Silk Boss Hat 1 & 2
Silk Boss Hat I (1970) - 8.0
Kumatora as played by Tomisaburô Wakayama is a wonderful character
in his high silk top hat, wisp of a moustache, freckles dotting his red cheeks
and a growling bark much bigger than his bite. Most of the time. Until pushed
too far. He is part clown, part chivalrous knight with an eye for the ladies
of the geisha houses, a sentimental side that will bring out his tears and
a code of honor. He heads the Kumatora Yakuza gang from Osaka. He first made
an appearance though as a recurring character in the Red Peony films and
that got him his own series - though sadly as far as I can tell that only
consists of two films both released in 1970 (along with 16 other films for
Tomisaburô!). In those he often helps out the Red Peony played by Junko
Fuji. She returns the favor here with a pistol and sword and a need for revenge.
The film begins comically for much of the first half until it turns on its
head into a deadly series of fights. Kumatora and his gang are returning
from the 1905 Russo-Japanese War in which Japan was the first Asian nation
to defeat a European power. As the camera pans from one gang member to another
they just get goofier looking. Not a scary bunch. Till they fight. They carry
with them the ashes of three fallen comrades and are full of pride for their
participation as laborers in a great victory. They expect a huge reception
and so Kumatora even takes a bath - with his top hat on. But no one is waiting
for them and they soon learn that another Yakuza boss - Chindai - has gotten
all the credit and is having a party thrown for him by the military. Kumatora
crashes it and the beginning of a feud between the two gangs starts to percolate.
Meanwhile in a lengthy funny scene the gang heads for a brothel and decide
who will be their paramour for the night - after Kumatora sniffs under their
kimonos to be sure all is right in the world. They choose by reverse age
but Kumatora ends up with a Otama, a 14-year old who tells him her nickname
is Thousand Man Killer. Still he ends up only digging the wax out of her
ear.
The enmity continues to grow as Chindai gets a military contract to supply
laborers and supplies to Manchuria by bribing a few well placed officers.
But then a General comes to Kumatora and asks him to do the same because
he heard of his bravery during the war. And the enmity moves into open warfare
as Chindai does everything he can to stop Kumatora from fulfilling his order.
At one point Kumatora has freed a large group of prisoned geishas from Chindai
and is cornered against about 20 men with it looking hopeless and out of
the darkness strolls the Red Peony. Their ending together side by side cutting
down men is a classic. Really enjoyed how this film shifts from being a bit
silly to pure ninkyo eiga. A number of memorable characters fill up the story.
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki.
Silk Boss Hat
II (1970) - 7.5
Boss Kumatora (Tomisaburô Wakayama) returns in this second and I believe
final film in the series. They are good fun and I wish there were more of
them. Kumatora is one of the nicer Yakuza bosses on film until he is wronged
- then one of the more brutal. His caterpillar moustache still as firmly
in place as his top hat though his freckles appear to have migrated from
his cheeks to the underneath of his nose. The format of this film is similar
to the first - comedy dominates the first half and then it gets down to the
drama and the killing. The Red Peony (Junko Fuji) once again shows
up at around the one hour mark to save him from sure death. I could have
done with a little less comedy I suppose and more Junko but it is a workable
combination. While you sit through the antics, you know the action is only
a shout away.
Kumatora and his crew of like-minded Yakuzas are holidaying at a hot spring
Geisha resort. Lots of drinking and flirting going on. One of the female
hostesses has her eye on Kumatora - who he claims is the handsomest man in
Japan - and gives him a bottle of aphrodisiacal pills to get prepared. Made
of extracts of seal penis and whale testicles. But he notices that in a small
room the female owner and widow of the establishment is about to kill herself
with a bottle of arsenic pills because she is in debt to another Yakuza gang
- the Yokokawa family. Kumatora rushes in to stop her and in the melee that
follows she grabs the wrong pills and lights her hormones on fire. Afterwards
he tells his fellow gang members that he felt like clams were attacking him
and he has been sucked dry. He then persuades the Yokokawa to let her keep
the inn. At the end of a gun.
He also finds time to save a young lady on a runaway horse carriage and is
later thanked and employed by her father, a wealthy Viscount. The Viscount
is so impressed by Kumatora that he asks him to protect and deliver the first
automobile - a Packard - in Japan. It will be presented to his Emperor. At
one point Kumatora accidently drives the car and we get a Chaplin like scene
of a car careening through the town. Another business group along with the
Yokokawa want to establish the first car importing business and so get very
rough in stopping Kumatora, Too rough. Kumatora likes a good bash up as much
as anyone but dynamite is going too far. He does the walk at the end. Sword
in hand. From the shadows comes a voice "Can I walk with you". The Red Peony.
Death lies ahead. Directed by Norifumi Suzuki.
