A Girl Called Tigress (1973)

Don't mess with her sister!

A Girl Called Tigress, a typical low budget Taiwanese kung fu flick, had a few things working in its favor. Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng played a dual role, Kurata Yasuaki delivered his usual menacing villain role, and before he was typecast in villain roles, "Mallet Fist" Chin Kang played a good guy. There was even a semblance of a story that wasn't based on a secret list!

Polly played Shu Fung, a hot headed martial artist who was searching for her mild mannered twin sister, Mishi. When she stopped on her journey for a quick bite to eat she was accosted by several thugs. Big mistake on their part. After Polly had a table flipping, face kicking good time, the thugs ran off with their tails between their legs. Per usual, thugs in martial arts movies have plenty of other jerks to call on and they waited for her in the woods. As she was holding them off, Chin Kang arrived to help her out. Everyone thought she was Big Bad Chiau Kung's woman, who of course turned out to be her sister. Chin Kang was in town to solve a murder and several thefts. Mishi, the twin sister, had gotten into a "Runaway Joe" situation when she left her family to be with A Chung, the unlucky thief who died at the hands of Chiau Kung. Chiau had kept Mishi locked in his compound ever since. Eventually, all the parties collided as Shu Fung attempted to free her sister from Chiau and Chin Kang sought the evidence to arrest Chiau on, while Chiau and his gang tried to kill all the other parties involved including a rival boss who owned a brick kiln where the goods had been hidden! Suffice to say, there were plenty of fights!

Lung Fong's and Leung Siu Chung's fight choreography was kick heavy and Polly was athletic and fierce enough to keep up. Kurata was fast and as always, fun to watch. Chin Kang's size and surprising agility along with his meaty fists made for entertaining fights as well. I was pleased that Polly's character was able to dish out the final vengeance instead of leaving it to the larger Chin Kang. The cast boasted a large number of actors who could double as stuntmen and they made the hits and kicks convincing as they flew and tumbled backwards. The final long fight's choreography was done well enough to make it believable, not an easy task when having an actress spar with Kurata.

Polly played cocky in a way that wasn't a turnoff and took no prisoners with her attitude. Chin Kang made for a likeable good guy. He, like Lo Lieh, would end up largely typecast as villains during their careers. Kurata Yasuaki, a real-life karate expert, played menacing and skeevy like no one else.

This movie will not go down as a great kung fu flick or even one of Polly's best, but it delivered what it promised-double the Polly and almost non-stop action with a mostly coherent story. For fans of Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng and old martial arts movies that's usually enough.

3/22/23

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