"Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!" .... movie review part one

 

 Release Date: January 27, 1963  Length: 84 minutes... Director: Seijun Suzuki

Based upon the novel Detective Agency 23 by Oyabu Haruhiko, subs by Mashhamid

 This movie was in color but like the previous film I reviewed the Nikkatsu site had some promo pics in black and white but it is surprising they had a page for a film over sixty years old! This film stars one of my all time favorite actors Jo Shishido and you will be seeing a few more films featuring him. What a busy actor he was for over thirty years and bet I've seen him in at least fifteen films, that will soon be about twenty! He was born in December 1933 and passed away about four years ago at the age of 86. Seems that so many popular actors from the 1950's until the 80's lived until they were eighty and that is shocking considering how much they smoked, decades ago they didn't fake smoking in movies. Have said for these reviews 98% of the films will be ones I had never seen but this one I had. But just once and in a humorous incident lost this DVD and have well over a thousand Japanese films. Was doing some house cleaning years ago and this DVD was somehow misplaced so after a year or so forgot about it. Did another recent cleaning and found this to my pleasant surprise along with a few others that had been forgotten about.

 These intro sections have really become my fave part of doing these posts, there's so many trivial facts plus have the rare opportunity to talk about one of my biggest passions which is older Japanese movies. Can't zip through these like I can with dramas but am going to try and do another five or more from reviews before my next drama watch. There probably are very few other fans of these movies who visit here but would enjoy hearing from those that do and am always open to some recommendations. 

 Main Cast: There was a sequel that came out six months later but have never seen it on DVD so don't think it was that popular. This film also had some very odd dimensions as they were 1006x426 or about 2.5:1.05 and have noticed that these older films rarely have the dimensions seen today. You will naturally be reading what took place in the two posts but here's a brief synopsis on what the story is about. There's two rival Yakuza groups who have been stealing quite a high amount of firearms and ammo from some nearby American bases. While they're rival groups doesn't seem as though they're at war with each other, their gang names are Otsuki and Sakura. The last few times one of the gangs has stolen some arms their heist was then hijacked when they were fleeing, the work of their rival? 

 No, it was the work of a third Yakuza gang and it was one much smaller but with weapons they could join the big leaguers. This third group we never learned the name of, for the other two we never discovered who their leaders were or any of the members. There was a private detective named Tajima who truly despised the Yakuza and did offer his services to the police which they accepted though of course it was kept secret. Tajima used the undercover name of Tanaka to infiltrate the third gang and bring them down, the leaders of this gang were very leery of him from the get-go but Tajima in the end did bring them down. That's what the story will be about and of course so much more happened than that. The last movie that was reviewed had six segments, three in two posts and until then had always needed eight segments. So my goal is to keep it that length once again and I should be able to do it without leaving out any key details and while I do describe too much of what takes place never everything.

Jo Shishido as Hideo Tajima, also as Ichiro Tanaka.... Tajima was his real name but when he infiltrated a gang he used Tanaka as his cover name and thanks to Kumagai had the papers to prove it. Tajima owns his own agency called Detective Bureau 2-3 hence the movie's title. He seems to be very competent but don't think the agency drew a lot of business. Not sure why but Tajima holds such a grudge against Yakuza groups, when this third gang mentioned above started to become powerful Tajima offered his services to the local main police investigator Kumagai. That offer was accepted, the pair aren't friends but seem to know each other well. Tajima can be a corny man at times and knows a club singer named Sally well who more than anything else would love to be his girlfriend! Tajima is a bit of a 'Ladies Man' but when on a case is always serious about solving the crime and is an Ace when it comes to shooting guns plus often comes up with some very ingenious plans. Not positive but Tajima did have a bot of a sleazy side so may have made some dough in the side by swindling celebs and/or marital cheaters.

Tamio Kawaji as Koichi Manabe.... Member of this third Yakuza gang who never had a name but their immediate leader was named Hatono. Manabe was a very important cog in this group but in the opening scene had been arrested when the gang he led had ambushed a deal between the Otsuki and Sakura clans. Everyone else escaped but Manabe didn't, both gangs are after him and because of that Tajima was able to get close to this man using the name of Tanaka. Manabe's colleagues were not happy with his arrest and how he brought Tajima(Tanaka) into their fold, that would lead to his death.

Reiko Sasamori as Chiaki.... Wow, she was one extremely busy actress from 1960-65, then she got married and never did any more acting but she's still alive and will be 84 in two months. She was the mistress of the oldish gang leader Hatano but with him being impotent at the age of 22 Chiaki is still a virgin! She did like Tajima immensely, as the film ended the pair rode off.... to make her a woman?!

Nobuo Kaneko as Kumagai.... Chief of the First Investigative Unit and while they're not 'friends' him and Tajima are a bit close and respect each other. Kumagai was very important in this film as it was him who supplied Tajima with weapon and a fake identity. Kaneko is a very noted actor and could be best known for his huge role as a Yakuza boss in the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" movie series.... I recommend those five movies very, very highly!!!!

