Yes, we get it, this is the 60s.
Temptress of a Thousand Faces is a 1969 action film released by the Shaw Brothers.
The titular Temptress is a cat burglar and Gentleman Thief in 1960s Hong Kong, who terrorizes the streets, stealing jewelry, gold and money and constantly evading the authorities. Officer Chi-ying, a police detective, issues a public challenge to the Temptress, and for her efforts she ends up being abducted and taken to the Temptress' lair; framed by the very criminal she is pursuing, Chi-ying must clear her name and take down her sworn nemesis.
Notably one of the sleaziest, fanservice-packed films released by Shaw Brothers in the late 60s, and that is saying a lot. Also contains numerous references to James Bond, being released in the middle of the Bond craze at the time.
Temptress of a Thousand Tropes:
- Action Girl: Officer Chi-ying who investigates the Temptress, and the Temptress herself, a Dark Action Girl supervillain.
- Amazon Brigade: The Temptress' legion of female guards.
- Antagonist Title: The film's Big Bad is the titular Temptress.
- Arch-Enemy: Chi-ying and the Temptress hates each other's guts, the former for the latter kidnapping her and ruining her life.
- Battle Couple: Chi-ying and Inspector Yuk against the Temptress' mooks in a lengthy shootout in the finale.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When the Temptress tries flirting with men while disguised as Chi-ying.
- Bullying a Dragon: Chi-ying, while investigating the Temptress' latest robbery, made a public declaration that she isn't afraid of the Temptress and challenged the Temptress to "come at her". She ends up being abducted after opening a booby-trapped package sent by the Temptress herself, and wakes up in the Temptress' lair with her enemy gloating at her.
- Butt-Monkey: Sergeant Fan, the film's bumbling Fat Comic Relief, who gets demoted for peeping at ladies while on a stake-out in a nightclub, gets used as a hostage when Chi-ying escapes her prison transport, and mistakenly arrests his own superior right before he realized he just insulted his own boss without knowing it.
- Chained to a Rock: A variation, but Chi-ying's first encounter with the Temptress had her waking up chained to a circular table wearing a semi-transparent nightgown.
- Clear My Name: Chi-ying, after the Temptress takes over her identity, frame her for robbery, and use her as a scapegoat after stealing an entire store's worth of jewelry. With some help from Inspector Yuk.
- Cowboy Cop: Chi-ying.
- Disguised in Drag: In order to prove Chi-ying's innocence and prove she isn't the Temptress, Chi-ying's boyfriend, Inspector Yuk, decides to disguise himself as the Temptress while Chi-ying is still in police custody, rob a jewelry store in drag, and escape from his own officers.
- Eating the Eye Candy: The Fat Idiot Sergeant Fan does this all the time, peeping at undressing bar girls or looking at Chi-ying's exposed thighs while she is handcuffed next to him. Everythime he does this, it predictably bites him back in the ass.
- Epic Flail: One of the street gangsters that Chi-ying confronts on the rooftop wields a flail, oddly.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: After the Temptress and her henchmen have been defeated, Sergeant Fan and a colleague run off with a female servant in Bridal Carry, and the other protagonists all laugh.
- Frame-Up: The Temptress, disguises herself as Chi-ying, and commits various robberies and theft under that guise, before having Chi-ying released. And Chi-ying ends up being a fugitive and had to evade the authorities herself.
- Furo Scene: One scene in the Temptress' lair had her in a large public bath, attended by scores of scantily clad henchwomen.
- Girls with Guns: The finale had Chi-ying taking plenty of names in a massive shootout, and proving herself to be really good with a pistol. The Temptress' female guards also counts to an extent.
- Honey Trap: After being arrested, Chi-ying escapes police custody by flirting with the sole police officer in the prison transport with her, the Fat Idiot Sergeant Fan, before stealing his gun and ordering him to uncuff her.
- Island Base: The Temptress' lair is located on an isolated island off the coast of Lantau, a boat's ride away from Hong Kong.
- Knockout Gas: The Temptress likes using this method to abduct her victims. This is how she kidnaps Chi-ying early on in the film, and later did it again to take down a building full of police officers.
- Latex Perfection: This is the method used by the Temptress to disguise herself to evade authorities, commit robberies, keep her identity secret and stay a step ahead of the law. She claims to have a thousand different masks for any occasion given, hence her name.
- Leg Focus: Chi-ying quite often gives a good view at her stocking-clad legs.
- Master of Disguise: The Temptress lives up to her name, easily taking on Chi-ying's facial appearance after kidnapping her alive.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: Averted, in the final shootout many of the Temptress' mooks are females, and quite a number of them ends up being gunned down by Chi-ying and Inspector Yuk. That being said, after the climax is over, the police is seen escorting a dozen female mooks who surrendered out of the lair, having them taken alive.
- Ms. Fanservice: The Movie. Granted, it's not as explicit as Shaw Brothers' other outputs like The Bamboo House of Dolls or Virgins of the Seven Seas, but there's still plenty of skin for audiences.
- Chi-ying, who spends most of the film in really, really revealing clothing, have one fight scene while clad in a semi-transparent nightgown and barefoot, and have several panty shots to boot.
- The Temptress herself also counts, being a sultry, gorgeous seductress with a Furo Scene and wearing skintight, revealing clothing most of her screen time.
- Mysterious Veil: The Temptress wears a semi-transparent veil that covers her face when Chi-Ying confronts her for the first time. And in subsequent indoor scenes as well.
- This Page Will Self-Destruct: Early in the film, a cheque delivered by the Temptress turns out to be a fake when it blows up in the hands of a jeweler
◊. - The Peeping Tom: Sergeant Fan, a sleazy Fat Idiot of a cop, does this while standing outside a nightclub's dressing room.
- Pit Trap: The Temptress had one of this installed in her lair to ensnare unknowing victims, although rather than leading to a death trap, it instead transports victims to her underground prison. The trap opening beneath Chi-ying's feet gives audience yet another panty shot from her.
- Secret Identity: The Temptress' true identity is Molly, a tabloid reporter who harbors a grudge against the press and decides to become a thief and crime lord.
- Shout-Out: To the James Bond films, which were gaining popularity at the time of this film's release:
- The Temptress' hideout resembles Blofeld's volcano lair from You Only Live Twice, complete with scores of mooks in identical jumpers.
- Chi-ying narrowly surviving a Time Bomb, who gets deactivated 7 seconds before detonation, is a clear reference to Goldfinger.
- Heck, the James Bond theme gets tossed around randomly in action scenes, unsurprisingly.
- The plot itself is very similar to French film Fantômas, having a Master of Disguise supervillain who starts kidnapping the protagonist after they pretend to be them for a newspaper article, and later frames a cop.
- Spot the Imposter: Invoked when Chi-ying and the Temptress, disguised as Chi-ying, fights each other in front of Inspector Yuk.
- Stripperiffic: Chi-ying and the Temptress spend most of their fights in miniskirts and go-go boots, and the former has a fight scene in a nightgown that barely covers her kneecaps.
- Suicide by Cop: This is how the Temptress gets eliminated by the end of the film.
- The Vamp: The Temptress, after taking over Chi-ying's life, decides to seduce Chi-ying's boyfriend Inspector Yuk to further ruin her life and reputation. In fact the Temptress is this trope personified for most of the film.
- Waking Up Elsewhere: Chi-ying, after being hit by knockout gas, wakes up in the Temptress' lair. Chained to a circular platform spread eagled, barefoot and wearing only her nightgown◊, right before her gloating enemy.
