To Our Readers

DONALD MORRISON Editor, TIME AsiaWe're always pleased when one of our contributors finds success in another field. So we note with great satisfaction that Jackie Chan, who made his literary debut with a charming autobiographical essay in TIME's 1997 special issue on Hong Kong, has found fame in the movie business. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The real subject of this letter is Richard Corliss, our cinema critic. He first met Chan in 1987 at the New York Film Festival. A member of the festival's selection committee, Corliss helped arrange the screening of Police Story, starring a Hong Kong actor unknown to most Americans.Corliss describes the scene: The audience, primed for some pensive Chinese drama, instead saw a man run after a bus, latch onto its side with an umbrella handle, pull himself into the vehicle and kick beaucoup butt. At the panel discussion I moderated afterward, Jackie charmed the hall. He enumerated his wounds. He said he was pleased to see that the audience had leaned forward in their seats during the film, expecting the impossible. 'For my films, people lean forward. If you sit back, that's Kramer vs. Kramer.' I got the inkling Jackie thought the festival might finally launch him to Hollywood stardom. That would have to wait a while.The while is over. Rush Hour, Chan's new action-comedy-thriller, set box office records in the U.S. and is about to do the same across Asia. In this week's cover story, Corliss describes that long road to glory. He should know. He and Chan have kept in touch since that panel discussion. In 1995, Chan hosted a banquet for Corliss and another writer visiting Hong Kong and then took them to the set of the race-car epic Thunderbolt. A typical movie shoot, says Corliss. Ten seconds of filming followed by 10 minutes of waiting. Jackie spent most of the night talking with us. The man never gets tired. When Rumble in the Bronx opened the following year, Corliss repaid the favor by inviting Chan to lunch with me and other TIME editors in New York. As Corliss recounts it: He gave a beguiling, typically energetic performance. He spent more time on his feet than in his seat. He didn't touch his main course but ate three or four desserts. And for this small, enthralled crowd, Jackie was the main course--a Chinese banquet of star quality. For a glimpse of that genius--Chan's as a performer, Corliss' in describing him--see this week's cover story. For a fuller account of Chan's rise to stardom, see his new autobiography, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action. We're pleased that he has continued writing, having shown such promise.