HK Cinema - 1991
In 1991 the film To Be Number One came out starring Ray Lui and was a big box-office hit. The film was based on the story of a real life criminal called Gimpy Ho. This set off a spate of similar type of crime dramas based on real life figures.

Some others that followed were:

Lee Rock – a three film series starring Andy Lau about the namesake of the title who joined the police force in the 1950’s and became one of the more famous crooked cops in HK history.

Legend of the Chiuchow Brothers – again with Ray Lui, Kent Cheng and Nina Li. This film details the lives of the Ma Brothers – top crooks during the 60’s.

Lord of East China Seas I & II – Yes- Ray Lui again stars as a top triad kingpin of the first half of the 20th century – To Yuet-sang.

The Incorruptible – for some reason Ray Lui seemed to get a number of these bio-roles. In this one he plays a topnotch cop – Inspector Charles Lee Lok-fu – who fought the triads through the 1950’s. Lee advised on the film set.

Powerful Four – a terrific cast of Simon Yam, Danny Lee, Waise Lee and Kent Cheung portray four crooked cops in the 1960’s (one of whom is Lee Rock).

Casino Tycoon – Andy Lau portrays the life of a Macao casino tycoon Stanley Ho and takes place over the decades of the 1930’s through the 1960’s.

Casino – In a film financed by the subject himself, Simon Yam is 'Brokentooth' Wan Kuok-Koi a Macao casino triad figure in the 1990’s.