139 minutes
3/1/1932
This 1932 adaptation is the earliest sound version of the ever-popular and much-filmed Chushingura story of the loyal 47 retainers who avenged their feudal lord after he was obliged to commit hara-kiri due to the machinations of a villainous courtier. As the first sound version of the classic narrative, the film was something of an event, and employed a stellar cast, who give a roster of memorable performances. Director Teinosuke Kinugasa was primarily a specialist in jidai-geki (period films), such as the internationally celebrated Gate of Hell (Jigokumon, 1953), and although he is now most famous as the maker of the avant-garde silent films A Page of Madness (Kurutta ichipeji, 1926) and Crossroads (Jujiro, 1928), Chushingura is in fact more typical of his output than those experimental works. The film ranked third in that year’s Kinema Junpo critics’ poll, and Joseph Anderson and Donald Richie noted that 'not only the sound but the quick cutting was admired by many critics.
Jusaburo Bando
as Kuranosuke Ôishi
Kazuo Hasegawa
as Asano Takuminokami and Yoshida Sawaemon (as Chôjirô Hayashi)
Utaemon Ichikawa
as Awajinokami Wakisaka / Gorobei Kakimi
Kōtarō Bandō
as Shinzaemon Katsuta
Kōkichi Takada
as Sezaemon Oishi
Sôjin Kamiyama
as Kozukenosuke Kira
Joji Oka
as Yanagisawa
Yukichi Iwata
as Kurobee Ōno
Hideo Fujino
as Hyobu
Shintarô Takiguchi
as Сhikara Ôishi
Eigorō Onoe
as Heihachiro Kobayashi
Shoichi Nodera
as Yahee Horibe
Hideo Takeda
as Gon'uemon Ōkubo
Jun Arai
as Miyauchi Saito
Eiji Oshimoto
as Chotaro Kasahara
Kashichi Shimada
as Tsunanori Uesugi
Ichiro Yuki
as Kato
Junosuke Bandô
as Emoshichi Yatou
Misao Seki
as Koyama
Yasurō Shiga
as Jūbee Ōtake
Tetsu Tsuboi
as Gengoemon Kataoka
Kokuten Kōdō
as Uesugi Family Elder
Tatsuo Saitō
as Kazuemon Fuwa
Tokuji Kobayashi
as Genzaemon Tonomura
Shinichi Himori
as Tanuki
Kenji Oyama
as Gengo Ôtaka
Kenichi Miyajima
as Kajikawa
Shigeru Ogura
as Yuka
Kinnosuke Takamatsu
as Genshirō Shindō
Kasuke Koizumi
as servant Ono
Jushiro Kobayashi
as Yasube Horibe
Saburō Sawai
as Hachirō
Subaru Hirota
as Inokō
Ryutaro Nagai
as servant
Sumao Ishihara
as Kajimura
Shozaburo Abe
as Kozo Ikariko
Yoshito Yamaji
as prince Edokko
Tomio Aoki
as boss of the children (as Tokkan Kozô)
Hideo Sugawara
as Daisaburō
Hiroko Kawasaki
as Yōzen'in
Kinuyo Tanaka
as Yae
Yoshiko Okada
as Orui
Yoshiko Kawada
as Oriku
Chōko Iida
as Nui, Fuwa's wife
Utako Suzuki
as Orui's mother
Akiko Chihaya
as Katsuta's Wife Hikari
Kimie Kawakami
as Nobuka Geigi
Yoshie Nakagawa
as Kuni