Shanghai Noon -- Yankee Chan andthe princess

Shanghai Noon -- Yankee Chan andthe princess

The Wild West meets the Far East in Shangahi Noon, in which a ChineseImperial Guard Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) comes to America to rescue PrincessPei Pei (Lucy Liu) who has been kidnapped. He has for help a partner hedoesn't trust (Owen Wilson), a wife he didn't expect (Brandon Merrill), ahorse with a personality of its own, and martial arts moves no one canbelieve. With the above aids, Chon finds himself facing some of thedeadliest gun-slingers.

The film marks the feature film directorial debut of Tom Dey, who is asuccessful director of television commercials. Dey was attracted to theoriginality of the story. Says he, "From the first page of the screenplay itwas visually very exciting with great possibilities for the characters."

For Dey, the film was an opportunity to create multiple worlds for theaudience, including The Forbidden City in China, a Native American village,a Chinese railroad camp, a Western town and an old steam engine train, amongothers. The director set out with a very focussed concept of what heintended to achieve with this film. "Visually, it was very important to meto paint as large a canvas as possible, as well as give the film a realisticlook," Dey explains, "The anamorphic (wide-screen) format also gives thepicture a big movie feel reminiscent of classic Westerns."

The concept of Shanghai Noon took root during the shooting of the JackieChan hit Rush Hour. Producers Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman werediscussing with Jackie ideas for other projects, and Chan came up with astory that eventually became Shanghai Noon. The producers were instantlyattracted to the idea of Jackie Chan in the Old West. "Jackie turning all ofthe Western icons upside down. I thought it was a great idea," they say, "Heis a remarkable physical comedian and we imagined a Buster Keaton type ofcomedy set in the Old West."

Chan, on his part, was quite passionate about the story. And when producerBirnbaum expressed interest in his story, it was a dream come true for theinternational star. Says Chan, "I had written a draft in Hong Kong, but itwas totally Asian. The American writers made it into a true Western. I haveto admit, I knew very little about the West and Native Americans."

The actor was always a fan of the western movie genre. "Being a cowboy andliving the cowboy life was always my dream," he says, "When I was a verylittle boy, I dressed up and had my picture taken as a cowboy. I think thatthe way they look is so interesting and after making this movie I nowunderstand why they wore boots and chaps, the hats and the bandanas.Everyday on the set I found my dreams of being a cowboy coming true."

The audiences worldwide love Chan's humour and vulnerability, feels producerBirnbaum. "They respond to his humanity. He can be very funny and extremelyphysical, but when you look into his eyes, you know that there is a reallygood man in there. He's genuinely a warm and giving man and it shows onscreen," says the producer.

Chan's filmmaking skills were a big help, especially his choreography of theaction sequences, besides his suggestions to first-time director Dey. LucyLiu, who plays Princess Pei Pei, is all praise for Chan's generosity. She'shis big fan and has watched many of his films. Says she, "Jackie is a masterat physical comedy. I pretty much jumped at the chance to work with him."

For Shanghai Noon, Chan had to learn horse-riding, which wasn't a part ofhis repertoire earlier. "I was afraid of horses before Shanghai Noon," theactor reveals, "I would pet them but not ride them because I was alwaysafraid that I would be thrown off the horse. But after 10 days of lessons, Iknew that I could control the horse, and wanted to find out how to get thehorse up on its back legs like `The Lone Ranger'."

This action-adventure was released at the same time as the TomCruise-starrer Mission Impossible 2, and it proved tough competition for theeagerly awaited and much-hyped sequel.