| Once a Thief | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Based on | Once a Thief by John Woo Janet Chun Clifton Ko |
| Written by | Glenn Davis William Laurin |
| Directed by | John Woo |
| Starring | Sandrine Holt Ivan Sergei Nicholas Lea Michael Wong |
| Music by | Amin Bhatia Michele Worth |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Terence Chang Glenn Davis Christopher Godsick William Laurin John Woo |
| Producer | Wendy Grean |
| Production locations | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Cinematography | Bill Wong |
| Editors | Bert Kish David Wu |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CTV |
| Release | September 29, 1996 (1996-09-29) |
Once a Thief is a 1996 Canadian action comedy television film directed by John Woo. A remake of Woo’s 1991 film of the same name, it served as a backdoor pilot for a 1997-98 CTV series also of the same name. It stars Sandrine Holt, Ivan Sergei and Nicholas Lea.
The film premiered on September 29, 1996. It was originally produced for the American Fox Network and was hoped to be the beginning of a weekly series, but Fox passed on it, and the series aired instead on CTV.
Plot
The film is about two orphans - Mac Ramsey and Li Ann Tsei who have spent their life living with the Tang family - a ruthless Chinese organized crime syndicate. Mac and Li Ann were taken in by the Tang Godfather and have formed a close friendship with his son Michael.
When they grow up, Li Ann is betrothed to Michael, but falls in love with Mac so the two scheme to steal money from the Tang family and run off to start a new life. During the heist, Mac is arrested and Li Ann flees to Canada. 18 months later, Mac is released into the charge of a menacing woman known only as the Director who takes him to Canada to work for her crime-fighting team. He soon realizes he will be working with Li Ann and her former cop boyfriend Victor.
Cast
- Sandrine Holt as Li Ann Tsei
- Ivan Sergei as Mac Ramsey
- Nicholas Lea as Victor Mansfield
- Robert Ito as The Godfather
- Michael Wong as Michael Tang
- Alan Scarfe as Robertson Graves
- Jennifer Dale as The Director
- Nathaniel DeVeaux as Dobrinsky
- Greg Chan as Dance MC
- Young Ryu as Li Ann's Dance Partner
- Matthew Walker as Interpol Judge
- Paul Wu as Judge's Aide
- Phillip Tsui as Fong
- Derek Lowe as Mill Security Guard
TV series
Main article: Once a Thief (TV series)The spin-off series ran for one season.
See also
- Once a Thief (1991 film)
- Once a Thief (TV series)
References
External links
- Once a Thief at IMDb
- Once a Thief at the TCM Movie Database
 | This article related to a Canadian TV movie is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1996 television films
- 1996 films
- Canadian drama television films
- Canadian crime action films
- 1990s crime action films
- Canadian crime drama films
- 1996 crime drama films
- Films directed by John Woo
- Films scored by Amin Bhatia
- Films about orphans
- Films adapted into television shows
- Remakes of Hong Kong films
- Crime television films
- Canadian action television films
- 1990s English-language films
- 1990s Canadian films
- CTV Television Network original films
- English-language crime drama films
- English-language crime action films
- Canadian television film stubs