Play It Cool 1970

This Japanese melodrama chronicles the exploits of a geisha's beautiful daughter. The daughter is the geisha's pride and she spares nothing to insure that she has a bright future. But the hard-working young woman's dreams of becoming a dressmaker are shattered.... She then becomes a nightclub hostess who plays cards with male patrons using her body as the prize.

Blood End 1969

Sentaro is been severely beaten for his defiance of the government and the high taxes during a time of famine. He is befriended by Kada Gentaro, a leader in the Mito Tengu group, which plans to overthrow the shogunate.

Gateway to Glory 1969

A young man leaves his widowed mother on her improverished farm and makes his career in the Japanese navy.

A Killer's Key 1967

Raizô Ichikawa reprises his role as the restaurant-cook-turned-contract-killer in this sequel to Kazuo Mori's stylish 1967 thriller A Certain Killer.

Gamera vs. Gyaos 1967

Unusual volcanic activity in Japan awakens Gyaos, a bloodthirsty flying monster with the power to slice things in half with an ultrasonic ray. While scientists and the military scramble to devise a way to stop this new threat, a young boy forms an alliance with Gamera; a monster no one else seems to trust.

Gamera vs. Barugon 1966

Gamera escapes from his rocket enclosure and makes his way back to Earth as a giant opal from New Guinea is brought back to Japan. The opal is discovered to have been an egg that births a new monster called Barugon. The creature attacks the city of Osaka by emitting a destructive rainbow ray from his back, along with a freezing spray capable of incapacitating Gamera.

Love and Greed 1964

Namiko gets a crush on Ishizuka, a young CEO of a nightclub, but he was plotting to destroy her husband’s company by greenmail.

Sentimental Mobsters 1963

A young man who followed his father's wishes and became a travel actor causes a big commotion with his fellow members of the Gurentai group during their travel destination! Innocent to cute girls and reckless to bad guys! Exciting entertainment!

When Women Lie 1963

Three stories about the relationship between men and women: "Playgirl" (Masumura/Shirasaka), "Company No. 2" (Yoshimura/Kasahara), and "San Nyotai" (Kinugasa/Shindô).

Black Test Car 1962

Two car manufacturers spy on each other to try to find out details and prices of a new sports car each is about to launch.

Ten Dark Women 1961

Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long as she was the only woman in his life.

Her Brother 1960

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.

Fires on the Plain 1959

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

Giants and Toys 1958

Nishi is an advertising executive for a caramel company that is planning to launch a new product, in fierce competition with two other companies.

The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly 1957

A series of ghastly murders are being committed. The one similarity in each of the murders is that a strange buzzing sound is always heard right before the murder occurs. Is the killer invisible or possibly some other incredible creature?

Night Butterflies 1957

A traditional bar mistress in Kyoto clashes with her Tokyo rival.

Bridge of Japan 1956

Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic melodramas—and re-evaluate it as a tanbi-ha work of decadence, aestheticism, and intrigue. Ichikawa's film presents the tragic plot of the young geisha who is unable to enact her love for a man publicly in any way other than a histrionic story of torment, a heart-rending tale of lovers being crushed by fate. Instead, Ichikawa shows the contest of wills that transpires as two geisha, Oko and Kiyoha fight for the top spot in Nihonbashi, the pinnacle of the Tokyo geisha world. Nihonbashi is an elegant, if steely, exposition of manners. The young doctor, Shinzo Katsuragi, is the object of affection for both women, but appears to be more the choice reward for the plotting and thieving of these two early modern superwomen, than a lover they swoon over.

Punishment Room 1956

Shimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.

Our Planes Fly South 1943

The Lights of Asakusa 1937

Pre-war Asakusa was a riotous district of cabarets, dance-halls and brothels - a striking backdrop for Shimazu's story of innocence and experience. Pretty, young Reiko is the new dancer in an infamous theatre troupe, and her fellow performers try to protect her virtue in a land of vice. Meanwhile, an ageing actor wants to be a hero off stage as well as on, and the troupe matriarch Marie has to keep them all together.