Canto-pop king Sam Hui, future star of the hit ACES GO PLACES series makes his unremarkable big-screen debut alongside fighting starlet Polly Shang-Kwan in this modern action-comedy from FIST OF FURY director Lo Wei. It’s an overlong production with laughs and thrills spread a little too thin yet it’s still a notable early showcase for some of kung fu cinema’s top talents including Angela Mao, Carter Wong and action director Han Ying-chieh.

Actor-turned-director Lo Wei gets little respect today for his output during his latter independent filmmaking period with attempts to turn Jackie Chan into a Bruce Lee clone and wuxia star and to exploit the star’s eclipsing success with the dreadful hack job that is FEARLESS HYENA 2. Yet back in the early 1970s he was still one of Hong Kong’s leading genre filmmakers who had proven his ability as both a writer and director with hits like THE SHADOW WHIP and, of course, FIST OF FURY, a film that remains superior to Bruce Lee’s subsequent work without Lo Wei’s involvement. His ability to create memorable characters has not received the appreciation it deserves. BACK ALLEY PRINCESS sees Lo Wei’s broad filmmaking talents in full swing as he presents another iconic character popular enough to spawn a sequel.

Not many women would be willing to dress as a man for an entire production and fewer still as a dowdy homeless man. Yet that is exactly what the vivacious 23-year-old Polly Shang-Kwan does in her role as “Chili Boy,” or as the international release describes her, the “Hot Pepper Kid.” She’s a spunky, street-smart con artist who pretends to be a boy and even has her loyal partner, with the equally silly name of “Embroidered Pillow” (Sam Hui) fooled, if not the audience. This convention works in a modern setting, in part because it’s understandable why a smart homeless girl would want to hide her gender with the wolfish pimps running about that we later meet. How anyone could miss Polly’s curves is beyond me but she frequently dressed up as a man in her films. This convention has roots in the wuxia genre where women would frequently dress as men in period settings in order to be treated as equals and fight as equals.

Just as their money begins to run dry, Chili Boy and her partner hook up with a troupe of martial arts-trained street performers led by Tien Feng (KING BOXER). With her colorful personality, sharp wits and street fighting ability, she quickly becomes a beloved member of a poor tenement community that soon finds itself in need when the daughter of the kindly landlady (Wang Lai) is robbed of her tuition fees while on the way to school. Chili Boy comes to the rescue by pickpocketing replacement money from a rich lawyer named Teng Hse-lien (Tony Liu). Although she’s caught in the act, Teng buys a made-up sob story and lets her go with the money and a small bonus. She later calls on him to represent the tenants in court when they’re faced with an unfair rent hike. When the landlady’s daughter is kidnapped by thugs who sell her to a ruthless pimp (Han Ying-chieh), the lawyer is unable to help the tenants. Unwilling to wait for the police to act, they hatch a plan to have Tien’s martial arts-trained daughter (Angela Mao) and Chili Boy, dressed as a woman (even though everyone still thinks she is a boy), infiltrate the pimp’s headquarters and rescue the landlady’s daughter.

The film hinges on Shang-Kwan’s energetic performance and she nails it wonderfully, even though it may seem exaggerated or a little goofy today. It was good enough at the time to earn her a Golden Horse award for Best Actress. Although opportunity is limited, she proves to be equally impressive in her screen fighting, one of her few examples set in a modern setting.

For genre fans, the film is most notable for having the only screen pairing of Polly Shang-Kwan and Angela Mao, the first true female fighting stars of the classic kung fu era (1970-1985). Both actresses were well trained in martial arts and screen fighting prior to this film. Polly had a background in taekwondo, karate and judo and Angela had 14 years of well-rounded Chinese opera experience behind her.

Angela’s Chinese opera skills are proven in a brief street performance early on where she displays some amazing stick handling. Later, the two women trade blows on a rooftop in a rare match-up. Eventually, they team up, first to kick around thugs who are harassing one of the tenement residents and later against action director Han Ying-chieh in an all-out battle to the finish. Angela may not be the star of this movie but if not for Polly’s strong personality, she would have stolen the show with her beauty and amazing fighting moves. Lucky for us, Angela got her chance to shine in the lead numerous times beginning with her debut in LADY WHIRLWIND (1971).

Although absent through most of the movie, at least in front of the screen, Han Ying-chieh enjoys a welcome showcase near the end as he faces off against Polly and Angela. While he’s dishing out fierce moves onscreen, Han orchestrates an impressive large-scale brawl with layered skirmishes that the camera pans around to. It’s hard enough to shoot a fight between just two actors in a single take but Han really goes all out to have his stunt actors all working hard, even in the background. It’s a good fighting climax, hindered only by an obviously misaligned finishing move involving tandem flying kicks from the leading ladies.

Sporting studded armbands, Carter Wong (THE 18 BRONZEMEN) also gets his chance to show off briefly when he’s assaulted by a gang of thugs. Otherwise, he’s relegated to a rather small supporting role. This was Carter’s first appearance with Polly Shang-Kwan but not the last. The two teamed up again three years later in another Golden Harvest production with THE TRAITOROUS and subsequently appeared in a string of period kung fu movies in Taiwan beginning with Joseph Kuo’s RETURN OF THE 18 BRONZEMEN.

BACK ALLEY PRINCESS is not a typical martial art or comedy movie from this period and this is why it has added value and perhaps also limited appeal to a broader audience today. I would group it with a small number of dated films coming out around the same time that attempted to mix martial arts action with varying degrees of limited social commentary. Films that include THE DELINQUENT and THE TEA HOUSE depicted the plight of the underprivileged immigrants and neglected youth of Hong Kong at the time while using martial arts action and violence as a conduit for victims to lash out against injustices. In BACK ALLEY PRINCESS and most of these other films, it was always up to the victims or other ordinary citizens to rely on vigilante justice. The rundown, real-world settings and large numbers of extras used for the film have a great amount of character that doesn’t really exist in Hong Kong anymore.

There is also an added layer of depth in the depiction of a disparity between classes. BACK ALLEY PRINCESS makes a strong distinction between being a poor immigrant who only speaks Chinese and a rich local who knows English. As is usually the case, the heroes represent the uneducated bumpkins from the mainland and Polly Shang Kwan is their champion. If there is a villain among the upper class then it would be Helen Ma, who plays the lawyer’s boyfriend. She’s a sophisticate who belittles Polly but never gets her comeuppance. That honor is reserved for the kidnapping pimps who are enemies to all classes.

Lo Wei directed one sequel to BACK ALLEY PRINCESS the following year that was titled CHINATOWN CAPERS. Sam Hui and Polly Shang-Kwan reprised their roles with co-star Chin Yuet-sang on action directing duty along with Lam Ching-ying.

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  • http://www.kungfucinema.com/?cat=54 Jean Lukitsh

    Thanks for the write-up on this film, Mark. I didn’t know it was available on video. It’s one of the films discussed by Verina Glaessner in her 1974 book “Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance.” She also praised the way the film, although nominally a comedy, showed “life in an over-crowded Hong Kong on the brink of desperation.” I want to see it now!