ANOTHER ROUND FOR FEMALE WRESTLERS.

Byline: - Glenn Whipp

YOU WON'T find broads any tougher than the women in ``Lipstick & Dynamite,'' an entertaining and bittersweet documentary about the pioneers of female wrestling. I use the word ``broads'' because they do. And why not? What else would you call women who inflict serious pain on each other (and on alligators!) and whose idea of happiness is, as one interviewee puts it, sleeping ``on the ground with a good man and a bottle of whiskey and somebody who really loved me for what I was''?

It's readily apparent that director Ruth Leitman really loves these women. Leitman has rounded up several of the sport's originators, now in their 70s and 80s, and listened to their stories, which they are more than happy to tell. It's as if they've been waiting - most of them, anyway - for someone to come along and show an interest.

By and large, the women sought out the wrestling circuit as an escape from poverty and/or abuse. Of course, the job came with its own share of assaults and insults. Through interviews and some great archival footage, we learn about rowdy, hateful fans (chicken wire was needed to separate the ladies from the paying customers), lecherous promoters and all the hair pulling, eye gouging and slapping that went on inside the ring.

Some of the women still harbor grudges. The most successful of the lot, The Fabulous Moolah, left the ring for a career as a promoter that continues to this day. She makes no apologies about her mansion or the appropriateness of her nickname - for Moolah, money comes first. She lives in luxury with Johnnie Mae, one of the dirtiest female wrestlers of the day, and a one-time midget wrestler named Diamond Lil.

There's a lot of resentment toward Moolah, which builds some suspense about the movie's finale - a reunion ``where grudges are forgotten and friendships renewed ...'' Nobody gets clotheslined, though. The only war comes from the content of their stories, still vivid after all these years.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

LIPSTICK & DYNAMITE - Three stars

(Not rated: language)

Director: Ruth Leitman.

Running time: 1 hr. 23 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

In a nutshell: The pioneers of female wrestling tell their war stories in an entertaining documentary.