Akira Masuda

First in a series of Japanese TV movies which were based on horror-tinged mystery novels by Edogawa Ranpo.

In 1930, the chance meeting of a novelist and one of his fans opens the door to a series of mysterious events culminating in the death of a wealthy industrialist who may have been leading a double life.

Chotaro and Nakanishi, a duo of unemployed advertisers, drifted to Isehama, a port town near Yokohama, but a gang was making its presence felt in the town and the shopkeepers in the shopping arcade were troubled by it. Chotaro poses as a journalist and uses his words of wisdom to suggest that pen is mightier than the sword, so they create a mini-comic magazine and launch a campaign to expel the gang.

Suspense film about a beautiful photographer who becomes involved in a murder case.

The film follows the story of Sugi Toranosuke, a ronin, who returns to his home town of Edo many years after his attempted suicide as a sickly child. Rescued and adopted by a master swordsman, he has grown into a master swordsman and a very kind gentleman. The time is around 1868 the year that the nails were finally put into the coffin containing the feudal system that nurtured and sustained the samurai. Sugi is confused and unsure about what is happening but his teacher wants him out of the chaos of the multiple power struggles between the various clans.

丹波哲郎、平幹二朗、長門勇。若き日の大御所３人が暴れまわり、当時大人気となったTVシリーズの映画化。五社英雄の記念すべき初監督作品でもある。時代劇全盛期の迫力ある殺陣は今でもまったく色褪せない。