Where did you get the opportunity to watch those early films John? Any DVDs out there?

From the top of my head and out of the few Chinese/Hongkong films I've seen (probably not more than 50) these are the great ones:

Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)
The Fate of Lee Khan (King Hu, 1973)
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (Chia-Liang Liu, 1983)
The Blue Kite (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1993)
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai, 1995)
Surveillance (Jianxin Huang, Yazhou Yang, 1997)
Beijing Bicycle (Xiaoshuai Wang, 2000)
Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, 2000)
Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)
Public Toilet (Fruit Chan, 2002)
Springtime in a Small Town (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 2002)
House of the Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)

Not quite as good, but very much recommended:

One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1967)
A Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1969)
New One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1971)
The Horse Thief (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1986)
Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-Wai, 1991)
The Bride with White Hair (Ronny Yu, 1993)
The Blade (Hark Tsui, 1995)
Not One Less (Yimou Zhang, 1999)
Happy Times (Yimou Zhang, 2001)
Little Red Flowers (Yuan Zhang, 2006)