Tired tale of cops vs. thugs, with yakuza punk Joro (Tetsuya Watari, who passed away on August 10) getting out of prison after seven years to find that the hot-headed detective who put him away (Jirô Tamiya) still plans to use him as a stepping stone to catch the big boss. Neither character is well drawn or appealing, and with the emergence of
jitsuroku eiga from Toei and
poliziotteschi from Italy this movie must've looked five years behind the times on the day it came out. OITSUMERU, the original Japanese title, translates as "Hunt Down." Reviewed here is an English-dubbed version prepared in the U.S. (two characters sound like actor Charles Haid) by the same company that worked on other Shochiku imports like the Crimson Bat films, though I haven't found evidence that it played theatrically or on TV. An English-subtitled print opened in Hawaii under the title THE LONG CHASE in September 1972. The same year, director Toshio Masuda made another film for Shochiku starring Watari and Tamiya, SWORD AND FLOWER, as well as the two SHADOW HUNTERS films for Toei.
