’s wife, Pan Jinlian (Hu Chin). They soon fall in lust and murder her husband.

There’s no Wu Song in this, though his return is rumored. Thanks to Heroic Cinema, I learned that that story is part of another Li Han-hsiang movie, Tiger Killer. Beyond making that adaption of this story, he also made The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire in 1991 and The Amorous Lotus Pan in 1994.

As for Jackie Chan being in this, he’s the fruit vendor who figures out that the pancake seller has been murdered. He’s in the first part of the film, but with all this power, there’s no way anyone is going to jail for the crime.

I’m loving that 88 Films is giving us more than just martial arts Shaw Brothers movies. Here’s hoping that the entire output gets a chance to come out. I realize that I will be long gone before that happens, as that would be hundreds of films.

The 88 Films release of The Golden Lotus has a trailer, a stills gallery and a reversible sleeve with the original Hong Kong poster artwork. You can buy it from MVD.