Catching a Double Feature of Toho Classics in Ikebukuro!

Quite a double feature at Ikebukuro's Shin Bungeiza theater. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Yesterday, I went to the Shin Bungeiza theater in Ikebukuro to take in a double feature of Akira Takarada films in 35mm as part of a tribute to the late actor, who passed away earlier this year. The theater is screening a variety of Takarada films from July 24 through August 2, although only two are tokusatsu-related: Godzilla (1954) and The Last War (1961).

A poster for the Toho crime thriller Blood and Diamonds (1964). Photo by Brett Homenick.

The first feature to be screened was Blood and Diamonds (1964), directed by Jun Fukuda, and starring Takarada, Yosuke Natsuki, Makoto Sato, and Kumi Mizuno. The black-and-white crime thriller was well directed by Fukuda. (Those who think he was a bad director just because they don't like his '70s Godzilla films really ought to check out his work here.) The story centers around a botched diamond robbery, during which Makoto Sato is nearly fatally shot, and the efforts by members of his gang to save his life.

The Toho films starring Akira Takarada that are being screened as part of the program. Photo by Brett Homenick.

It was absolutely fascinating seeing Yu Fujiki, who often played comedic characters in Toho's kaiju films, as slimy gangster with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Talk about casting against type! It was also interesting seeing Natsuki's police detective character interrogating actor Chico Lourant about the diamond robbery in English.

As impressive as the movie was, I was hoping its scope would have opened up a bit more. Maybe about half of the film takes place in the criminals' dreary hideout in or around a quarry. Overall, however, Jun Fukuda handles the visuals very well. Unlike the hardboiled crime films Kinji Fukasaku would make at Toei in the 1970s, this film has a typical crime-doesn't-pay ending. It's well worth checking out, even if the movie does get bogged down a bit in the hideout scenes.

A news report about the death of Akira Takarada on March 18 on a Hibiya Line train. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The second feature of the evening was the much lighter 007 spoof Ironfinger (1965), co-starring Mie Hama and Ichiro Arishima. The film print looked a bit worse for wear, but there is still no better way to experience a film. I'd only seen Ironfinger once before on DVD, so it was quite enjoyable for me to see the film as it was meant to be seen. I missed an opportunity a while back to catch this on the big screen, so I was especially glad to see it this time.

What a fun evening of classic Toho entertainment. I'll be checking out more Toho classics this week, so please stay tuned to this blog for more details.