is a 1974 Japanese

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by Takashi Tsuboshima and based on the 1967–69 manga series ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese media franchise created by Monkey Punch. The series follows the endeavors of master thief Lupin III (character), Lupin III, grandson of gentleman t ...

'' by

Monkey Punch , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when ...

. It was the first

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the manga. In the film, the grandson of the

gentleman thief A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to stea ...

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

has no interest in reviving his family's crime organization, and lives as a

vagabond Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, waste picker, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western ...

. After breaking his love interest

Fujiko Mine is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. She is a professional criminal and spy who regularly uses her attractiveness to fool her targets. ...

out of prison,

joins her in an ambitious jewel heist. The event allows his family's traditional enemies to locate him, and Lupin has to survive attacks by their assassins.

Plot

joyrides through

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Happening upon a

prisoner transport Prisoner transport is the transportation of prisoners from one secure location to another. It may be carried out by law enforcement agencies or private contractors such as Prisoner Transportation Services. To extradite a suspected or convic ...

van escorting beautiful thief

to prison, a smitten Lupin resolves to help her escape and win her heart. Though he breaks her out of prison that night, Fujiko knocks him unconscious and flees. Lupin is arrested and interrogated by

Inspector Zenigata , usually called and formerly Heiji Zenigata VII, is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. He is named after the famous fictional Japanes ...

but, with no evidence linking Lupin to the jailbreak, Zenigata must release him. Lupin's grandfather was

, a French

. Arsène's son, Lupin II, expanded the criminal enterprise to the worldwide "Lupin Empire", an organization with tens of thousands of recruits; he was eventually betrayed and his organization was crushed by the rival Maccherone crime family.

Marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...

Daisuke Jigen is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Jigen is the marksman, aide-de-camp and best friend of Arsène Lupin III. Along with colleague Goemo ...

, the sole survivor of this massacre, has since searched for any surviving members of the Lupin family who could revive the crime empire. Though Jigen is able to ally himself with Lupin III, he is disappointed to discover the young man prefers to live freely as a criminal

and shows no interest in rebuilding the Lupin Empire. Inspector Zenigata, accompanied by detectives Ooka (descendant of

Ōoka Tadasuke was a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate () of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate () prior to his tenure as South Ma ...

) and Toyama (descendant of

Tōyama Kagemoto was a hatamoto and an official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. His ancestry was of the Minamoto clan of the Mino Province. His father, Kagemichi, was the magistrate of Nagasaki. Biography During his youth, K ...

), is assigned to investigate Lupin as the police department lacks any evidence with which to press charges. Though they come face-to-face with Lupin and Jigen at a scrap yard, the criminals are able to escape with ease while Zenigata suffers injuries from the chase. Later, at Fujiko's behest, Lupin attempts to steal 560 billion yen's worth of jewelry from an exhibition. A squad of policemen, led by Zenigata, are waiting in the exhibit's vault and give chase. Though Lupin and Jigen escape, they lose track of the jewels in the confusion; Fujiko, having eluded the police, takes them for herself. The head of the Maccherone crime family, having learned that a descendant of Lupin is alive and active in Japan, is concerned that a revived Lupin Empire may again threaten their organization. He commands the organization to kill Jigen and Lupin, and

hitmen Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...

are dispatched. Lupin is able to defeat the assassins – a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

, a

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

duo, and a sextet of dancers disguised as

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s – but decides to surrender himself to Zenigata for protection. Assuming that the captive Lupin will soon be executed, the Maccherone boss turns his focus to a new mission: stealing a

dogū are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the later part of the Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. ''Dogū'' come exclusively from the Jōmon period, and were no longer made by the following Yayoi period. There are ...

