Tomisaburō Wakayama — Actor (129)

Movie

The Scoundler vs. The Viper Brothers (1974)
極道VSまむし IMDb TMDB
other title: 極道VSまむし
A crossover between Wakayama's Gokudo and Sugawara Mamushi series. Gokudo runs a restaurant and makes Takuzo Kawatani his kitchen bitch. He tries to do the same for the Mamushi bros. but the boys don't play along, which pisses Gokudo off. Things get worse when he starts helping a young teacher and Bunta has a crush on a pretty girl... and unbeknownst to them it's the same woman! Yes, the film has not one but two romantic subplots! Of course it all ends in bloodshed.

Movie

The Virgin Witness (1966)
処女が見た WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: 処女が見た
An uncle decides to put his delinquent orphaned niece into a temple in Kyoto known for its austere novitiate. Initially resistant to all forms of discipline, she ends up falling in love with the nun who is in charge of her.

Movie

Ishimatsu: the One-Eyed Avenger (1960)
ひばりの森の石松 IMDb TMDB
other title: Ishimatsu: The One-Eyed Avenger / ひばりの森の石松
Some of the finest jidai-geki actors appear in this exciting and entertaining tale of intrigue and action in old Japan. Teaming up the ever-popular Misora Hibari with the greatest samurai action hero of all-time Wakayama Tomisaburo is a brilliant stoke of casting. Hibari takes on the role of Mori no Ishimatsu, a young man who gets involved with real-life Yakuza legend, Shimizu no Jirocho, 'Boss of the Tokaido'. Ishimatsu manages to interfere with a dispute between the Shimizu and their competition, the Marugame family, even going so far as to become an avenger's assistant. It's not the first time Hibari has played a man in a film (also in Benten Kozo), and her acting skills are at their best as she mixes in a bit of humor along with excellent swordplay. Wakayama Tomisaburo, as always, gives an outstanding performance as the powerful and beloved Yakuza Boss Jirocho.

Movie

The Gambler's Counterattack (1971)
博徒斬り込み隊 WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: 博徒斬り込み隊
Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect him. So he becomes a consultant to another gang who are about to be clobbered by a much larger gang moving in from out of town. Aiba proves a crafty tactician, and does very well at playing gangs off against each other in order to save the smaller gang. His advice is not always taken by those he tries to help, but he is generally proved right.

Movie

Yakuza on Foot (1969)
旅に出た極道 WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: 旅に出た極道
An Osaka gangster Shimamura just got married. His new bride, Mineko is also involved in drug trafficking. When she goes to China to make a deal, things get botched pretty badly. Shimamura must travel to save her and recoup his employers’ losses.

Movie

Flames of Blood (1981)
炎のごとく WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: 炎のごとく / Flames Of Blood
​The story follows the chance meeting between Senkichi, a wandering gambler on the run, and Orin, a blind musician who offers him kindness and shelter. As their lives become intertwined, they attempt to find a sense of peace and domesticity while caught in the crossfire of the violent Bakumatsu revolution.

Movie

The Shootout (1982)
凶弾 IMDb TMDB
other title: 凶弾
A run-in with the police once again puts three former reformatory inmates on the wrong side of the law. Their situation becomes increasingly desperate as events spin out of control, culminating in an audacious hijack at sea...

Movie

Gambler's Code - Loyalty Offering (1970)
博徒仁義 盃 IMDb TMDB
other title: 博徒仁義 盃
A fairly entertaining yarn told in somewhat broad strokes with Wakayama playing against type as a reformed-gambler-turned- Christian minister. Of course, before the tale is finished he is forced by the utterly nefarious, heinous villains to once again pick up a sword and join fellow anti-hero Sugawara in wiping out Evil.

Movie

Henchmen (1968)
代貸 IMDb TMDB
other title: 代貸
The three henchmen join forces to challenge the brutal gang that is trying to control the city of Izu in Shizuoka during the early Showa period. Representatives of three different yakuza gangs - Tatsuo Umemiya, Tomisaburo Wakayama and Koji Tsuruta celebrate male friendship and male chivalry in action.

Movie

Brothers Serving Time (1969)
懲役三兄弟 WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: 懲役三兄弟
While imprisoned, Tatsu encounters Danshi, a man who is a big honcho in the prison pecking order. After initial conflict they become sworn brothers. Tatsu and the sworn brothers he acquires weren’t really gangsters before their prison time, just ruffians. Prison, however, introduces them to plenty of gangland characters and three years later, they’re out of prison and enmeshed in the yakuza world.

Movie

Wicked Priest (1968)
極悪坊主 IMDb TMDB
other title: Le moine sacrilège / 極悪坊主
During the Taisho Period (early 1920's) a monastery of warrior monks was split apart between two factions. One of these factions was led by the Chief Abbot and his protege, Shinkai. When Shinkai intercedes in a fight between a rival priest and some ruffians it leads to his expulsion from the order. This story introduced us to the character of Shinkai, a "Karate Priest" and his long running feud with Ryotatsu, his greatest rival. There are touches of humor as Shinkai breaks all the commandments of a priest, including fighting, gambling, and running after women. All this leads to an awesome conclusion as he must destroy a gang of yakuza aided by corrupt priests. The fighting is fast and furious as Ryotatsu waits to see if Shinkai can live long enough to face him in the ultimate test! /Winterheart of CG

Movie

Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza (1968)
人生劇場 飛車角と吉良常 IMDb TMDB
other title: 人生劇場 飛車角と吉良常
With his penultimate film, Uchida revisited one of his popular prewar titles, 1936’s Theatre of Life, an adaptation of Shiro Ozaki’s eponymous novel. Three-time Seijun Suzuki collaborator Goro Tanada wrote a gangsterized adaptation of Ozaki’s story for Uchida at a time when the yakuza had eclipsed the samurai genre as Toei's main cash crop. Protagonist Hishakaku murders a man in a quarrel over a barmaid and goes to jail. In his temporary absence, his girlfriend Otoyo, a former geisha, falls for Hishakaku’s brother, inciting a dangerous love triangle that, in typical yakuza fashion, ends tragically.

Movie

Fugitive Scoundrel (1970)
極道兇状旅 IMDb TMDB
other title: 極道兇状旅
Gokudo goes politics. Gray-haired Bin Amatsu has Wakayama assist a politician, meaning trashing the opponent. But of course the opponent has a pretty daughter to have a crush on. Enter protective Bunta Sugawara and Gokudo’s gotta settle for a cheaper Toei nude actress.