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

 

 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.
 

 

 This is the fourth movie reviewed in the last two or so weeks but have viewed so many more. For years used to have a tradition of watching an old classic before turning in for the night but got out of that routine and I shouldn't have. The two main reasons being I spent too much time on the Internet and also from doing too much blogging. Not these days though as I went back to my old ways a month ago and am so glad I did. A few other films I've recently viewed are mostly black and white ones which I won't be reviewing. The top one in my eyes was "Black Test Car" from 1962, not that many visitors are old time movie fans but if you are highly recommend that film. A few other winners have been "I Am Waiting" from 1957, "Underworld Beauty" from 1958 which was another Seijun Suzuki film plus "Cruel Gun Story" that also starred Shishido and was from 1964 but have viewed many others besides those. **** The screenshot below was from the very end of the movie and I thought it was an interesting pic. That's how Tokyo was in late 1962 and what a difference compared to how it is today.

 Hard to give grades for these older action films, very few could be considered classics but to me they are so close to being unbeatable. Of course they all have a lot of action but also the plots are very interesting and believable, the language is also much more intelligent and there's very little profanity. One other key thing is that the actors are so much more down to earth and likable, this film had all of the positives mentioned. Will give this a grade of 8.6/10 which was slightly higher than the previous film reviewed. If you've been reading these reviews you know what kind of movies I enjoy so if you have the same tastes as me this is one that is recommended. What will be up next was mentioned in the previous post and it will be another Shishido flick and my first from the 1970's in many moons. We left off part one with Tajima posing as a thug named Tanaka visiting a Catholic church but sure you read the above review. He's trying to infiltrate a newish Yakuza gang and his doctored up bio said his father was a priest but in this scene it was a detective named Sano posing as Tajima's father. Will begin off with that scene and once again my goal is to finish this post in three segments which I should be able to do. Did end off the last post by saying didn't know what mark in the movie I had left off with, it's length is 84 minutes so hope I was close to the halfway mark. **** While I do tell you most of what happened in reviews not all though never leave out anything major.

 The leader of this newish Yakuza clan that had been stealing weapons from two other gangs is the man in the top screenshot whose name is Hatano. He was the one who ordered Tajima(Tanaka) to visit his father at the church as he wasn't 100% confident Tajima was telling the truth about his background. Hatano still didn't fully trust him during this scene but did believe Tajima slightly more. What I wondered is why didn't Hatano question Tajima more about why he wanted to join his gang, especially after the way they had treated Tajima? In the second screenshot is a woman who we had seen only briefly up until now, she's also in the bottom one. She's a 22 year old woman named Chiaki who is the mistress of Hatano, we learned later on that he had killed Chiaki's father in an auto accident and she would love to bring him down. Everything went well at the church as the police investigator Kumagai had been working with Tajima and had done a superb job setting this charade up. All of the church attendees were policemen along with the neighbors, Kumagai is in the fourth screenshot and Tajima at the time told him the gang's HQ was in Roppongi under a garage which I think was also next to a club.

Speaking of clubs after the successful church visit Hatano brought Tajima to the Esquire Club, a place Tajima knew well or at least one person. Who is the woman in red above, her name is Sally and she's a dancer/singer at the club. She also knows Tajima well and wants nothing more in the world than to be with him(!) but have a feeling's he's always turned down her advances. That was a slightly humorous scene as Tajima did get up and dance a routine with Sally in from of the packed club. Joining Hatano was his main henchman Yoshihama who also happens to be his nephew. Yoshihama still doesn't trust Tajima and had paid a visit to the prison that Tanaka has been released from to check on Tajima's story. The guards had been notified by Kumagai to expect such a visit and did say that Tanaka(Tajima) had been released two months ago which was true. However Yoshihama is like his uncle Hatano as he still doesn't completely trust Tajima but did reveal to him and also Hatano that the next day a huge shipment of lighters will be coming into Shibaura and that will be the gang's next heist.... that tale was untrue and it actually was a setup! This unnamed gang should be the target of the two Yakuza clans Otsuki and Sakura so why haven't they somehow sought revenge against their foe yet? The bottom screenshot above is of Chiaki who quickly developed a crush on Tajima but had been ordered to tail Tajima after he left the club, she failed miserably at her assignment.

 May have to make these paragraphs a tad longer if I want to keep this review at three segments. Chiaki may have failed but there was a good reason for that as Tajima noticed her doing so and turned the tables as he followed her. That's in the first two screenshots and Tajima eventually caught up to Chiaki bringing her to a club and he was very curious how someone such as her could end up with Hatano? That's when Chiaki revealed to Tajima that Hatono had run over her father with his car killing him. It was an accident(was it?) but Hatano did have a henchman take the rap and that case had been quickly dismissed. Chiaki's father had owned the garage that is above the secret HQ of Hatano's gang, Chiaki wants to avenge her father's death but how? Unknown to her during this mini conversation Tajima had slipped a recording device onto her dress, he also did that to his wanna-be girlfriend Sally above and didn't she look so appetizing? Of course Chiaki had been calling Tajima Tanaka and when she left told him something very interesting. Chiaki is Hatono's mistress and has been for about two years though she's only 22 in age. He's impotent so the pair have never consummated that relationship and Chiaki is still a virgin!!!! Some big developments are about to take place, back at the HQ of Hatano's gang an emergency meeting was held but without Manabe present. Chiaki was there, unknown to her and everyone else listening in was Tajima via that bug he inserted onto Chiaki's dress.

