is a 1971 Japanese comedy film directed by

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

. It stars

Kiyoshi Atsumi Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...

as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Rumi Sakakibara as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san, the Good Samaritan'' is the seventh entry in the popular, long-running ''

Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...

'' series.

Plot summary

Cast

as Torajirō *

Chieko Baisho is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won th ...

as Sakura * Rumi Sakakibara as Hanako Ōta * Sachiko Mitsumoto as Fuyuko * Chōchō Miyako as Kiku *

Kunie Tanaka was a Japanese actor. Tanaka first made a name for himself as the lecherous antagonist of the ''Wakadaishō'' series (1961–1981) of films. He is also well-known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the ''Battles Without Honor ...

as Prof. Fukui * Hiroshi Ōtsuka as Policeman *

Gin Maeda (born February 21, 1944) is a Japanese actor. He had a regular role in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films, beginning with the first in the series (1969), as Sakura's husband. Filmography Film *''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series (1969–2019), Hiroshi S ...

as Hiroshi Suwa *

Chieko Misaki Chieko (written: , , , , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese sprint canoeist *, blind Japanese computer scientist *, Japanese actress and singer *, Japanese voice actress and singer *, Japanes ...

as Torajiro's aunt *

Hisao Dazai Hisao (written: 央生, 久生, 久雄, 寿雄, 寿夫, 尚雄, 尚久 or 尚勇) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese government official *, Japanese baseball player *, Japa ...

as Tarō Ume

Critical appraisal

For his work on ''Tora-san, the Good Samaritan'', the previous entry in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series, '' Tora-san's Shattered Romance'', and the following entry, ''

Tora-san's Love Call ''aka'' ''Tora-san's Love Song'' is a 1971 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Junko Ikeuchi as his Romantic interest, love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san's Love Call'' is t ...

'' (all 1971),

tied for Best Director at the

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

s with

Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also partici ...

. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san, the Good Samaritan'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san, the Good Samaritan'' was released theatrically on April 28, 1971. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1983 and 1995, and in DVD format in 1998 and 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

* * *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san, the Good Samaritan''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) * * 1971 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1971 comedy films 1970s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Japanese sequel films 1970s Japanese films {{1970s-Japan-film-stub