cmeloni673 — 10 years ago(October 23, 2015 01:46 PM)

Jim Kelly was one of the most popular regular performers in Robert Clouse films throughout the 70's.
In 1973 he co-starred along John Saxon in the iconic ENTER THE DRAGON (the greatest martial arts film ever made in history), then a year later he played the lead in the super-cool BLACK BELT JONES and then again in 1974, co-starred alongside Joe Don Baker in the unusual but extremely original GOLDEN NEEDLES (a mixture of martial arts, mysticism and exotic adventure).
The two of them were going to work together for a fourth time, but I read somewhere that due to contract ties this wasn't possible at the time (too bad since the alliance Clouse-Kelly was absolutely explosive..!).
Although he did not start off his career with Robert Clouse, it was Bob Clouse who launched Kelly into international stardom (just like he did with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock).
Unfortunately, both Clouse and Kelly have passed away but their work will truly live forever amongst fans of martial arts /action cinema.