Rusty Knife (1958)

Two friends who witnessed an organized crime murder are threatened by the local mob into keeping quiet.

Director:

Toshio Masuda

Writers:

Shintarô Ishihara (screenplay), Shintarô Ishihara (story)

Stars:

Yûjirô Ishihara, Mie Kitahara, Akira Kobayashi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Yukihiko Tachibana
Mie Kitahara	...	Keiko Nishida
Akira Kobayashi	...	Makoto Terada
Mari Shiraki	...	Yuri
Shôji Yasui	...	Prosecutor Karita
Jô Shishido	...	Shimabara (as Joe Shishido)
Naoki Sugiura	...	Seiji Katsumata
Masao Shimizu	...	Shingo Mano
Kaoru Kusuda
Toshio Takahara	...	Takaishi
Nobuo Kawakami	...	Detective Kanô
Keiko Amaji	...	Yôko
Kyosuke Aihara	...	Muramatsu
Saburô Hiromatsu	...	Akira Mano
Shirô Yanase	...	Takada

Storyline

Udaka is a new, post-war city where corruption has already taken hold. A persistent district attorney wants to arrest and convict Katsumata, a laughing, self-confident thug. The D.A. gets an anonymous letter about the suicide five years' before of a city council member. Evidence about the case leads the D.A. to Tachibana, struggling to go straight after involvement with the mob and a prison sentence for killing the man responsible for the rape and suicide of his fiancée. One of Tachibana's friends is Keiko, the daughter of the dead councilman and the ward of another powerful official. How do these stories connect?

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | anonymous letter | district attorney | corruption | post war | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 March 1958 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Rusty Knife

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu,Okura Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Rusty Knife
Performed by Yûjirô Ishihara

User Reviews

Fine Japanese noir

There's much to like about this film for noir enthusiasts. Moody characters, flawed protagonists, a great soundtrack, loose women, expert use of shadows to underline the plot, and much, much more. This is one that'll keep you riveted to the end. That said, there's some cheesy stuff as well. In particular plot elements that sometimes pop up rather conveniently take away from an otherwise very neat movie. The dialog can be stiff although some of that may be a result of the translation from the Japanese. Some sound effects, or rather their absence left me wondering. For example in the chase scene it looked as if the trucks were smashing each other yet there was no sound of the crash, just of the racing engines. In fight scenes the punches weren't always accompanied by the sound of a punch, or you could hear one but see no punch. Finally the choreography of the fight scenes left much to be desired. People flew around without being touched and punches were thrown that obviously did not connect. The studio should have taken lessons from Hollywood about staging fights. But all in all, a fine movie that also reunites two fine actors, Yujiro Ishihara and Mie Kitahara, who two years earlier starred in "Crazed Fruit".