Ken Takakura's screen debut, following his admission into Toei ranks via the studio's annual New Faces program, came surprisingly enough in this pair of Okinawa karate films. The two-parter was released on Jan. 29, 1956 as two thirds of a triple feature. Both halves run just under one hour. The fighting is actually pretty good for the time, and it's fun to see Takakura as an impatient, bearded karate rascal.
Cast
Ken Takakura
Unknown
Harumi Urazato
Unknown
Susumu Namishima
Unknown
Takashi Kanda
Higa Saburo (Gisen's Disciple)
Isao Yamagata
Nagoe Gisen
Toranosuke Ogawa
Unknown
Yoshi Katō
Unknown
Takamaru Sasaki
Unknown
Akikane Sawa
Unknown
Mayumi Fujisato
Unknown
Yuji Kitamine
Unknown
Rikiya Iwaki
Unknown
Tokio Kozuka
Unknown
Kentaro Taki
Unknown
Midori Yamamoto
Unknown
Teru Kobayashi
Unknown
筑波景子
Unknown
Crew
Fujio Tsuda
Director
Taihei Kobayashi
Screenplay
Yoshiharu Makino
Novel
Yoshiki Nagasawa
Editor
Hiroshi Fukushima
Cinematography
Akira Kashima
Assistant Director
光川仁朗
Executive Producer
高木茂
Makeup Artist
伊奈モト
Makeup Artist
城田孝子
Sound Recordist
Hisashi Kase
Sound
Shozo Hirogami
Sound
Tokujirō Ōkubo
Music
長北喜二次
Set Designer
Isamu Yamamori
Still Photographer
Reiko Kawada and the Shurei-kai
Choreographer
片岡一
Fight Choreographer
Fukuei Oki
Stage Director
Yoshiaki Morisawa
Gaffer
Shuichiro Nakamura
Art Direction