Obscure Japanese Film #96
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Chiezo Kataoka as Tarao Bannai
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When a nightclub singer
is killed under mysterious circumstances at a racetrack, master detective Tarao
Bannai (Chiezo Kataoka) adopts a number of disguises in an attempt to unmask
the killer. The suspects include Dr Izumaru (Eitaro Shindo), his wife (Mieko
Takamine), his assistant (Michiko Hoshi), the dead girl’s ex-lover (Ken
Takakura), crooked businessman Togame (Takashi Shimura) a nightclub owner (Masao
Mishima), and a nightclub hostess (Mitsuko Miura).
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Michiko Hoshi
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Eitaro Shindo
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Masao Mishima
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Mitsuko Miura
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The character of Tarao
Bannai was created for the movies in 1946 by screenwriter Yoshitake Hisa
(1904-81) in order to provide a new vehicle for veteran star Chiezo Kataoka.
After the war, the occupying Americans had banned sword-fighting films in the
belief that they encouraged feudalism, leaving Kataoka unable to perform the type
of roles for which he was famous. Fortunately for Kataoka, the first film was a
hit with the public if not with the critics. He starred in four Tarao Bannai pictures for
Daiei in the late ‘40s; when he later fell out with the studio, he made a
further seven films featuring the character for Toei between 1953 and 1960. Thirteen Demon Lords was the first of
these to be shot in colour and widescreen, and perhaps for that reason it boasts
a remarkably strong cast including a young Ken Takakura, veteran star and
respected actress Mieko Takamine, and Kurosawa favourite Takashi Shimura.
However, despite such stiff competition, this is Kataoka’s show all the way.
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Ken Takakura
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Mieko Takamine
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Takashi Shimura
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Outside of Japan,
Chiezo Kataoka is perhaps best-known for his leading roles in a number of Tomu
Uchida films, the most widely-seen of which is probably Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, though he also played the nihilistic
samurai Ryunosuke Tsukue in Uchida’s three-film version of the novel Daibosatsu Toge – a character later
immortalised by Tatsuya Nakadai in Sword
of Doom. He was a wonderfully versatile actor as we can see from his
performance (or performances) in Thirteen
Demon Lords. Although the disguises that his character adopts (an Indian
magician, a beatnik artist, etc) are often utterly ridiculous, the extent to which Kataoka not only
changes his appearance, but subtly alters his voice and body language each time is impressive.
If it’s not too confusing, it should perhaps be noted that the character of
Tarao Bannai himself is actually another alter-ego – the ‘real’ person behind
the different faces is one Daizo Fujimura, a former jewel thief who has turned his
back on his criminal past to become a crusader for justice.
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Chiezo Kataoka
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Chiezo Kataoka
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Kataoka as Daizo Fujimura
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With its unlikely
nick-of-time escapes and evil criminal mastermind who relishes the use of
poison gas and dripping acid, this recalls the serials of the 1920s and ‘30s
and is, of course, pure hokum, but it’s also pretty good fun if you’re in the
mood. However, I’m not sure I’d want to sit through the other ten movies in the
series as they apparently followed a pretty rigid formula, with Bannai adopting
the same number of disguises each time (always seven) and departing in the same
manner at the end of each film, although this very repetition seems to have
become an element that the Japanese audiences of the time enjoyed.
Director Sadatsugu
Matsuda (1906-2003) directed most of the entries in the series and divided his
time between this sort of film and chanbara
flicks. The character was briefly revived for two films in 1978 starring Akira
Kobayashi, but did not catch on.
Watched with dodgy subtitles.
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