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Temptress of a Thousand Faces (1969)


WangYu

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A couple of years ago, this movie of all Shaw Brothers films was on tv. It was the only time I ever seen a shaw brothers film broadcasted on tv.

I didn't expect anything at all but it was a very good action flick featuring various scenes of hand to hand combat. This is before "the Chinese boxer" but then again hand to hand combat was also seen in earlier wuxias so maybe it is not such a big deal as I make it out to be.

I don't know if it is a rare film or a cult favorite, perhaps you have all seen it but for me it came out of nowhere. If I have to compare it to something I'd say it is a more sexy action packed James Bond inspired film. Another film that springs to mind is Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik.

 

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ShawAngela

This movie is a very hard to find one, and when it pops up from time to time on ebay, the sellers ask for very high prices.

The Shaws did a few other Action Women Spies movies that are as good as the one, such as Angel with Iron fists and it's sequel Angel strikes again (which is even rarer than Temptress of a thousand faces), Nora Zain Agen Wanita, their Malay version of Angel with Iron fists, The brain stealers, Operation lipstick and maybe some other ones that don' t come to my mind at this moment.

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ShawAngela
One Eyed Fighter

I have a French release of Temptress of a Thousand Faces from Wild Side Films licensed by Celestial. French subs only.  It seems like an adaptation of the Fantomas movies from earlier in the 1960s.

Off the top of my head other similar films would be Shaw's The Lady Professional and Nikkatsu's Black Tight Killers.  Both are campy fun with a bit of martial arts and spy shenanigans happening.

 

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Chu Liu Hsiang

According to ofdb this movie was on German Free TV in 2015, with Mandarin language and German subtitles. Too bad I missed it :( 

Was that the version you saw @WangYu?

Welcome @One Eyed Fighter!

Edited by Chu Liu Hsiang
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@Chu Liu Hsiang 

I saw it on ARTE which is a Belgian or French tv channel, not sure. The film was in its original language which I suppose was Mandarin and subtitled in French.

Now this channel often plays rare or old films but this is the only time as far as I remember they played a shaw brothers film. The only two other films with martial arts I saw on this channel were “a touch of zen” and “seven samurai”. Both of those are legendary films so it is was really a surprise to see “temptress”along those two.

Edited by WangYu
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Iron_Leopard

Temptress of a 1000 Faces is on the same level as Seven Samurai and A Touch of Zen??

Wow. I like that movie but this is news to me.

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Chu Liu Hsiang

ARTE is a French German cooperation, and presents itself as "European Culture Channel". Most of the programmes shown are available in both French and German language and or subtitles. 

They do not necessarily put TEMPTRESS on the same level as SEVEN SAMURAI or TOUCH OF ZEN. I read on some sites that they showed TEMPTRESS in their "trash series" :D 

 

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2 hours ago, WangYu said:

@Chu Liu Hsiang 

I saw it on ARTE which is a Belgian or French tv channel, not sure. The film was in its original language which I suppose was Mandarin and subtitled in French.

Now this channel often plays rare or old films but this is the only time as far as I remember they played a shaw brothers film. The only two other films with martial arts I saw on this channel were “a touch of zen” and “seven samurai”. Both of those are legendary films so it is was really a surprise to see “temptress”along those two.

Years ago, they also showed Raining in the Mountain, and the Jet Li's Shaolin temple trilogy years ago, I think that it's there that I discovered Jet Li and became a fan of his at once.

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Iron_Leopard
1 hour ago, Chu Liu Hsiang said:

ARTE is a French German cooperation, and presents itself as "European Culture Channel". Most of the programmes shown are available in both French and German language and or subtitles. 

They do not necessarily put TEMPTRESS on the same level as SEVEN SAMURAI or TOUCH OF ZEN. I read on some sites that they showed TEMPTRESS in their "trash series" :D 

 

If Temptress is trash then its delicious trash!

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1 hour ago, ShawAngela said:

Years ago, they also showed Raining in the Mountain, and the Jet Li's Shaolin temple trilogy years ago, I think that it's there that I discovered Jet Li and became a fan of his at once.

Ah shit I would have loved watching raining in the mountain but apparently I missed that broadcast. 

Now that you mention it I think I remember them indeed broadcasting Shaolin Temple as well.

I love the ARTE channel to bits but my French and German is often not sufficient enough to make sense of the finer plot points. I have hoped for years that they would include an English subtitles option but alas.

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Chu Liu Hsiang
17 hours ago, WangYu said:

 

I love the ARTE channel to bits but my French and German is often not sufficient enough to make sense of the finer plot points. I have hoped for years that they would include an English subtitles option but alas.

It's always worth to check out their programme! They recently showed a great documentary on Murnau's NOSFERATU and then the movie itself, so we had a nice creepy vintage evening. They are both still in the mediathek. 

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@Chu Liu Hsiang

hehe I know, I watched Nosferatu too on ARTE. While Orlock looks absolutely stunning and creepy I never really liked the film. But it is rare, you just need to watch this when it comes on tv, how else could I legitimately call myself a film fan?

They also aired “der Mann aus dem Eis” recently. The film about the well preserved corpse that was found in the alps dating back over 5000 years ago. I watched this because there was no discernible dialogue in it.

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