
139 minutes
12/1/1932
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

Yukichi Iwata
as Kurobee Ōno

Hideo Fujino
as Hyobu

Sôjin Kamiyama
as Kozukenosuke Kira

Kōkichi Takada
as Sezaemon Oishi
Masao Hori
as Soemon Hara / Kusama Katsunosuke

Eigorō Onoe
as Heihachiro Kobayashi

Kōtarō Bandō
as Shinzaemon Katsuta

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
Shōzaburō Mikawa
as Kujuro Ono
Shojiro Ogasawara
as Hasajiro

Misao Seki
as Koyama

Yasurō Shiga
as Jūbee Ōtake
Tetsu Tsuboi
as Gengoemon Kataoka
Sôroku Kazama
as Iori Date

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

Joji Oka
as Yanagisawa

Shigeru Ogura
as Yuka

Shintarô Takiguchi
as Сhikara Ôishi
Jūsaburō Kiso
as Makodayu Okuda
Kinnosuke Takamatsu
as Genshirō Shindō

Kasuke Koizumi
as servant Ono
Kichimatsu Nakamura
as Ikkaku Shimizu
Kaoru Yamamoto
as Yasuke (Kuranosuke's Servant)
Masatarō Nakamura
as Kihei Asakura
Jushiro Kobayashi
as Yasube Horibe
Saburō Sawai
as Hachirō
Subaru Hirota
as Inokō
Haruo Inoue
as Magokuro Mase
Kennosuke Uno
as Chief Retainer Sōda Magobei
Ryutaro Nagai
as servant
Shigeo Shizuyama
as Oishi Family Servant
Tokitsugu Ogawa
as Kansuke Nakamura
Takeo Nagashima
as Yuichi Takebayashi

Yoshito Yamaji
as prince Edokko
Kinnosuke Masaki
as Cowardly Samurai
Ryoma Kusukabe
as Tozaemon Hayamizu
Yoichi Takeuchi
as Sanpei Kayano
Hiromitsu Aoki
as Genzo Akahani
Yūsaku Takayama
as Kira family attendant
Sôemon Wada
as Chosuke Yagura
Ichiro Mitsui
as Kouemon Onodera
Saburo Chiba
as Kira's bodyguard

Kyōzō Fuyuki
as Yogoro Kanzaki
Fukumatsu Nakamura
as Sukeuemon Kaiga
Tokiichiro Osaki
as Senpachi
Sumao Ishihara
as Kajimura

Kōji Mitsui
Shozaburo Abe

Tomio Aoki
as boss of the children (as Tokkan Kozô)

Hideo Sugawara
as Daisaburō

Takao Kataoka
as Daimyo

Yoshiko Kawada
as Oriku

Chōko Iida
as Nui, Fuwa's wife

Utako Suzuki
as Orui's mother

Emiko Yagumo
as Tayu Ukihashi

Kinuyo Tanaka
as Yae

Hiroko Kawasaki
as Yōzen'in

Yoshiko Okada
as Orui

Sakiko Yanagi
as Toda no Tsubone

Akiko Chihaya
as Katsuta's Wife Hikari

Toshiko Iizuka
as Kozuma
Kimie Kawakami
as Nobuka Geigi

Yoshie Nakagawa
as Kuni