The House of 72 Tenants (七十二家房客) is a 1973 Hong Kong film directed by Chor Yuen. It is a remake of a 1963 Chinese film of the same name. It was the top box office film of 1973 in Hong Kong, surpassing Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon.

Plot

Early in the morning, Shanghai-po (a laundress tenant) goes to fetch a bucket of water from the slum's public water pump, but quickly has trouble making the water come out. The film then goes on to introduce the many tenants living in the slum and how helpful and friendly they are to each other. Once the water pump starts working, Pak-ku (the slum's cruel landlady) scolds the tenants to turn off the water because they're using too much. Shanghai-po reminds Pak-ku saying that everyone pays their share of the water bill and how she made a deal with Pak-ku to iron and wash Pak-ku's laundry in return for unlimited buckets of water. Pak-ku makes a new rule for all the tenants, saying that from now on, everyone only gets one bucket of water a day! Shanghai-po is outraged by this because she runs a laundry washing service. However, Ah Fook (a really smart olive vendor tenant) backs Shanghai-po up by saying that everyone can save half of their daily water aside for Shanghai-po (meaning Shanghai-po will get at least 32 buckets of water a day!). Pak-ku then drags Shanghai-po out of her house to argue with her, but while they argue, the pants that Shanghai-po was ironing have a hole burnt through them. After thinking that the pants belonged to Dr. Kim (a doctor tenant), they actually belonged to Chow Bing Ken (Pak-ku's sleazy husband). This results in both Pak-ku and Chow Bing Ken physically abusing Ah Heung (their adopted daughter). However, Fat Chai (the newly moved-in cobbler tenant) defends Ah Heung. Fat Chai and Chow Bing Ken get into a fight. During the fight, Pak-ku steals a beautiful piece of cloth from Mr and Mrs Chan (a couple who are tailors) and stuffs the cloth into her husband's pocket; however, he is caught in the act by Ah Fook.