The Contract (1978 film)

The Contract (Chinese: 賣身契) is a 1978 Hong Kong comedy film written, directed by and starring Michael Hui. The film also co-stars Hui's brothers, Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui. It was very successful at the Hong Kong box office being the highest-grossing film there at the time.^[3]

The Contract
Traditional Chinese	賣身契
Simplified Chinese	卖身契
Hanyu Pinyin	Mài shēn qì
Jyutping	maai6 san1 kai3
Directed by	Michael Hui
Screenplay by	Michael Hui So Chi-hung[1]
Produced by	Raymond Chow
Starring	Michael Hui Samuel Hui Ricky Hui
Cinematography	Tom Lau
Edited by	Peter Cheung
Music by	Samuel Hui
Production company	Golden Harvest
Distributed by	Golden Harvest
Release date	3 August 1978 (1978-08-03)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$7,823,019[2]

Cast

• Michael Hui as Sit Chi-man
• Samuel Hui as Chiu Sai-kit
• Ricky Hui as Sit Chi-ying
• Tiffany Bao as Ms. Wang
• Ellen Lau as Chu Ling-ling
• Yeung Wai as Ms. Wang's eye-path assistant
• Cheng Fu-hing as King Kong
• Russell Cawthorne as Guru
• Chan King-cheung as MTV chairman
• Cheng Siu-ping as Mrs. Li
• Kwong Kwan-ning as Mr. Kwong
• Lee Pang-fei as Cat TV manager
• Chiu Chun as MTV board of director
• Fong Yue as Woman coming out of elevator
• Huang Pa-ching as Mrs. Li
• Man Sau as Man's mother
• Pan Yung-sheng as Audience for alien show
• Kwan Yan as Audience at magic show
• Cheung Sek-Au as Audience at magic show
• Johnny Koo as one of three bank robbers
• Kam Tin-chue as MTV board of director
• Si Lau-wa
• Lau Cheun
• Hoh Wan

Reception

The Contract was a commercial success, earning HK$7,820,019 at the box office^[4]

In The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997, John Charles described The Contract as "totally disarming and one of The Hui's Brothers most consistently amusing efforts"^[5] while Stephen Teo in his book Hong Kong Cinema: the Extra Dimensions wrote "Michael Hui ended the decade with arguably his best film".^[6]

The film was nominated for three Golden Horse Awards in 1978, and was Michael Hui's first and last nomination for a Golden Horse Award, until his nomination for Best Actor for his work in the 2016 film Godspeed at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.^[7]

Accolades

Award	Date	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
15th Golden Horse Awards	1978	Best Film Editing	Peter Cheung	Won	[8]
		Best Director	Michael Hui	Nominated
		Best Feature Film	Golden Harvest (HK) Limited	Nominated

Album

The Contract is Sam Hui's fifth Cantopop album with the title track being the film's theme song. In Asia soundtrack has shifted 500,000 units.^[9]

The Contract 賣身契
Studio album by Sam Hui
Released	July 1978
Genre	Cantopop
Language	Cantonese
Label	PolyGram
Sam Hui chronology
The God of Wealth Has Arrived 財神到 (1978) The Contract 賣身契 (1978) 79 Summer Song Collection 79夏日之歌集 (1979)

Track listing

1. "賣身契"
2. "舞伴"
3. "男兒漢"
4. "世事如棋"
5. "應該要自愛"
6. "人生的道路"
7. "學生哥"
8. "杯酒當歌"
9. "拜拜"
10. "相思萬千重"
11. "飲勝"
12. "父母恩"
13. "太空舞"（音樂）