Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Peter Kwong La

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA – Rain (Peter Kwong) Straw Hat. This oversized hand woven straw hat was worn by the character "Rain", portrayed by actor Peter Kwong in John Carpenter's 1986 cult classic Big Trouble In Little China starring Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall. Mr. Kwong wore this exaggerated version of a traditional Chinese style hat in multiple scenes throughout the film along, with the other two "Storm" characters, "Thunder" and "Lightning" (portrayed by Carter Wong and James Pax respectively). Mr. Kwong first appeared wearing the hat in the scene where "Jack Burton" (Russell) and his friend "Wang Chi" (Dennis Dun) stumble across a gang fight in an alleyway of San Francisco's Chinatown and witness the arrival of the "Three Storms", who descend from the sky and use their supernatural powers to disperse the enemies of their master, the evil magician "Lo Pan" (played by James Hong). Rain and his partners disable several gunmen with their throwing knives and produce individual weapons to continue the battle (Rain's weapons of choice being a set of steel claw hands). Burton and Wang then drive through the alleyway, forcing the three to avoid being run over. Rain later appears wearing the hat during the scene where the Three Storms invade a local brothel and kidnap Wang's girlfriend "Miao Yin" (portrayed by Suzee Pai) in order to enable Lo Pan to marry her and become flesh again. Rain appears wearing the hat for the last time during the scene where he captures Burton and Wang, temporarily foiling their attempt to rescue Miao Yin from Lo Pan's lair, "The Wing Kong Exchange". The hat measures approximately 30 inches in diameter by 14 inches tall and has the original black stretch fabric cap with Velcro neck closure attached to the inside crown to keep the hat in place, and attached brown cloth strips with fixed knots used as chinstraps as seen in the film. Mr. Kwong relied on elaborate knotting of the chinstraps to secure the hat during filming and wore the black neck pieces of the attached cap tucked behind his head, providing a distinctive look different from the other two Storm characters. In an interesting side note, the signature look of the Three Storms hats created for Big Trouble in Little China later inspired the look of the character "Raiden" from the Mortal Kombat franchise. The item is in good screen worn condition and is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the costume house that supplied the wardrobe to the production.