Alleycat Rock: Female Boss | |
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Theatrical poster for Alleycat Rock: Female Boss (1970)
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Directed by | Yasuharu Hasebe |
Written by | Hideichi Nagahara |
Starring |
Akiko Wada Meiko Kaji |
Music by | Kunihiko Suzuki |
Cinematography | Muneo Ueda |
Edited by | Akira Suzuki |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Nikkatsu |
Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss (女番長野良猫ロック Onna banchō nora-neko rokku?) aka Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss, Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader: Alleycat Rock, Wildcat Rock is a 1970 Japanese outlaw biker film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe and starring Akiko Wada and Meiko Kaji. It is the first entry in the five-film Alleycat Rock or Stray Cat Rock series and was followed by Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo, Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter, Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal and Alleycat Rock: Crazy Riders '71.
Tough girl biker Ako (pop singer Akiko Wada) comes across Mei (Meiko Kaji) and her girl gang (the Alleycats/Stray Cats) as they are about to have a knife fight in Shinjuku, Tokyo with another gang of girls. When the second gang calls in their boyfriends for help, Ako joins in and turns the tide for Mei and her gang and becomes a leader figure for the girls. Meanwhile, Mei's boyfriend Michio (Kōji Wada) wants to join some right-wing nationalists, the Seiyu Group. To prove himself, he induces an old friend Kelly (Ken Sanders) to throw a boxing match so the Seiyu Group can cash in betting against him. But when the boxer, encouraged by Ako and Mei, wins the fight, the Seiyu Group takes their anger out on Michio until Mei and the Alleycats rescue him. But Mei and the girls are now on the run from the powerful group. Mei is eventually killed and Ako leaves Shinjuku, roaring away on her bike.
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss was designed by Nikkatsu to compete with Toei's Delinquent Boss series, which, in turn, had been inspired by Roger Corman's early outlaw biker film, The Wild Angels (1966). Nikkatsu also meant the film to showcase the popular singer Akiko Wada, and to appeal to her young audience. Co-star Meiko Kaji, however, attracted the most audience attention, and she became the star of the remaining episodes in the Alleycat Rock series. Nikkatsu regarded Alleycat Rock: Female Boss as a prototype for a new direction for the studio and its success ensured the studio's move towards youth-oriented action films.