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High And Low (1963 Film)
is a 1963 Japanese police procedural crime film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai and Kyōko Kagawa. The film is loosely based on the 1959 novel '' King's Ransom'' by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter). Plot A wealthy executive named Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is in a struggle to gain control of a company called National Shoes. One faction wants the company to make cheap, low quality shoes for the impulse market as opposed to the sturdy and high quality shoes currently being produced. Gondo believes that the long-term future of the company will be best served by well made shoes with modern styling, though this plan is unpopular because it means lower profits in the short term. He has secretly set up a leveraged buyout to gain control of the company, mortgaging all he has. Just as he is about to put his plan into action, he receives a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped his son, Jun. Gondo is prepared to pay the ransom, but the call is dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film '' Sanshiro Sugata''. After the war, the critically acclaimed ''Drunken Angel'' (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. ''Rashomon'' (1950), which premiered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isao Kimura
, also known as Kō Kimura, was a Japanese actor. He entered the Haiyūza theatre troupe in 1946. He appeared in several films directed by Akira Kurosawa, including '' Stray Dog'' (1949) as Yusa the criminal, and ''Seven Samurai'' (1954) as Katsushiro, the youngest of the samurai. During his career he also appeared in several films directed by Mikio Naruse and Yoshishige Yoshida, as well as appearing in the Lone Wolf and Cub film series. In addition to a film career spanning almost thirty years, Kimura founded and directed an acting company which ultimately went bankrupt. He died of esophageal cancer. Selected filmography * ''Hawai Mare oki kaisen'' (1942) – Kurata * '' The Love of Sumako the Actress'' (1947) * '' Stray Dog'' (1949) – Yusa the criminal * ''Angry Street'' (1950) – Joji * ''Elegy'' (1951) * ''Nakinureta ningyо̄'' (1951) * ''Dokkoi ikiteru'' (1951) * ''Dancing Girl'' (1951) – Nozu * ''Yamabiko gakkо̄'' (1952) * ''Boryoku'' (1952) * ''Ikiru'' (1952) – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masao Shimizu
was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yumi Takano. His first starring role in the film was in ''Momoiro no Yuwaku'' in 1931. In 1947, he formed the Mingei Theatre Company. Shimizu often work with Akira Kurosawa. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1931 and 1976. Selected filmography * '' The 47 Ronin'' (1941) * ''No Regrets for Our Youth'' (1946) as Professor Hakozaki * ''A Ball at the Anjo House'' (1947) * ''One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947) as the Dance Hall Manager * ''Drunken Angel'' (1948) as Boss * '' Stray Dog'' (1949) * '' Bōryoku no Machi'' (1950) * ''Scandal'' (1950) as Judge * ''Story of a Beloved Wife'' (1951) * ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) * ''Children of Hiroshima'' (1952) * ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) as kikuoji * ''Ikiru'' (1952) as Doctor * ''Epitome'' (1953) * '' Gate of Hell'' (1953) * ''Sansho the Bailiff'' (1954) as Masauji Taira * ''I Live in Fear'' (1955) as Yamazaki, Yoshi's husband * ''Season of the Sun'' (1956) * ''Rusty Knife'' (1958) as Shi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamatari Fujiwara
was a Japanese actor. Fujiwara worked regularly and extensively with Akira Kurosawa, and was known for both being adept at comic acting, as well as being able to take on serious roles. Early life and career Early life Fujiwara was born on January 15, 1905, in Tokyo, Japan. Fujiwara's parents ran a printing business. The business did not go well, so at the age of 10, Fujiwara started working at a local confectionery store. By the age of 14 he had started selling timber for building and manufacturing in Shizuoka prefecture. A year later he returned to Tokyo to study as a pharmacist. Asakusa Opera Movement The Movement was started in 1916, and was part of the mass culture of the time. By the 1920s it had become very popular. His early life focused initially focussed on music, before he was known as a comic actor Perhaps inspired by this, Fujiwara enrolled at the Takinoga actor/martial arts school. Following graduation, he approached actor Kenzo Kuroki at Asakisa's kinrukan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eijirō Tōno
was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, appeared in over 400 television shows, nearly 250 films and numerous stage productions. He is best known in the West for his roles in films by Akira Kurosawa, such as ''Seven Samurai'' (1954) and ''Yojimbo'' (1961), and films by Yasujirō Ozu, such as ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) and ''An Autumn Afternoon'' (1962). He also appeared in ''Kill!'' by Kihachi Okamoto and ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'', a depiction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His final film was Juzo Itami's ''A-ge-man'' (''Tales of a Golden Geisha'') in 1990. Tōno also starred as the title character in the long-running television ''jidaigeki'' series ''Mito Kōmon'' from 1969 to 1983. In the early years of his career he acted under the name of Katsuji Honjo (本庄克二). Early life Eijirō Tōno was born on 17 September 1907 in Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Born to a sake brewery, his father was a Hino merchant (Ōmi merchant), who had move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoru Chiaki
was a Japanese actor who appeared in eleven of Akira Kurosawa's films, including ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ''The Hidden Fortress''. He was also one of Kon Ichikawa's favorite actors. He attended, but did not graduate from, Chuo University. Later in his career, he appeared as a secondary actor in many Toei films. In 1986, he was given the Best Actor prize at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony for his performance in Toei's '' Gray Sunset'' (1985). He died of cardiac and pulmonary failure at age 82. His son Katsuhiko Sasaki is also an actor. Filmography Film *'' Stray Dog'' (1949) - Girlie Show director *''Rashōmon'' (1950) - Priest *''Nanairo no hana'' (1950) - Tahei Izumi *''Koi no Oranda-zaka'' (1951) - Suekichi *''The Idiot'' (1951) - Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary *''Araki Mataemon: Kettô kagiya no tsuji'' (1952) *''Mōjū tsukai no shōjo'' (1952) *''Bijo to touzoku'' (1952) - Takeichi no Takamaru *''Kyô wa kaisha no gekkyûbi'' (1952) - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōji Mitsui