 The gang is still furious at how Manabe got himself arrested and brought Tajima(Tanaka) into their small Yakuza clan. This group has continued stealing weapons from the Otsuki and Sakura gangs, they now have plenty and all that's left is to recruit more members so they can control the Tokyo underground! That would be without Manabe, that evening the bogus Shibaura deal was to take place and what's really planned are the deaths of Manabe and Tajima! He heard all of that via his bug and immediately prepared to turn the tables on his wanna-be killers. But went along with their plan and that evening sat with Manabe in a car waiting to make that buy on lighters. Prior to that Tajima had called up the two rival gangs and told them of them of Hatano's massive lighters deal, both would be at this location for their own revenge. Manabe and Tajima sat in a car alone waiting for this deal to go down, Manabe has a big mouth and revealed too many of his gang's secrets to Tajima. Who had another recorder on him and taped all that Manabe said which he played back for the thug, how would have Tajima used that info? For when the pair pulled guns on each other shooting at them was the gang's main henchman Yoshihama but he didn't have time to finish the job. For arriving on the scene was a truck full of the Otsuki and Sakura gangs, they quickly shot Yoshihama and most of his men to death. That gave Manabe a chance to flee but in the end run it didn't matter. He dashed to his girlfriend Misa's apartment, there waiting was another of Hatano's hitmen who eliminated the pair, Tajima did the same to this killer. So Hatano's smallish gang has been chopped in half and what had taken place really helped out Tajima as it bought him some valuable time. Hatano was under the impression that Tajima had been killed at the deal with Manabe, that's what Tajima told the investigator Kumagai above and this could be their best and maybe only chance to bring this gang down.

 By now there was probably only about twelve minutes to go, there were three scenes combined into a very long one. What took place is in the above screenshots and the first five below as this segment will end the review. Though Tajima could have remained hidden he paid a visit to Hatano's office and he was stunned to see Tajima alive. The pair almost had a shootout but Tajima was able to grab Hatano's revolver and could have killed the Yakuza leader. But didn't as Tajima had a plan in the works, of course Hatano wasn't aware of that but said he now trusted Tajima as he could have killed him and didn't, Hatano also revealed he knew Tanaka wasn't his real name and he was working for the police. If Tajima truly wanted to make a 'big score' money wise would he be willing to deliver the massive amount of weapon and ammo(a lie) in the basement of the HQ to a man named Beniki? He's on the right in the fourth screenshot above, he's the actual leader of this unnamed gang though we rarely saw him. Hatano's plan was to kill Tajima while he was in the basement where there were only a handful of weapons and ammo, Hatano also wanted to see Chiaki eliminated so told Tajima to take her on the delivery as Beniki wouldn't know him. But the pair never left the basement with the weapons as they were immediately locked in and for once the tables had been turned on Tajima! Gas began to trickle out of a fuel tanker and it was just a matter of time until Tajima and Chiaki were either burnt or suffocated to death! That basement had a crate which did have a few weapons so Tajima grabbed a machine gun and began to shoot at the ceiling which was below a street. 

 That was a very cool scene of Tajima firing while a fire was blazing and his shooting from below the street was noticed by the investigator Kumagai. Who was in a building across from Hatano's HQ, he grabbed his men and were able to free Tajima and Chiaki in the nick of time! But Hatano and his troops had been able to escape and their destination was another warehouse. There is where Hatano's gang kept 95% of the weapons they had stolen and guess their plan was to use them but the Yakuza clan was by now very small. On their trail was a massive army of officers led by Kumagai but arriving before them were the two gangs Otsuki and Sakura. Who wanted their own revenge against Hatano's thugs but never had a chance to battle with them as there were too many policemen surrounding the warehouse and all surrendered after a short shootout. That could mean three Yakuza clans are now erased and all of the credit should to to Tajima but it will be Kumagai who gets all of the accolades! Sure it may not have sounded that way but that scene in the basement and the warehouse was quite exciting and action packed. As the movie ended Tajima was with Chiaki who was still a virgin, wonder for how much longer as Tajima said let's go celebrate things at a resort! Thanks for reading these two recaps and though the paragraphs were longer both posts had two fewer of them so in the end run these two reviews were shorter. To me they seemed easier to write up and hope I can continue with this new style for the upcoming reviews, should be able to as long as the movies aren't longer than ninety minutes. Below are plenty more screenshots of what took place in the second half of this film and it was one I really did enjoy.