Kyosuke Makino

First Moonlight Mask theatrical film.

Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama with a contemporary backdrop, Dotanba focuses on the attempts to rescue a group of trapped miners. The title is a figure of speech — (essentially “last minute” or “eleventh hour”) — that refers to a situation of peril. The film boasts a script co-written by Uchida and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.

The orphaned son of a count who was assassinated by his subordinates in a conspiracy during the Pacific War becomes obsessed with taking revenge on his late father's enemies.

One of the earliest Japanese cop films following a mysterious killing on the last train to Mitaka, Tokyo.