was a Japanese movie, TV, and stage actor. He appeared in more than 150 films from 1925 to 1975, including 29 of ''Kinema Junpo''’s annual Top-10 winners and three of its 10 best Japanese films of all time. In 2000 the magazine named him one of the 60 most important Japanese actors of the 20th century. Career The son of a Shochiku movie theater owner, Mitsui joined the studio in 1924, making his film debut in 1925 under the name Hideo Mitsui (三井秀男). His short stature, soft features, and expressive face and voice suited him for rebellious “younger brother” roles, and he appeared as a youth lead in many silent and early sound films, notably in several Yasujirō Ozu classics and the “Yota” series, about the antics of a trio of young idlers that also included Akio Isono and Shōzaburō Abe. Mitsui left Shochiku in 1935 to help found the independent studio Tokyo Hassei (Sound), which was largely staffed by talent who had left Shochiku to bring prestige to the new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yūnosuke Itō
was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1947 to 1979. Career Itō made his film debut at Toho in 1946, and although mostly a prominent supporting actor—playing memorable figures such as the novelist in Akira Kurosawa's ''Ikiru''—he also was cast in leading roles such as Kon Ichikawa's '' Mr. Pu''. He is acclaimed as "one of the...extremely talented character actors who populated Japanese movies in Shōwa_era.html"_;"title="he_Shōwa_era">Shōwaera,_playing_a_broad_range_of_roles." Itō_received_the_1962_Blue_Ribbon_Awards_for_Best_Supporting_Actor.html" "title="Shōwa_era">Shōwa.html" ;"title="Shōwa_era.html" ;"title="he Shōwa era">Shōwa">Shōwa_era.html" ;"title="he Shōwa era">Shōwaera, playing a broad range of roles." Itō received the 1962 Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Supporting Actor">Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor for his dual role in the seminal ninja film ''Shinobi no Mono''. Film scholar Stuart Galbraith IV has not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobuo Nakamura
was a Japanese actor, who made notable appearances in the films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps his most famous roles in the West were those of the callous deputy mayor in Kurosawa's ''Ikiru'' (1952), and the hairdresser's henpecked husband in Ozu's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953). Nakamura was also famous for many notable contributions to Japanese modern theatre. In 1937, he founded the Bungakuza company along with Haruko Sugimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Masayuki Mori. Nakamura played Polonius in ''Hamlet'', Herod in Wilde's '' Salome'', Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Chekov's ''Uncle Vanya'', and Krapp in ''Krapp's Last Tape''. He also appeared in ''Macbeth'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', and ''The Cherry Orchard'' . In the 1950s and 1960s, he played major roles in Yukio Mishima's plays such as ''Rokumeikan'', '' My Friend Hitler'', and so on. In 1963, Nakamura left Bungakuza company and founded the NLT company with Mishima. His most famous and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jun Tazaki
, born Minoru Tanaka, was a Japanese actor best known for his various roles in kaiju films produced by Toho, often portraying scientists or military personnel. Career Tanaka began his career as a traveling stage actor in the 1930s, performing under both his birth name and various stage names. In 1950, he changed his name to Jun Tazaki when he appeared in Shintoho's film ''Sasameyuki''. After initially holding only small film roles, Tazaki gradually gained popularity and began playing larger roles in films produced by Toho in the 1960s. Akira Kurosawa frequently cast Tazaki in his films, but Ishirō Honda also considered him a favorite. Toho's science fiction films, particularly those directed by Honda, featured him throughout the 1960s as an authority figure with a moustache. As well as playing stern but benevolent father figures, Tazaki played villains with a ruthless streak. His defining role came in Honda's ''Atragon'', in which he portrayed the embittered World War II ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshio Tsuchiya
was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. ''Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and ''Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okamoto's ''Kill!''. He had a long-standing interest in UFOs and wrote several books on the subject. He preferred starring in science fiction films, usually as aliens, or people possessed by them, in such films as ''Battle in Outer Space'', '' Monster Zero'', and ''Destroy All Monsters''. Biography Tsuchiya was born in Kofu, Yamanashi in 1927. His film debut was in the 1952 Shintoho film ''Murder Suspect'' (殺人容疑者). During the auditions for Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'', Tsuchiya was watching, and was picked by Kurosawa although he originally had no intention of auditioning himself. ''Seven Samurai'' was filmed during the same time as ''Godzilla'', and Tsuchiya would frequently leave the set of ''Seven Samurai'' to see ''God ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susumu Fujita
Susumu Fujita () (8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, ''Sanshiro Sugata'', and appeared in other Kurosawa films including ''The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail'' (as Togashi, commander of the border guards) and ''The Hidden Fortress'' (as General Tadokoro). Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's '' Mothra vs. Godzilla'', among many other films. Before and during World War II Fujita was considered one of the great stars of Japanese cinema. In the post-war period he became known for supporting roles, often playing a soldier in war films, such as in Masaki Kobayashi's ''The Human Condition'' (film series). During the sixties and seventies he played minor roles in "special effects pictures" such as ''Ultraman'' and '' Frankenstein vs. Baragon''. Life and career Fujita was born in Kurume, Fukuoka in Japan. After graduating from high school in 1929 he moved to Tokyo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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