Blood Spilled at Takadanobaba

Blood Spilled at Takadanobaba (1937)

ActionComedyDrama

The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film, rakugo, kodan and on stage many times, in part because Nakayama later joined the famous 47 Ronin (Chushingura) as Horibe Yasubei. But Makino and Inagaki’s version gives no hint of this more serious future, playing up the thrills and the comedy with Bando’s bravura performance. The multiple pans of Yasubei running to the duel are an exemplar of the experimental flourishes of 1930s Japanese cinema and the final duel, performed virtually like a dance number, is a marker of Makino’s love of rhythm and one of the best sword fights in Japanese film history. The film was originally released under the title Chikemuri Takadanoba (Bloody Takadanobaba) with a length of 57 minutes, but suffered some cuts and a title change when it was re-released in 1952.

Directors: Masahiro Makino, Hiroshi Inagaki.
Writer: Maki Tozo

Casts

	Tsumasaburō Bandō as Yasubei Nakayama
	Takashi Shimura as Takusan
	Tokumaro Dan as Genjihei Segawa
	Ryōsuke Kagawa as Rokuzaemon Sugano
	Chiyoko Ôkura as Otae
	Momonosuke Ichikawa as Kumako
	Shunzaburo Iba as Tengan
	Komako Hara as Osai
	Shojiro Ichikawa as
	Sannosuke Fujikawa as
	Michisaburō Segawa as
	Kajō Onoe as
	Kunitaro Bando as
	Shôen Kataoka as
	Teruo Shimada as
	Tokumaro Ban as
	Kotaro Nifuda as
	Tominosuke Hayama as
	Fumio Wakamatsu as
	Takeo Minato as
	Kazushi Seto as
	Hidemichi Ishikawa as
	Tsuyoshi Shimoyama as
	Taichiro Okura as
	Yuzuru Kume as

Crew