Movielogr
A Spectacular Showdown (1959)
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki
Overview
One of the great stories from Japan’s rich history comes to life in this true tale of the bloody showdown between two rival yakuza gangs in the 1840’s. The battle between Boss Sukegoro of Iioka and Boss Shigezo of Sasagawa has been portrayed many times, most notably in the first Zatoichi film, where the blind man befriends the tubercular ronin Hirate Miki, before cutting him down in one of the great duels in cinema history. This all-star extravaganza pulls out all the stops, with appearances by virtually all of the great actors and actresses from Toei’s studio at the time. Ichikawa Utaemon’s portrayal of the kind-hearted, noble yakuza boss Shigezo of Sasagawa contrasts sharply with the devious Sukegoro of Iioka. Corrupt as he may have been, his men were all willing to give up their lives for him.
Length 114 minutes
Actors
Utaemon Ichikawa | Chiyonosuke Azuma | Kinnosuke Nakamura | Koinosuke Onoe | Kotaro Satomi | Tomisaburo Wakayama | Sentarô Fushimi | Keiko Yukishiro | Satomi Oka | Keiko Okawa | Hiromi Hanazono | Chizuru Kitagawa | Hashizo Okawa | Chiezô Kataoka | Kazuo Ishii | Tokinosuke Nakamura | Masao Hori | Iwao Daimaru | Reiji Tsumura | Akira Tatematsu | Noboru Umezawa | Kazutarô Kuni | Michisaburo Segawa | Otabe Michimaro | Kajô Onoe | Tetsunosuke Tsukigata | Kyoji Sugi | Shunji Sakai | Eijirô Kataoka | Hibari Misora | Yumiko Hasegawa | Eiko Maruyama | Harue Akagi | Harumi Matsukaze | Yachiyo Kirishima | Yoshiko Yashioji | Tsukie Matsuura | Shinobu Chihara | Kogiku Hanayagi | Kensaku Hara | Kusuo Abe | Sôji Kiyokawa | Ushio Akashi | Kinnosuke Takamatsu | Koji Arima | Kenji Kusumoto | Yujiro Omi | Masanori Takeda | Hiroshi Katô | Kôtarô Nirei | Tokumaro Dan | Kazuo Tokita | Yoshio Yoshida | Shin Tokudaiji | Kunio Kaga | Denjirô Ôkôchi | Kenji Susukida | Isao Yamagata | Eitarô Shindô | Ryûnosuke Tsukigata | Ryutaro Otomo | Kodayu Ichikawa