An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life.
Tag: 1950s
In this sword-and-sandal saga set on the steppes of Asia, Rik Battaglia plays Roland, leader of the Paladin troops, who must proves his mettle against the dreaded Saracen invaders, and withstand their evil plots, which primarily consist of sending gorgeous women into their camp to entice and distract them.
After the model of the Italian neorealist films, follows the lives of four women and their fates. Using professional actors and laymen, director Kurt Steinwendner presents the four “jealousy dramas” as allegorical episodes.
Jan “Hunky” Horak is a hard-of-hearing railroad dispatcher who lives in a poor neighborhood by the railroad tracks and is seduced by Betty, who is after his money. After they marry, Betty and her lover Steve Kowalski scheme to murder him.
Postwar Tokyo. Pin and Toku live in the squatter area of Kappanuma, also known as “The Ditch”. Pin and Toku are avid gamblers. They take in Tsuru, a slightly demented woman who has run away from a geisha house. In order to rip Tsuru off, Pin lies that he’s a student who can’t afford his school fees. Tsuru willingly whores herself to support Pin. Eventually the neighbours start to exploit Tsuru as well.
Kyoko, the daughter of a successful novelist, marries an aspiring writer. However, her husband’s difficulties with his writing and his resentment over her father cause deep strains in the marriage.
Having previously portrayed Adolf Hitler in 1951’s The Desert Fox, Luther Adler once more dons the postage-stamp moustache of Der Fuhrer in The Magic Face. This time, however, Adler essays a dual role, playing both Hitler and a famed theatrical impersonator known as Janus the Great. While performing in Vienna, Janus attracts the attention of Hitler, who makes a play for Janus’ wife Vera. When Janus protests, he is beaten and thrown into prison by the gestapo. Janus escapes and vows to destroy Hitler and to that end poses as the German leader, the better to bollix up the Nazi war plans.
Kon Ichikawa’s rich adaptation of Natsume Soseki’s classic novel depicts a complex relationship between a student and an older man he calls “sensei.” The older man’s relations with his wife seems curiously strained to the student. When the boy goes to the country to tend to his dying father, he learns that “sensei” committed suicide.