Hayakawa and Colbert gives great performances that make this a must see! Film provides ample evidence that his long-standing fame and status as an actor was well-deserved from his earlier films such as " The Cheat" and others.

PLOT: British and American families living on Borneo during WW2 are sent to prison camps by Japanese, but cultured officer Hayakawa takes an interest in authoress Colbert. Producer Nunnally Johnson adapted Agnes Newton Keith's autobiographical book.

GO FOR BROKE!
(1951)
Directed by Robert Pirosh
Cast: Van Johnson, Lane Nakano, George Miki, Akira Fukunaga, Ken K. Okamoto, Henry Oyasato, Harry Hamada, Henry Nakamura, Warner Anderson, Don Haggerty, Gianna Maria Canale, Dan Riss, Hugh Beaumont, Mark W. Clark, Tsutomu Paul Nakamura, Frank Okada, Walter Reed, Harry S. Truman, Frank Wilcox, the Heroes of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Interesting because it actually shows somebody who expressed their actual views of the Japanese! While unexceptional by today's standards, this Hollywood combat movie features real Japanese American war heroes playing themselves--albeit in supporting roles--as they re-create their tour of duty in World War II Italy. The Nikkei stay firmly in the background, and only a fleeting mention is made of the internment. But the film is a dignified and refreshing change from the "yellow peril" stereotypes so widespread at the time. Next time, Hollywood, let the 442nd soldiers tell their own stories--and show us the camps! Special Note: On June 21, 2000, President Clinton is finally honoring the great war heroes of Asian Pacific Americans - of which, the majority are from the 442/100!

THE SEVEN SAMURAI
(1954)
Directed by Alain Resnais
Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Kokuten Kodo, Bokuzen Hidari, Yoshio Kosugi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Keiji Sakakida, Jiro Kumagai, Haruko Toyama, Tsuneo Katagiri, Yasuhisa Tsutsumi, Keiko Tsushima, Toranosuke Ogawa, Yu Akitsu, Noriko Sengoku, Gen Shimizu, Jun Tatara, Atsushi Watanabe, Sojin, Kichijiro Ueda, Shinpei Takagi, Akira Tani, Haruo Nakajima, Takashi Narita, Senkichi Omura, Shuno Takahara, Masanobu Okubo, Shoichi Hirose, Junpei Natsuki, Sachio Sakai, Jun Tazaki, Eijirô Tono

Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of the motion picture, Seven Samurai has inspired countless films modeled after its basic premise. But Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set in the 1600s, when the residents of a small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a farmer's son desperately seeking glory and acceptance. The samurai get acquainted with but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal. The climactic battle with the raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed. It's poetry in hyperactive motion and one of Kurosawa's crowning cinematic achievements. This is not a film that can be well served by any synopsis; it must be seen to be appreciated (accept nothing less than its complete 203-minute version) and belongs on the short list of any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon (note: it inspired the almost as great film starring Steve McQueen entitled " The Magnificent Seven!

HIDDEN FORTRESS
(1958)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Minoru Chiaki, Susumu Fujita, Kamatari Fujiwara, Toshiko Higuchi, Toshirô Mifune, Eiko Miyoshi, Takashi Shimura, Izumi Nagakura, Kichijiro Ueda, Misa Uehara, Koji Mitsui, Tadao Nakamaru, Rinsaku Ogata, Shiten Ohashi, Ikio Sawamura

Autocratic young Princess Uehara and loyal general Mifune must make dangerous journey to their homeland with royal fortune, with only bare minimum of help from two bumbling misfits hoping to make off with a share of the gold. Solid comedy-adventure with great deadpan performance by Mifune; one of Kurosawa's personal favorites. Acknowledged by George Lucas as a primary inspiration for STAR WARS. Some U. S. prints cut to 90mm.; released in Japan at 139mm., and reissued in the U. S. in 1984 at that length. Tohoscope. Copyright© Leonard Maltin, 1998, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.

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