Shangkuan I-yun (Hwang Jang-li) has developed the deadly eagle claw style to devastating effect on the follower of the Snake Fist technique, killing all except the groups dithering leader Pai Chang-tien (Simon Yuen Siu-tien). When harried orphan Chien Fu (Jackie Chan) saves Pais life, the master teaches the youth some of the finer points of the Snake Fist style. When Chien nurses Pai back to health following an ambush by two of Shangkuans followers, Pai teaches the lad everything he knows. Later, Chien watches with amazement as his pet cat kills a cobra, giving him the beginning of a new deadlier technique that eventually defeats the evil Shangkuan. This film helped created Jackie Chans winning screen persona as a put-upon everyman and kung-fu comedian. This film proved to be so popular that director Yuen Woo-ping, Simon Yuen, and Chan went on to make the smash hit Drunken Master later that year. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide