Think of Radley Metzger as Russ Meyer without the stones. And think of The Alley Cats as Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! without all the violence and the nudity.

Shot within a year of each other, both films were scandalous during their eras, but Alley Cats is practically PG-13 by today's standards.The story is minimal and without much substance: A couple about to get married aren't getting along so well, so he has an affair with another woman, and she has an affair with a man. Her affair doesn't turn out so well, so she hits up another woman for a lesbian encounter. How will it end?

Those expecting heady erotica (or even iffy erotica) will be sadly untitillated by The Alley Cats -- it never gets much steamier than a naked, sleeping woman's back and a man doodling "GREAT!!" on it. (You'll find a minute's worth of actual, grainy "alternate" nude shots on the new DVD's special features, if that's what floats your boat.)

Between its soft-core porn aspirations and a repetitive, melodramatic story, these Alley Cats don't have much to fall back on aside from some lush black and white photography and appropriate mood music for its 1960s pedigree. Included as part of The Radley Metzger Collection with Therese and Isabelle and Camille 2000.