The Driving Power

TING KWAI MUI is a righteous, benevolent heir to a gang leader. A self-proclaimed lady-killer, he is in fact happily married to a loving wife and is the proud father of their only daughter. His biggest fear is growing old and being told about it. MUI’s daughter MING CHU has grown up to be a fine young woman, which causes his concerns over her personal life. While doing grocery shopping for his wife LOK FU YUNG, he catches the eye of the sales lady LISA WONG. MUI gets injured in a football match. The doctor HUNG MIN tends to his wound, but MUI takes advantage to harass her and gets a good tongue-lashing from her. MUI comes to LISA’s rescue when she is harassed by a man. To prove his charm, MUI assumes the identity of YUNG’s brother LOK KAU KEI and asks LISA out. CHU seeks the company of her friend WONG KAI YIN to attend a ball, during which YIN asks to kiss her on the cheek. MUI appears to teach the young man a hard-learnt lesson……

LISA claims to be KEI’s girlfriend in order not to arouse YUNG’s suspicion. Nonetheless, KEI’s fragmented and incoherent account of his encounter with LISA fails the wife’s scrutiny. To clear YUNG’s suspicion once and for all, MUI puts on an act with the help of KEI and LISA. MUI’s philandering uncle TING HA seems not contented with marrying three women — his first wife FUNG WONG and two concubines SHEUNG SZE and WA MEI. His date with the fourth woman TO KUEN is chanced upon by the three wives, who beat up the woman in a fit of rage. After HA’s mediation, the three women agree reluctantly to his taking of TO as his fourth mistress. Learning that MIN’s clinic has been mortgaged to the TING family, LISA urges MUI to claim the property back as their love nest. But when MUI rejects her request, LISA takes her case to YUNG at the TING’s residence so as to make MUI yield……

YUNG follows WONG’s advice and conducts a routine inspection of the clinic before claiming back the property. The band of sworn brothers who work at the clinic plead for a leniency period so that they can raise money to redeem the mortgage, while promising that they will keep it a secret. YUNG has wittingly applied the wisdom of Chinese medicine learnt from MIN on the taming of her husband and wins the applause of WONG and other women. YUNG heaves a sigh of relief as MUI has passed the fidelity tests after returning from his work in the dance hall. The sworn brothers approach MUI to make an accommodation but with no success. CHU tries to keep an eye on her father at work by visiting the dance hall in the company of a friend. Though MUI is able to conceal his flirting with other women initially, his phony acts are soon exposed by MIN. CHU leaves in a rage and chances on LEI. She is consoled by him……

Though displeased with the hiring of MIN as their family bodyguard, MUI stomachs his discontent in order to conciliate YUNG. CHU solicits MIN’s help to find LEI, who happens to be seeking treatment in her clinic and is mistaken as one of the abductors. To pacify CHU, YUNG tricks MUI into giving his approval to hiring LEI as their family tutor. MIN is ordered by YUNG to follow MUI, but the husband manages to escape from the preying eyes of the spy to attend the meeting with the dance hall’s procuress JENNY and her new recruit, LILY. In order to hasten LILY’s move to his dance hall, MUI negotiates terms with BROTHER FAT of the Dark Dance Hall. Push comes to shove, and then fisticuffs, and the two men end up being detained by the police. YUNG bails MIN out and confronts MUI in the dance hall. YUNG mistakes LILY as MUI’s mistress and gives her a slap across her face before JENNY can offer an explanation……

Though MIN no longer works for the TINGs, she still delivers MUI from the deadly pursuit of his foes. When she realizes that she has wrongly blamed MUI, she offers him her apologies. CHU goes to MUI’s restaurant to observe her father at work. Instead, she learns the truth that both HA and her father are gangsters who often resort to violence, and that their secret dealings have been known to YUNG all along. She leaves in a fit of rage. MUI abandons his dance hall business to look for her missing daughter. CHU is finally moved by YUNG’s hearty talk and reconciles with her parents, much to the relief of LEI. MIN is prevailed on by YUNG to resume her work as bodyguard at the TINGs. MUI chances on LEI and CHU inside a theater where the young man is declaring his love for CHU and becomes so upset that he injures himself in the chaos ensues. LEI’s courtship of CHU receives everyone’s blessing, except the exasperated MUI……

YUNG is hesitant over the invitation of the director of the home to perform in a fund-raising event. LISA, heavily indebted to a loan shark, applies to work as a taxi dancer. KEI takes pity on her and gives her money to send home. Knowing that MUI will not consent to her going on stage, YUNG rehearses the song numbers stealthily on the clinic’s rooftop balcony. MUI hires LISA’s service to seduce LEI. To KEI’s huge disappointment, she agrees to go along the plan. However, LEI ignores LISA’s seductive moves. The reason behind LEI’s indifference strikes her when she is nursing KEI’s wounds. MUI is displeased with the unshaken loyalty and trust his family has in MIN. Having found out that MIN has given YUNG a hand in her rehearsal, he denounces MIN for her nosiness. In turn, MIN criticizes MUI’s narrow-mindedness. MUI takes YUNG home. KEI and LISA again set up a trap for LEI……

LEI claims to be an inferior match to CHU so as to hoax the father of the bride to pay for the wedding expenses. Meanwhile, his buddy PETER MAK is celebrating LEI’s success in being taken under MUI’s wing. The family is so preoccupied with preparations for the wedding that they have forgotten to send an invitation to MUI’s grandmother LAU YUK LAN, who now lives in San Francisco. LAN is an authoritative and well-respected matriarch. Against the practice of polygamy, she has especially returned to Hong Kong to condemn HA for taking yet another concubine. Having learned about CHU’s wedding, she vents her anger on HA and MUI. LAN demands that LEI marry into the TING family, and LEI agrees. KEI is disheartened to learn that LISA has resorted to borrowing money from her employer in order to pay her debt to the loan shark……