Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo

Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935)

丹下左膳餘話 百萬兩の壺

A man gets rid of a cheap pot without knowing it contains a map to a treasure. As word spreads, many join in hunting it.

Date of release
1935-06-15
TMDB
7.4 / 10 (37)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Director
Sadao Yamanaka

Casting

Interesting facts

The Million Ryo Pot is a 1935 Japanese jidaigeki comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. The plot revolves around a missing pot containing the map to a treasure worth a million ryō; this pot is eventually given to a young boy under the custody of rōnin swordsman Tange Sazen. Unaware that he is in possession of such riches, Tange spends much of his time caring for the boy and bickering with the boy's adopted mother, his love interest, in a manner akin to a screwball comedy. The film is a parody of the more serious samurai films of the time, with Yamanaka transforming Tange from a rebellious, anarchic rōnin into a child-loving and openhearted homebody.

Development of Tange Sazen

Tange Sazen was originally portrayed as a villain when he first appeared in a newspaper-serialized novel in 1927. Having lost an arm and an eye in a vendetta, he was initially depicted as a nihilist and the antithesis of a loyal retainer. Director Daisuke Itō explored the transformation of Tange into a hero in Shinpan Ōoka seidan (1928), where Tange risks his life for a lord who eventually betrays him.

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