Kinzo Shin as Hatano.... Leader of the unknown third gang though there is one person above him. That's Beniki who he had a small role and never did discover his real name, he's in the second screenshot. This new third gang is very small with only about twenty members but seems all are veteran gangsters, with more weapons they may control all Yakuza gangs in Tokyo!

 Naomi Hoshi as Sally.... Singer and dancer at the Esquire Club. While not Tajima's girlfriend she truly wished she was and Sally does some spying for him at times as the Yakuza does frequent her club. Not a huge role but she was one attractive woman!!!!

Koichi Uenoyama as Yoshihama.... Main henchman for Hatano who also happens to be his uncle, he didn't trust Tajima(Tanaka) from the first second.

 Yuko Kusunoki as Misa.... Manabe's girlfriend and we only saw her in a few scenes but she too was one looker! Yuko was a very busy actress in the 1960's and 70's but didn't do much acting after that. She was born in 1933 and just turned 91 in age. You wouldn't think so but quite a few actresses that were popular from the late 1950's to the 80's are still alive and most are over 85 in age.

 Tajima did have a pair of clowns who were his associates but never did much to help him. Irie was the woman but the man was never mentioned so will call him Sano but may never refer to him. The pair are in the first screenshot, in the second below on the right is another who helped out Tajima at times and his name was Horiuchi.

Short promo video for the movie from Arrow Video who released the DVD, for a film that came out in early 1963 this had such a fantastic music score.
 

 

 Don't know if my reviews are getting better but the above section is with each movie. Do throw in some trivia, personal thoughts and info about the cast so though it does take a while to write up do have to say that above section is somewhat impressive. It does help to read it all as there's a brief synopsis of the movie plus have many details about the main characters, that section does help me when I'm writing these reviews up This film was directed by Seijun Suzuki and he's such a noted Japanese director. I've seen close to ten of his movies but after his 1967 classic "Branded for Killing" was blacklisted for a decade but did make a slight comeback. Suzuki died at the age of 93 in 2017 but had worked up until the age of 81.... you do learn much trivia in these movie reviews!!!

 Whew, as mentioned that above section does take some time but you do feel better about yourself when you can create something as helpful as the above is. Once again did stall when it came to writing the main review up, took a two day breather and why can't I write movie reviews up right after viewing them? That's a mystery as I do that with dramas but these movies being so old does it really matter? Besides the four films that have been reviewed recently have watched many more than that and will discuss what they were in the second post. Will also say what will be up next and think it will be a 1971 movie starring Shishido titled "Blood for Blood". That also featured my all time actress Meiko Kaji and hope to have a few more of her films coming up. Let's finally get to the review, we know the location is Tokyo but not what section of the city, perhaps all around it. The time is December and the film was shot during that month in 1962 but it appears that area doesn't get any snow. It did look cold but not freezing such as where I live.

**** Those above two characters were Tajima's goofy assistants, they really had no impact on what took place and may never mention them. When Tajima infiltrated this third Yakuza gang he used a fake identity and called himself Tanaka but to make things easier will always use the name of Tajima. Tanaka was a real person who had been in prison but had recently been released.

 That top screenshot was of the Otsuki gang raiding an American base and stealing many weapons and ammo. That wasn't the first time they did that, either the US Army didn't care or were too incompetent as the gang was always successful. So isn't another Yakuza gang in doing that and their name is Sakura, we never learned of any leader or member's name from either group. After that raid the Otsuki gang met up with their rivals Sakura, not true rivals as the gangs aren't at war and often trade their stolen booty. Which was the case after the raid, the time was 1:00 am and it was right around December 10th. Recently the two gangs have been attacked by another group and no one knows who they are, this unknown gang has been stealing all of their weapons and ammo. In the second and third screenshots above once again these two gangs were attacked, the truck with the stolen goods was hijacked and driven off. There was a shootout with eight members of the Otsuki and Sakura gangs gunned down. None of the attacking gangsters were killed but somehow the leader of this small gang had been left behind. The police had soon arrived taking the man into custody and good for him as both gangs wanted to pummel him to death!!!!

 Koichi Manabe is this gangster leader's name and while locked up wouldn't say a word, there's no screenshots of him above but you'll be seeing plenty of Manabe. Hearing about this attack was the man in three screenshots above, the hero of the movie Hideo Tajima. He visited the precinct where Manabe was being held, we never learned why but Tajima holds such a grudge against Yakuza gangs. He's a very skilled private eye who owns the Detective Bureau 2-3 agency but don't think it's too successful. The main leader of this precinct was an oldish investigator named Kumagai, he's not close friends with Tajima but both respect each other and Tajima did offer his services. These attacks by this third unknown Yakuza group have been increasing and the police have zero leads which Tajima reminded Kumagai of. So with really no alternatives Kumagai accepted the offer that Tajima had given to help the police out, if this case doesn't get solved soon there could be a massive gang war beginning any day. So Kumagai was able to furnish Tajima with a weapon plus a false identity which will be the name of Tanaka, a criminal who had just been released from prison but there should be no way anyone would discover that fact. The third to last screenshot above shows some men outside the precinct where Manabe was being held. The men are from the Otsuki and Sakura gangs, once Manabe is released both gangs are prepared to end his life even if it's on the steps of the police station!

