Ritoru champion (1981)

Director:

Gwen Arner

Writer:

Richard Martini

Stars:

Christopher Mitchum, Yôko Shimada

Cast

Credited cast:
Christopher Mitchum	...	Mike Gorman
Yôko Shimada	...	Miki Tsuwa

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

marathon | immigrant | running | japanese

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Also Known As:

My Champion

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shôchiku Eiga

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

True story of Japanese immigrant who becomes female marathon champion

This is a corny, melodramatic, low budget movie that manages to entertain against all odds. Much of this is due to the inherently moving aspects of the story and Yoko Shimada's heartfelt performance. She won this role after her amazing performance in the mini-series SHOGUN. Her co-star, Chris Mitchum, is far less impressive and to be honest, he actually creeped me out. The supporting cast is fine and the running sequences are OK, but good grief, what's with the sappy (and dated) music score and overly simplistic camera setups? Thank God Miss Shimada looks good covered in sweat. I'd run after her any day. Look out for the hysterical scene involving the misuderstanding of what "Moving in" means.