A group of small-time criminals (Shum, Yuen and Tsui) go to rob wealthy patrons in a hotel and accidentally stumble on a Triad hit, where they unknowingly obtain a microfilm that contains a Triad boss' dirty dealings. Hot-headed cop Yeoh tries to get the film back while trying to work around a gweilo Interpol cop (Rothrock) on the same case.

The plot is pretty unoriginal and the script is sloppy to say the least. Yes! Madam also wastes a lot of time in comical scenes involving the bumbling criminals. But the action is top-notch. This is one of Yeoh's better early roles and some of Rothrock's best work; the final battle in the Triad boss' mansion pays back any boredom encountered during the rest of the film in spades. This movie inspired many knock-offs featuring other female action stars and opened the gate for other gweilos to appear in HK movies in starring roles.

Due to the dubbing, re-editing and re-titling of the movies for international release, there is some confusion as to exactly what movies fall in the In the Line of Duty series. There are several theories about the time line, but this is the one I subscribe to:

• ITLOD1 = Royal Warriors (1986)
• ITLOD2 = Yes Madam (1985) -- this is sometimes called ITLOD 1 because it came out first chronologically.
• ITLOD3 = Force of the Dragon (1988) -- called Yes Madam 2 in some territories; this was the first film to come out in Hong Kong with the ITLOD name. It was also the first movie featuring Cynthia Khan; some international prints and their related promotions had her as Michelle Yeoh's sister (Yeoh was going under then name Michelle Khan at the time) and so Royal Warriors and Yes Madam were released as ITLOD1 and 2 in Europe -- subsequent pressings of HK media (VHS/DVD) also incorporate the name.
• ITLOD4 = Witness (1989) -- this also goes by the name of Survival or Key Witness; in the UK, this is packaged on DVD as ITLOD1. It's easy to spot the difference becuase Donnie Yen (who does not appear in any of the other movies in the series) stars in it.
• ITLOD5 = Middle Man (1990) -- this was released on video as ITLOD2 in some countries.
• ITLOD6 = Forbidden Arensal (1991)
• ITLOD7 = Sea Wolves (1991)
• The movie Queens High is sometimes marketed as ITLOD5 as a prequel to the series, but it really has nothing to do with it (Cynthia Khan actually plays a villain, not a cop in the movie).

A review of the DVD for this movie can be found here

Click here to view a clip from this movie (clip courtesy of Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre)

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