| Vintage Pulp | Jun 13 2023 |
They're a hell of a lot of trouble.
Above: an alternate poster in tateken format for a movie we highlighted last year—Sanbiki no mesubachi, aka Three Pretty Devils. It starred Reiko Ohara, Junko Natsu, and Yoko Ichiji, and preimiered in Japan today in 1970. See what we wrote about it here.
JapanToei CompanySanbiki no mesubachiThree Pretty DevilsReiko OharaJunko NatsuYoko IchijiTsunehiko Wataseposter artcinemapinku
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 13 2022 |
They're trouble in triplicate.
The above poster was made for Sanbiki no mesubachi, usually known in English as Three Pretty Devils, starring Reiko Ohara, Yoko Ichiji, and Junko Natsu. It concerns three female con artists who are running loose during the gigantic World Expo in Osaka. They engage in every type of grift—they pick pockets, sell counterfeit parking passes, coax free meals from bedazzled older men, engage in a little sexual blackmail, and more. Eventually they get the bright idea to put together an escort service for foreigners, but in order to do so have to cross the local yakuza. Needless to say, that's a bad idea.
The yakuza boss, who's played to the edge of caricature by a frowning, sneering Tsunehiko Watase, perceives the girls more as an opportunity than as competition, and wants to turn them into escorts. Ohara's mancrush Saburo, a yakuza footsoldier, tells her to leave Osaka before it's too late, but when the yakuza find out about his betrayal they shoot the poor sap dead. No self-respecting devil gives up easily, so even cold-blooded murder doesn't end the girls' scheming ways. Eventually their chance for a big score finally comes when Natsu appropriates a bank document worth 200 million yen. The yakuza, as always, stands in their way.
Our synopsis makes this all sound dramatic, but the movie is mostly lightweight, with serious moments but a lot of comedy and music. Regarding the latter, legendary gay performer Pītā has a featured role as a transvestite nightclub singer. It was an early role for him. He's on the promo art in the red turtleneck, which is why there are seemingly four pretty devils on a poster where you'd expect three. While he serves as local color in a nightclub that features prominently in the plot, his treatment by the filmmakers is completely respectful, which is noteworthy considering the year. On the whole, Sanbiki no mesubachi is a pretty good movie. It premiered today in 1970.
JapanOsakaToei CompanySanbiki no mesubachiThree Pretty DevilsReiko OharaJunko NatsuYoko IchijiTsunehiko WatasePîtâposter artcinemapinkulgbtmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | May 18 2018 |
When she's bad, she's really bad.
Above is a poster in tateken size for Nikkatsu Studios' pre-roman porno action flick Furyô shôjô Mako, aka Bad Girl Mako, a film for which we showed you a standard sized promo a while back. We didn't really talk about the movie back then, but we've seen it. There's lots of fighting, lots of music, and lots of guys in suits getting roughed up. Junko Natsu plays Mako, a tough party girl who meets a boy named Hideo, lets him stick his honeydripper in her jar of manuka, and decides she's in love. It's amazing that she reaches this conclusion after one quick throw in the back seat of a convertible, but whatever. Unfortunately, before their relationship progresses much farther loverboy is killed and Mako, like any good pinku revenant, gets stabby on the bad guys. There's nothing unexpected here, but in the end you still have a reasonably entertaining entry in the girl gang genre, and the many club scenes and nice exterior cinematography add extra value. Furyô shôjô Mako premiered in Japan today in 1971.
| Vintage Pulp | Jan 27 2018 |
Even in Japan payback is a bitch
Above, a nice but slightly damaged poster (it had a strip of tape across the top) for Joshi gakuen: Otona no asobi, aka Girls' Junior High School: Too Young To Play Like This, starring Junko Natsu and Yoshiko Ikebo in a movie about students at two girls schools—Shirobara Academy and Kawakira Junior High—and how their rivalry turns into open conflict. There are many subplots as well, among them a Yakuza father's neglect, uptight adults, budding young love, and more. There's a really funny scene in this where the two schools' volleyball teams get into a massive brawl started by the Shirobara girls in order to cover for injecting Kawakira's best player with a drug. It's right out of M*A*S*H. There's also a bit where someone spikes a ball into someone else's crotch. We knew volleyball shots could be underhanded, but that's just plain evil. Joshi gakuen: Otona na asobi premiered in Japan today in 1971.
JapanNikkatsuJoshi gakuen: Otona no asobiGirls' Junior High School: Too Young to Play Like ThisGirls' School: I Demand GamesJunko Natsuposter artpinkucinema
| Vintage Pulp | May 18 2013 |
When good girls go bad.
Above, a striking poster for 1971’s Furyô shôjô Mako, aka Bad Girl Mako, starring Junko Natsu. We really like the design on this. The movie has the distinction of being Nikkatsu Studios’ last production before shifting into pinku-inspired roman porno, a seventeen-year period during which it almost exclusively made high budget sexploitation films. Junko Natsu, pictured on the poster, started her career in 1967 with Violated Angels and acted in more than forty movies and many television shows. We haven’t actually seen this movie yet, but if we do we’ll be sure to get back to you about it.
Update: and here you go.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 29 2012 |
Leader of the headbands.
Poster for Makoto Naitô’s actioner Furyo bancho totsugeki! Ichiban, aka Wolves of the City: First To Fight. It premiered in Japan today in 1971. See another poster in the Furyo Bancho series here.
JapanFuryo bancho totsugeki! IchibanWolves of the City: First To FightMakoto NaitôJunko Natsuposter artcinema
