Secret of the Urn and a Tange Sazen question

[waywardsage]

I just finished watching Secret of the Urn for the first time and I must say: Gosha hits another home run! He has fast become my favorite samurai director. I'm a huge Goyokin fan!

In the notes on the disc it says Tange Sazen was a popular character. Were there serialized films like the Zatoichi and Sleepy Eyes of Death films on the Tange Sazen character? It seems like there should have been. It's a PERFECT character to do a series on.

Was there ever a series of films on the one armed one eyed badass samurai known as Tange Sazen?

[whitesnake]

There was not a Tange Sazen series of films like Zatoichi or Kyoshiro Nemuri. Please check "Tange Sazen" under Wikipedia for more info. There were at least 4 Tange Sazen movies made, in 1935, 1959, 1966, and 2004. It's possible that Kurotokagi or Merlin at samuraidvd may have copies of the 1959 and 2004 Tange Sazen movies.

[chanbara]

Actually, there have been numerous productions featuring the character dating back to the silent age, including a number of movie series and TV series. Here is a list of every production (I think), including the name of the actor playing the role.

MOVIES

OOKA SEIDAN: SUZUKAWA GENJURO (Teikoku Kinema 1928) MATSUMOTO Tasaburo

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN ZENPEN (Makino 1928) ARASHI Chosaburo

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN CHUHEN (Makino 1928) ARASHI Chosaburo

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN ZENPEN: SUZUKAWA GENJURO NO MAKI (Toa Kinema 1928) DAN Tokumaro

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN CHUHEN (Toa Kinema 1928) DAN Tokumaro

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN KOHEN (Toa Kinema 1928) DAN Tokumaro

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN DAI ICHI-HEN (Nikkatsu 1928) OKOCHI Denjiro

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN DAI NI-HEN (Nikkatsu 1928) OKOCHI Denjiro

SHINPAN OOKA SEIDAN DAI SAN-HEN KAIKETSU-HEN (Nikkatsu 1928) OKOCHI Denjiro

HIZAKURIGE KISO KAIDO (Makino 1930) OKOCHI Denbei

TANGE SAZEN (Toa Kinema 1930) WADA Kimitoki

KENKA SHOBAI (Toa Kinema 1931) NARUTO Shiro

DANGO DANPEI CHINYUKI (Kawai Eiga 1932) YAMABUKI Tokujiro

TANGE SAZEN DAI ICHI-HEN (Nikkatsu 1933) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN: KENGEKI NO MAKI (Nikkatsu 1934) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN YOWA: HYAKUMAN RYO NO TSUBO (Nikkatsu 1935) OKOCHI Denjiro

SEI WA TANGE MEI WA SAZEN (Shinko 1935) TAMURA Kunio

TANGE SAZEN: KENUN HISSATSU NO MAKI DAI ICHI-HEN (Chidori Kogyo 1936) TSUKIGATA Ryunosuke

TANGE SAZEN: UNKON JUBAKI KONO MAKI (Chidori Kogyo 1936) TSUKIGATA Ryunosuke

TANGE SAZEN: NIKKO NO MAKI (Nikkatsu 1936) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN: AIZO MAKEN-HEN (Nikkatsu 1937) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN: KANKETSU HOKO-HEN (Nikkatsu 1937) OKOCHI Denjiro

RYUKO-SO KENSHI ZENGO-HEN (Zensho Kinema 1937) OKOCHI Ryu

SHINPEN TANGE SAZEN: YOTO-HEN (Toho 1938) OKOCHI Denjiro

SHINPEN TANGE SAZEN: SEKISHU-HEN (Toho 1939) OKOCHI Denjiro

SHINPEN TANGE SAZEN: SEKIGAN NO MAKI (Toho 1939) OKOCHI Denjiro

SHINPEN TANGE SAZEN: RENSHA NO MAKI (Toho 1940) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN (Shochiku 1952) BANDO Tsumasaburo

