Movie: A Spectacular Showdown

Top 10 Billed Cast

Utaemon Ichikawa
市川右太衛門

Sasagawa no Shigezo

Chiyonosuke Azuma
東千代之介

Kiyotaki no Sakichi

Kinnosuke Nakamura
萬屋錦之介

Sunosaki no Masakichi

Koinosuke Onoe
尾上鯉之助

Kōtarō Satomi
里見浩太朗

Tomisaburō Wakayama
若山富三郎

Sentarō Fushimi
伏見扇太郎

Keiko Yukishiro
雪代敬子

Satomi Oka
丘さとみ

Keiko Okawa
大川恵子

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  • 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.

  • Release Date

    1959-08-09

  • Average

    6.333

  • Rating:

    3.2 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    日本語
  • Keywords

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