Nikkatsu is the oldest major movie studio in Japan having got their start in 1912. In the hundred plus year Nikkatsu has been active they’ve dabbled in a number of different genres, changing focus every so often. Their Golden Age came in the mid-50’s when they released a number of successful films that were a little mystery, a little noir, a little action and so forth. During this time they had a stable of actors that they referred to as their Diamond Guys. These were their franchise guys, the big faces that brought in the money.

Arrow Video has released a number of Nikkatsu films over the years and their newest release is Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 1, which is a set of 3 films, each one starring one of the Diamond Guys. The 3 films included are Voice Without a Shadow, Red Pier and The Rambling Guitarist and they all offer up a little something different.

Voice Without a Shadow (1958)

The first film on the set is 1958’s Voice Without a Shadow from director Seijun Suzuki. Asako is the phone operator for a local newspaper. One evening while placing a call to a local pawn shop a strange voice answers. Concerned that the voice on the other line isn’t that of the owner, she calls the police to investigate. When the police arrive on the scene they find the owner of the shop dead. The only clue and witness they have is Asako and the voice she heard. After failing to catch the culprit, Asako eventually leaves the newspaper and settles down with her new husband. Three years later when her husband brings business associates home to entertain she hears the voice that has been haunting her for all these years.

Not expecting anyone else to believe her, Asako places a call to Ishikawa (played by Diamond Guy Hideaki Nitani), a journalist at her old newspaper. Ishikawa takes on the case hoping to prove that Asako’s husband’s business partner is the voice Asako heard three years ago. Ishikawa ends up chewing off more than he had bargained for as he unravels a tale of murder, mystery and blackmail.

I was absolutely blown away by Voice Without a Shadow, finding it to be far and away to be the best film on this set. The whole approach is very Hitchcock-ian or similar to something you’d see from Brian DePalma. The film is a ticking time bomb. There is suspense in the reveal of the killer and then suspense as you wait for the killer to figure out that Asako is on to him. Plus it all ends with a twist!

Nitani is really good, but it’s not your typical lead role. I wouldn’t call him the focus of the story, but he definitely drives it. He has a sort of calmness to him, which allows you to trust him to take you through this tale and get you to finish line. The star for me is Jô Shishido, who pretty much steals the show in every movie he plays in. He plays the business partner of Asako’s husband and he’s just so obnoxious. He has little to no respect for Asako, her husband and pretty much everyone else he comes in contact with. He’s so easy to hate that he becomes the perfect villain.

If you’re a fan of Hitchcock or DePalma I think Voice Without a Shadow is a film you will definitely love. It’s an intriguing mystery that plays out quickly and grips you from the start. I wouldn’t say it’s ever scary, but it keeps you on edge.

Rating: 4/5

Red Pier (1958)

The second film on the set comes in the form of Red Pier from director Toshio Masuda. This film stars Yujiro Ishihara as Jiro the Lefty and the synopsis labels him as a killer with a special talent. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I think it may refer to his suave attitude. Jiro definitely has way with the ladies and is extremely confident to the point that I’d say it’s a bit arrogant. He returns home to Kobe where he sees a man get killed by a crane in what appears to be an accident out on the pier. Soon after we learn that it was a cover-up for murder and Jiro finds himself stuck in the middle all with a cop closely tailing him.

Out of the three films on the set Red Pier seemed like it would be the most action-packed going into it, but that actually turned out not to be the case at all. At least from my perspective it felt a bit slower than the other two movies. Maybe I’m a bit biased because it was simply my least favorite of the three. The film just didn’t hook me as much and I think that may be because Jiro is sort of a hard guy to like. He’s basically a dick and treats girls like shit. To make matters worse he appears to get a kick out of the way he treats these women by laughing in their face when he embarrasses them in public. It was a bit off-putting.

The cop who is constantly tailing Jiro is a bit weird too. Because by tailing him he’s actually just hanging out with him and Jiro knows he’s a cop and the cop knows Jiro participates in illegal activities. The cop constantly says he doesn’t have enough to book Jiro yet he beats people up right in front of him. It’s just kind of weird to digest.

I wouldn’t call Red Pier a bad movie, it’s just something that is kind of there. It would probably fair better standing on its own but I can’t help compare it to Voice Without a Shadow and The Rambling Guitarist. Looking at the film in that regard and it certainly falls a bit short.

Rating: 2.5/5

The Rambling Guitarist (1959)

The final film on this wonderful set is 1959’s The Rambling Guitarist. The Rambling Guitarist comes from director Takeichi Saitô and stars arguably the biggest star on this set of films in Akira Kobayashi as Taki, a wandering musician. Taki stumbles into a small town and finds himself in a bar fight defending some seemingly innocent men who are getting picked on by a couple of Americans. Little does Taki know that the men he saves are actually henchmen for a mob boss named Akitsu. Akitsu offers Taki a job which he initially rejects before later finding himself in a position where he can’t really say no. Akitsu’s first major assignment for Taki is to evict an offshore fishery which turns out to be a very strange domestic dispute.

The Rambling Guitarist is without a doubt heavily influenced by Western cinema. This could easily be any American film from the 50’s. In fact it feels a lot like the type of movies Elvis starred in. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of those Elvis films served as an influence for Saitô when he was making this. As I result the movie felt very familiar to me and definitely resonated with me from the start. In a way it was very comforting for this to be a new experience for me while still being something I very much knew.

Taki is such an interesting character and Kobayashi plays him perfectly. He’s a quiet drifter who you can tell wants to keep to himself. He seems like an unassuming guy that just wants to play his guitar and travel the world. When hectic situations arise, however, he always manages to have the upper hand, hinting to a darker, more sinister past. His backstory plays out very well.

Jô Shishido appears once again in a supporting role. In what I believe to be a further nod to American cinema Shishido plays a character named George and again he is a very ruthless gangster. He works for Akitsu and he’s sort of your wild card. You can tell he’s ready to go off at any moment. He plays a crucial part in unraveling Taki’s history. George knows Taki from somewhere, but he just can’t remember where. When he finally figures it out, the fireworks really begin.

The Rambling Guitarist is a lot of fun, but a little on the short side. It clocks in at just less than 80 minutes and that disappointed me a bit. I thought the characters were very fascinating and I could have spent a lot more time with them.

Rating: 3.5/5

For a three film set from Arrow this doesn’t have a ton of special features, but what’s there is really good. There are some discussions with Jasper Sharp, a Japanese cinema expert, on Nikkatsu and their various diamond guys. The booklet also includes essays by Stuart Galbraith, Tom Mes and Mark Shilling on each film. Like you would expect from Arrow the picture quality on all three films is very good, but I think you can tell the source material here wasn’t as good as what Arrow normally has to work with. You could see some more scratches and imperfections that you don’t see in a typical Arrow release. With that said these films all still look awesome. I think this is a great starting point for Japanese cinema and would highly recommend it.