Detective Hibari - Case of the Hidden Coin
                   
Director: Kokichi Uchida
Year: 1959
Rating: 6.0
In the late 1950's Hibari Misora was at the height of her massive popularity as both a singer and actor. At times she was appearing in nearly a film a month and also producing various albums. Japan was Hibari crazy. And for good reason though this one shows signs of a hurried production with a weak plot and too many characters. This was the third of a series of at least four period films in which she appears as Oshichi, an entertainer, a detective and known to only a few, a Princess of the Mito Clan. She was bored of her life of privilege and seclusion and so created another life. In two previous films - Edo Girl Detective aka The Golden Hairpin and Secret of the Golden Coin - she had solved mysteries with her cleverness and sword ability. Her brother (played in this one by a baby-faced Tomisaburô Wakayama) simply has to go along with it. When she isn't fighting crime, she is singing either on stage or just for the heck of it. This was what the audience wanted - songs, comedy, adventure but mainly Hibari.



The film begins with a security group on the road being robbed of 10,000 ryo and the leader Okuda Jubei being sentenced to commit suicide for his failure. He asks his daughter Misuzo (Keiko Yukishiro) to find out who the robbers were to redeem his name. The narrative then merrily skips away from this to form other threads - a Samurai, Hyoma (Chiyonosuke Azuma) has left her brother's service and taken up drinking, going nowhere without his jug of wine by his side. Oshichi clearly has feelings for him and is furious by his actions. Then there is the female pickpocket who is looking for her long-lost brother, a Samurai (Kotaro Satomi) from the same clan as Misuzo who is in love with her and a few dead bodies begin to pile up.



It takes a while but eventually Oshichi gets involved and starts her investigation with her assistant Gorohachi (Kin'Ichi Hanabusa) who was a constant through the series. Behind the theft and murders is a conspiracy to overthrow the Shogun and the finale is Oshichi and Hyoma taking on literally a boatload of villains with their swords. The film is a bit scattered about with too many sub-plots and characters but we get four songs and a happy ending. Directed by Kokichi Uchide.