Synopsis
Detective Tarao goes undercover to battle an evil gun smuggling business.
1956 ‘多羅尾伴内シリーズ 戦慄の七仮面’ Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda, Tsuneo Kobayashi
Detective Tarao goes undercover to battle an evil gun smuggling business.
Chiezō Kataoka Kogiku Hanayagi Kôji Nanbara Eijirō Kataoka Yuriko Tashiro Jun Usami Eijirō Yanagi Shin Tokudaiji Kenji Susukida Yoshi Katō Junko Ataka Noriko Sengoku Tokue Hanazawa Kyū Sazanka Mitsugu Fujii Fusatarō Ishijima Ken Sudo Akira Tatematsu Hisao Toake Ushio Akashi Hiroshi Takada Hidemaro Takahara Koji Kiyomura Kentaro Taki Kōji Sekiyama Goro Morino Yahachiro Toyono Kenzo Shoshin Columbia Rose Show All…
Tarao Bannai senritsu no nanakamen
The series is referred to as the Tarao Bannai series, but I think part of what's so interesting about it is that Tarao Bannai is just one of our hero's many disguises, it just happens to be the one that is best known. By this movie in the series, it's now clear that these aren't just disguises he throws on to fool people, they are complete identities that maintain their own lodging and livelihood. In addition to the Tarao persona, he returns again to the one-eyed taxi driver as well, in whose appearance he seems to spend some time each day just cruising around picking up fares and gathering information. This time around he's hot on the trail of gun…
Collin begged me to watch this, and honestly Japanese crime thrillers from the 50’s really did something 👀
Tarao Bannai is back, this time investigating the supposed suicide of a man involved with a gun smuggling operation. This film stretches believability at times, like the fact that not only is Bannai a master of disguise, but that he has access to multiple buildings as faux homes, one even equipped with a trap door! And the solution to the number code mystery is somewhat questionable... but, this isn’t a hard boiled, realistic detective story. This aims to be more fun, so the details like that don’t really matter. The film isn’t trying to surprise you that Bannai is hiding in these guises, you know that going in, so it’s more about how he uses them to unravel the mystery. The mystery is dry at times but entertaining enough. And the shootout at the end is pretty action packed, even pulling in some mirror tricks and secret passageways!
formulaic in a pleasurable way, as these things tend to be. until the end, anyway, where there's some implication that bannai tarao holds a kind of supernatural or mystical power, compelling a bit of religious reverie in an old woman. strange!
Solide Krimi-Kost mit charismatischem Hauptdarsteller und gekonntem Spannungsaufbau, die einen die routinierte, oft altbackene Handlung verzeihen lässt.