The Prince of Temple Street


The Prince of Temple Street is a 1992 Hong Kong crime drama film directed by Jeffrey Chiang and starring Andy Lau, Joey Wong, Deanie Ip and Ng Man-tat. Aside of portraying the titular protagonist in the film, Lau also briefly reprises his role as "Lee Rock", the real life-inspired protagonist from the film series of the same name.

Plot

Triad leader Chiu calls up a meeting hoping to find someone willing to adopt an abandoned male infant he picked up in Temple Street. During the meeting, nobody was able to stop the infant from crying until it was passed to a servant's arms. He is Tong Chau-sui, who is chosen as the adoptive father of the infant. Because there were twelve people in the meeting and everyone were the infant's godparents, Chiu names the infant Tong Sap-yee, whom everyone calls as "Prince Twelve".
On the surface, Prince Twelve seems like a favored person, but down his heart, he is lonelier than everyone else. His adoptive father, Chau-sui, is a worker of a mahjong house in Temple Street while his adoptive mother, Phoenix, is an ex-prostitute who claims to have abandoned his son in Temple Street on the same day Twelve was abandoned, and thus, treats Prince Twelve as her biological son.
The renowned Prince Twelve has a rival named Lap Ling, who is the leader of the Kwoon Chung Gang and a person more terrible than a devil. One day, Prince Twelve meets a girl who came preaching at Temple Street named Teresa. From the first moment he looked at her, he fell in love with her.

Cast

Theme song

  • Things I Used to Hold Tight On / Me and the Dreams I Chase
  • *Composer: Steve Chow
  • *Lyricist: Calvin Poon, Steve Chow
  • *Singer: Andy Lau

Box office

The film grossed HK$12,620,570 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run from 20 August to 3 September 1992 in Hong Kong.