By Hook or by Crook (Chinese: 鹹魚番生) is a 1980 Hong Kong kung fu film produced and directed by Karl Maka and starring Sammo Hung.
The film starts out with a thief stealing jewelry from a millionaire Chin Pai Wen (Tang Ching). The family believes it was done by the infamous Flower Kid, who steals from the rich and gives it to the poor. They then hire Sheriff Butcher Wing (Karl Maka) to find him. However, Chin's wife (Yau Poon Ling) suggests Skinny Gee (Dean Shek), a con man who catches crooks, instead. So Butcher Wing tries to get Skinny Gee by framing him for harassing his sister and offers him a deal if he finds the Flower Kid. Gee manages to Flower Kid. Gee then tells Wing a plan to arrest Flower Kid by setting him up. They fail and Wing arrests Gee for fooling him. Flower Kid then arrives, disguised as a woman, to rescue Gee out of jail. It was a set up by Flower Kid and Gee. Later it is revealed that he is not the real Flower Kid. He is a man named Fatso (Sammo Hung) who idolizes Flower Kid and pretends to be him.
Fatso and Gee later finds the real Flower Kid (Wu Ma), who is now old and retired. Then it was also revealed who the thief was at the beginning of the film, a lover of
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