Member BlackLamaFaction Posted December 14, 2010 Member Share Posted December 14, 2010 Anyone who has seen a Daiei film from 1962 on will instantly recognize this guys face. I believe it was in Nemuri Kyoshiro: Sword of Fire he was referred to as the pock faced samurai, but in most films he is not even given a name. Regardless of his small insignificant roles he is in just about every film Daiei made from 1962 on until they were absorbed by Toho. Including every film series like Zatoichi, Nemuri Kyoshiro, Shinobi No Mono, and all their best films like The Betrayal, 47 Loyal Ronin, Lone Wolf Isazo, Samurai Vendetta and on and on. Does anyone know who this man is? Was his father someone important? I mean he's not the best looking guy you could get for strictly cameo roles, so how did he get into all these films? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted December 14, 2010 Member Share Posted December 14, 2010 I have to find out who he is but don't forget you know how many Guys appeared in different films of the same series? Damn Zaotichi had a whole slew of them that kept coming back in different movies. He most likely was a contract Actor to work in any movie he could do for the studio's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted December 14, 2010 Member Share Posted December 14, 2010 Back in the day pretty much all Japanese actors were (one) studio actors... Even Ken Takakura would take almost any role Toei would "offer" him. It's no coincidence Bin Amatsu is the villain in like 6 of the 8 Red Peony Gambler movies, and Masashi Ishibashi gets his ass kicked in almost every Sonny Chiba and Etsuko Shihomi movie ever made... Tetsuro Tanba was one famous actor who did work for more than one studio. But it wasn't common until from the late 70's onwards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BlackLamaFaction Posted December 14, 2010 Author Member Share Posted December 14, 2010 Yeah guys your sure right about that you see a lot of faces over and over. This guy I take special interest in because he's so recognizable and he really is in every film. It's like a running joke. Me and my girlfriend play a game to see who can spot him first whenever we watch a Daiei film. That is really true that Tanba is one of the few famous guys that was allowed to float around like that. Tomisaburo Wakayama was another one who floated between Daiei and Toei quite a bit and Hideo Gosha was able to direct films for Toho, Shochiku and Toei. But otherwise it seems it was pretty much a studio game in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chanbara Posted December 14, 2010 Member Share Posted December 14, 2010 His stage name was Saburo Date. He also went by the name Takeshi Date. His real name was Juntaro Sakura and he worked in Japanese films and television from 1945 until his death at age 67 in 1991. He did indeed appear in a lot of films at Daiei, as did many other character actors working in the studio system. I mostly associate him with his role as Hanzo Hattori in the first 3 "Shinobi no Mono" films. And speaking of which, Ric Meyers speaks about him briefly during his running commentary on the 2nd film released by AnimEigo. It's one of the few bright spots on what is probably the worse running commentary I've ever wasted 90 minutes of my life listening to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BlackLamaFaction Posted December 16, 2010 Author Member Share Posted December 16, 2010 Thanks for the Info Chanbara, your vast knowledge never ceases to impress me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chanbara Posted December 16, 2010 Member Share Posted December 16, 2010 No problem. Glad I could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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