 Manabe is in the bottom two screenshots above, in the last one he's with his girlfriend Misa and wish we saw more of her(or less)! At the precinct it's mid-afternoon, because they don't have enough evidence to detain him Manabe will be released that evening at 10:00 pm. By that time there could be over fifty gangsters lying in wait to eliminate Manabe, what can Tajima and/or the police do to prevent his death? It being a movie time often flies by and it was quickly 10:00 pm, you can see above that outside the police precinct the streets were packed! Not because of a rock star(!) but all were awaiting the release of Manabe, there had to be fifty armed gangsters ready to put him down and all could care less about the police as Manabe was responsible for eight of their own being dead! When the police brought him out the front door the scene was one I was expecting, the hooded man they were escorting wasn't Manabe and of course the two gangs were soon in a state of frenzy! That deception did buy some precious time for while that was taking place slipping out the back door was Manabe who was shoved into Tajima's white sports car, it was a make I've seen often but can't recall it's name. With that many gangsters milling about the station of course a few would notice the car zooming away which did happen, soon the Otsuki and Sakura gangs were hot on Tajima's tail.

 He is a shrewd man and naturally Tajima knew would be chased, sure all of us would have had the same inkling. Earlier in the day Tajima had ordered a PT henchman of his named Horiuchi to steal a cement mixing truck and at the time I wondered why?  Now the answer was revealed as Horiuchi ran interference for Tajima with this massive truck blocking the gang's vehicles allowing him to escape with Manabe. Tajima drove on a bit and once he knew the coast was clear stopped to talk with Manabe, Tajima told the thug his name was Tanaka but as mentioned will keep using his Tajima name. Manabe had no clue who his savior was and Tajima said he had been recently released from prison, he wants to get in on some big time action and while in prison he heard the name of Manabe a few times(a lie). Tajima said he was intrigued by what he heard about his gang and could he join them to make a huge killing? Manabe wasn't the brightest of men while Tajima is a very smooth talker and had practiced this spiel, before long Manabe believed his stories. So off they went and the first stop was Manabe's girlfriend's place which is the bottom screenshot above, Tajima left them once things got  a bit sweaty and called Kumagai to let him know of his progress who in turn told Tajima all of the gangsters involved in that earlier scene were arrested!

 But for Tajima there were more important things than women and soon told Manabe it's time to meet his gang. As said a few times this gang never had a name and is a newish one as there's only about twenty members but all seem to be seasoned pros. Manabe brought Tajima to his gang's HQ which was below both a repair shop and club, of course at the HQ Manabe introduced Tajima as Tanaka. Though seemingly an important member of this unnamed gang didn't seem as though his mates respected nor cared for Manabe all that much. They were furious for him getting arrested at that weapons deal and for bringing Tajima to their HQ. The most vocal was a man named Yoshihama and this scene is right above. From the get-go Yoshihama didn't trust Tajima(Tanaka) at all and this thug seemed to be a seasoned pro. Yoshihama did attempt a daring wrestling move on Tajima to bring him down but the tables were quickly turned on Yoshihama as Tajima got the upper hand, he didn't do much fighting but Tajima does appear to be skilled in battle. 

 Yoshihama grudgingly said Uncle but him and his cohorts had guns so Tajima was shuffled off to a cell. While he was stewing there Yoshihama and Manabe held a quickly assembled meeting with the gang officials to talk about the situation. This gang was led by an older man named Hatano though later on we did meet his superior and have that info in the next post. The police investigator Kumagai did a superb job creating a fake bio for Tajima posing as Tanaka, somehow this gang was able to access much of that info.... perhaps Kumagai leaked that info? What they discovered seemed very odd to them but maybe that's why the ruse worked. According to the info on Tajima(Tanaka) his father was a Catholic priest and when interviewed in his cell Tajima did admit that was true. But he's been estranged from his father for a while as Tajima had been to prison twice and wasn't much of a believer in religion. But to prove he's who he says he is Hatano and his cohorts ordered Tajima to bring him to his father's church and as mentioned Kumagai had this all planned out well in advance. With all that was happening to Tajima makes you wonder why he wanted to join this gang, why didn't they question that? In the bottom screenshot above Tajima had been escorted to his 'father's' church, playing the role of the priest was a detective named Sano. With Hatano watching intently Sano greeted Tajima as though he was his lost long son but Hatano still wasn't 100% convinced what he was viewing was on the up and up. That concludes this first review and will have the continuation of this scene in the next post, honestly have no clue what minute mark this took place in the film.