The One-Armed Swordsman

The film that made Shaw Brothers switch to male leads and stay there for a decade. A swordsman loses his arm to his master's spoiled daughter, retreats into obscurity, and must return to defend the school that maimed him, fighting with a broken blade and one hand.

Chang Cheh's tale of wounded masculinity and loyalty was a huge hit and set the template for the studio's heroic-bloodshed cinema. Jimmy Wang Yu became a star. The one-armed hero became an archetype copied for years.

Foundational wuxia, and the start of an era.