TANGE SAZEN (Daiei 1953) OKOCHI Denjiro

ZOKU TANGE SAZEN (Daiei 1953) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN: KOKE ZARU NO TSUBO (Daiei 1954) OKOCHI Denjiro

TANGE SAZEN: KENUN NO MAKI (Nikkatsu 1956) MIZUSHIMA Michitaro

TANGE SAZEN: KONRYU NO MAKI (Nikkatsu 1956) MIZUSHIMA Michitaro

TANGE SAZEN: KANKETSU-HEN (Nikkatsu 1956) MIZUSHIMA Michitaro

TANGE SAZEN (Toei 1958) OTOMO Ryutaro

TANGE SAZEN: DOTO-HEN (Toei 1959) OTOMO Ryutaro

TANGE SAZEN YOTO NURETSUBAME (Toei 1960) OTOMO Ryutaro

TANGE SAZEN: NURETSUBAME ITTO RYU (Toei 1961) OTOMO Ryutaro

TANGE SAZEN: KENUN KONRYU NO MAKI (Toei 1962) OTOMO Ryutaro

TANGE SAZEN (Shochiku 1963) TANBA Tetsuro

TENAMONYA TOKAIDO (Toho 1966) TANAKA Haruo

TANGE SAZEN: HIEN IAI-GIRI (Toei 1966) NAKAMURA Kinnosuke

TANGE SAZEN: HYAKUMAN RYO NO TSUBO (Eden 2004) TOYOKAWA Etsushi

TELEVISION

TANGE SAZEN (NTV 1958-1959 - 13 episodes) TANBA Tetsuro

TANGE SAZEN (MBS 1963-1964 - 28 episodes) OMURA Kon

TANGE SAZEN (TBS 1965-1966 - 26 episodes) NAKAMURA Takeya

TANGE SAZEN (TBS 1967-1968 - 26 episodes) MATSUYAMA Eitaro

TANGE SAZEN (NET 1970 - 13 episodes) OGATA Ken

EDO KODAN HANA NO NIHONBASHI (KTV 1971 - 2 episodes) WAKAYAMA Tomisaburo

TANGE SAZEN (YTV 1974-1975 - 15 episodes) TAKAHASHI Koji

TANGE SAZEN KEN FU! HYAKUMAN RYO NO TSUBO (Fuji TV 1982 - TV movie) NAKADAI Tatsuya

FUJITA MAKOTO NO TANGE SAZEN (TV Asahi 1990-1994 - 4 TV movies) FUJITA Makoto

TANGE SAZEN (NTV 2004 - TV movie) NAKAMURA Shido

[daisho2004]

They actually made a Tange Sazen movie a couple of years ago and it was really good. I know CK or Merlin does have a few of there films.

[chanbara]

They actually made a Tange Sazen movie a couple of years ago and it was really good.

A couple years ago? What was it called and who played the role? The last theatrical and TV movies listed were both released 7 years ago in 2004. I can find no reference to anything more recent than those two.

One movie I forgot to list is ZIPANG (1990), where both Sazen and Zatoichi make memorable cameos.

[daisho2004]

chanbara: This is the one I was talking about, it was a really good movie. It came out a few years ago, I don't remember exactly when but I really enjoyed it.

OK I see you did have it listed that it came out in 2004' but you had the name wrong.

SAZEN: A HERO OF THE LEGEND

STARRING ETSUSHI TOYOKAWA

Dramatic actor Etsushi Toyokawa takes ont he role of Tange who is forced to give up being a samurai after being betrayed and wounded. Witha comical tone. Tange deals with a nagging wife (Emi Wakui) while becoming involved with an orphaned child and a pot one million ryo.

[chanbara]

Ah, ok. And actually I have the right title listed since I listed the original romanized Japanese titles for all of them.

Here's the trailer for the 2004 movie:

[daisho2004]

I haven't watch this one in a long time but from the preview it did have a lot of action, and anyone who isn't familiar with this character will enjoy it a lot! I don't even know if it was ever given a legit release?