figurine thought to contain

psychokinetic Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

energy, to be auctioned off on the

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

. Fujiko, spying on the meeting and hoping to take the figure for herself, is discovered and captured. Though Lupin had been content to stay in prison, the news of Fujiko's capture spurs him into action and he breaks out to save her. Zenigata is taken off the Lupin case and reassigned to transport the psychokinetic figure to a national research facility. Maccherone thugs ambush the police convoy on a mountain trail. Jigen, piloting a helicopter, takes advantage of the confusion to steal away the statue; meanwhile, Lupin moves to rescue Fujiko from her nearby confinement. Though Jigen retrieves Lupin and the freed Fujiko, a puncture in his helicopter's gasoline tank forces him to make an emergency landing. Ironically, the trio lands at the research facility: they have accidentally delivered the statue to its intended destination. The police chief prepares an official certificate of thanks for Lupin for his efforts in saving a national treasure, and a frustrated Zenigata is assigned to hand-deliver the award. Lupin, Fujiko, and Jigen relax by the city docks, with Jigen reflecting that the reformation of the Lupin Empire is unlikely. When Zenigata arrives, the group mistakenly believes he is there to arrest them and a madcap chase ensues.

Cast

Yūki Meguro Yūki Meguro () is a Japanese actor. He is the son of jidaigeki actor Jūshirō Konoe and had an older brother Hiroki Matsukata. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for h ...

Arsène Lupin III , referred to in some English adaptations as Arsène Lupin III, is a fictional character created by Kazuhiko Kato aka Monkey Punch as the protagonist for his manga series ''Lupin the Third'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10 ...

* Eizo Ezaki as

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 Hon ...

Shirō Itō is a Japanese actor, comedian and television presenter. Filmography Film * ''Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman'' (1971) * '' Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy'' (1974) * '' Princess from the Moon'' (1987) * '' A Taxing Woman'' (1987 ...

as Inspector Heiji Zenigata VII *

Maria Anzai Maria Anzai (安西マリア, ''Anzai Maria'', b. ''Mariko Shibasaki'' on December 16, 1953 - d. March 15, 2014) was a Japanese idol. Biography Maria Anzai made her debut in 1973 with a Japanese language version of ''"Namida no Taiyō"'', or ...

as The Girl at the Wharf *

Kiyoshi Maekawa is a Japanese singer and ''tarento''. He is best known as the first lead vocalist of Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five, which was formed in 1967 and debuted in 1969 with the Japan Record Award-winning song "Nagasaki wa Kyō mo Ame Datta". As a ...

as Marutakadai * Hsiao Hui-mei as The Woman in Orange Dress * "The Poppies" as The Dragon Sisters * Akira Hitomi as Detective Ōoka * Takashi Ebata as Detective Toyama *

Rinichi Yamamoto was a Japanese actor from Hokkaido. In 1953, he signed to the Toei Company and made his film debut in ''Gakusei Goninotoko''. He is most famous for playing villains, and appeared more than 200 films. He also had many guest appearances as a villa ...

as Genkurobei * Arihiro Fujimura as The Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police * E.H. Erick as Sir Mokkinbat *

Hideyo Amamoto was a Japanese actor. He is best known for portraying Dr. Shinigami in the original ''Kamen Rider'' series as well as many other characters in ''tokusatsu'' films such as the ''Godzilla'' series. Amamoto also used the pseudonym of Eisei Amamoto ...

as Assassin at Orphanage * Rena Natsuki as Yamako Asama * Fujio Tokita as The Vagrant * Akira Ōizumi as Ichiro Rokunawa, an Assassin *

Sachio Sakai , born , was a Japanese actor. In 1947, he made his film debut with Akira Kurosawa's '' One Wonderful Sunday''. He often worked with Akira Kurosawa and Kihachi Okamoto. Filmography Films * '' One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947) as Ticket seller * '' ...

as Security chief * Toki Shiozawa * Katsumi Ishiyama * Jun'ichi Tanaka as Miroku Ōguchi * Minoru Uezu as Gosaku Inakadori * Shōzō Fukuyama * Sanji Kojima * Katsuo Unno * Kyūji Aozora as Policeman at the Police Box * Kōji Aozora as Motorcycle Policeman *

Tōru Ōhira was a Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He was the founder of Ōhira Production and was also attached to 81 Produce. One of his best-known roles was the dub voice of Darth Vader in '' Star Wars'', on the s ...

* Enver Altenbay as Big Boss (uncredited)

Notes

References

External links

* {{Lupin III 1974 films 1974 action comedy films 1970s heist films 1970s crime comedy films Films shot in Japan Lupin the Third films Live-action films based on manga Japanese heist films Films set in Tokyo Films about telekinesis