The Vigilantes (1974)

In the early 20th Century, England imposed a salt tax on all its southern Asian colonies - the areas where salt was most needed (due to the heat) and most plentiful (due to the proximity of the oceans). In India this had grave political consequences (it gave Mohandas Ghandi his first major anti-colonial cause in India); in colonies with large Chinese populations, it created a black-market. Hence the subject matter of the film.

Polly Shaun Kuan seems to have made this film as she was approaching the zenith of her popularity. She was to do a number of films where she would appear 'in drag,' as a male. It should be noted, first, that Shaun Kuan is one of the least credible women to appear in such roles - although short and a little stout she has an undeniably female figure. Her chest gives away the whole story here. But women in male garb was a standard convention of Chinese action films, all the way up to the early '90's; if you want to enjoy these films, you're just going to have to accept this as a given.

There's nothing exceptional about this film for it's genre and era. Although laking finesse, the action is pretty good, the plot holds together fairly well, the dialog is no embarrassment. If you don't know who Polly Shaun Kuan is, this is as good an introduction as any. She's pretty much in command here, and she's good when she is. King Kam and Yasuaki Kurata also turn in decent performances.

Standrd fare for the genre.