Masao Shimizu

Acting

Masao Shimizu

Born — Died

1908-10-05 — 1975-10-05

Place of birth

Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

Masao Shimizu (清水将夫 Shimizu Masao, 5 October 1908 – 5 October 1975) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in over 110 films between 1931 and 1971.

Known for

Ikiru poster
8.3

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Ikiru

1952

High and Low poster
8.4

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

High and Low

1963

Drunken Angel poster
7.6

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

Drunken Angel

1948

Sansho the Bailiff poster
8.1

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Sansho the Bailiff

1954

Stray Dog poster
7.6

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Stray Dog

1949

Godzilla Raids Again poster
6.0

Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.

Godzilla Raids Again

1955

Film credits

1960s · 13 titles

High and Low poster
8.4

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

High and Low

1963

Battle of the Japan Sea poster
6.4

Japan and Russia clash in what comes to be known as the Russo-Japanese War. An attempt by the Japanese fleet and army to take Port Arthur fails, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Sea of Japan. Admiral Heihachiro Togo sends his fleet to confront the Russians, with results which stun both nations. Meanwhile, Major Genjiro Akashi makes secret negotiations with the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia, negotiations that have repercussions far beyond the conflict at hand.

Battle of the Japan Sea

1969

Sanjuro poster
7.9

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Sanjuro

1962

Youth of the Beast poster
6.9

When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.

Youth of the Beast

1963

The Great White Tower poster
7.3

The story contrasts the life of two doctors, former classmates and now both assistant professors at Naniwa University Hospital in Osaka. The brilliant and ambitious surgeon Goro Zaizen stops at nothing to rise to a position of eminence and authority, while the friendly Shuji Satomi busies himself with his patients and research.

The Great White Tower

1966

A Maiko's Holiday poster
NR

Mitsuko, a maiko from Gion, met Haruki by chance and had a fun time with him, but is stunned when he discovers her secret. This is a love story that cheerfully portrays the life of a modern maiko.

A Maiko's Holiday

1961

The Snow Woman poster
7.1

Two sculptors spend the night in a mountain lodge after being caught in a snowstorm. A female spirit appears and takes the life of one of the men. She spares the other man's life on the condition that he never tell anyone what happened that night.

The Snow Woman

1968

Admiral Yamamoto poster
8.5

As Japan joins in a political pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is appointed supreme commander of the Japanese fleet. With Japan headed inexorably toward war, Yamamoto, despite his misgivings, believes the only possible victory lies in destroying the American fleet by surprise at Pearl Harbor. The attack succeeds, but fails to sink the American carrier fleet. Thus Yamamoto must lead the Japanese navy into war with ever-diminishing likelihood of success.

Admiral Yamamoto

1968

午前零時の出獄 poster
NR

This movie depicts the confrontation between a man entangled in a despicable trap and the shadow of murderous intent, and the efforts of a journalist chasing after the truth. Due to the passage of time since the film's release, some scenes may be marred by visual and audio distortions. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

午前零時の出獄

1963

Samurai Banners poster
7.4

Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big?

Samurai Banners

1969

The Sound of Waves poster
7.0

On a small island, inhabited by only fourteen hundred people, a young fisherman's son, Shinji falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of the richest and most difficult man on the island. Despite their differences in class, they begin to meet and rumors spread of them having an illicit affair. Soon after, Shinji jumps into a stormy sea to help a ship in distress. The vessel turns out to be owned by Hatsue's arrogant father, who now becomes an understanding and sympathetic parent and allows the two lovers to marry.

The Sound of Waves

1964

Song of my Life poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Song of my Life

1968

Roppongi Nights: Love Me, Love Me poster
7.0

Director Iwauchi Katsuki adapted this melodrama from Sasazawa Saho's award winning novel about two young lovers from different sides of the tracks set against the backdrop of the Roppongi district in Tokyo. Masaaki (Minegishi Toru) is the son of a prominent judge and a Law student at university. Chikage (Nakagawa Yuki) is a teenager from an underprivileged home. Both are desperately looking for an escape from their lives when they meet in Roppongi one night and fall in love. But coming from such different backgrounds, their happiness isn't assured.

Roppongi Nights: Love Me, Love Me

1963

1950s · 35 titles

Ikiru poster
8.3

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Ikiru

1952

Sansho the Bailiff poster
8.1

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Sansho the Bailiff

1954

Godzilla Raids Again poster
6.0

Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.

Godzilla Raids Again

1955

The Life of Oharu poster
7.8

During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

The Life of Oharu

1952

Stakeout poster
7.1

Two detectives begin a stakeout based on the slim chance of catching a murderer whom they suspect will try to reunite with an old flame.

Stakeout

1958

Gigantis, the Fire Monster poster
6.4

A prehistoric monster called Gigantis emerges alongside another creature named Angurus.

Gigantis, the Fire Monster

1959

The Moon Over the Ruined Castle poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Moon Over the Ruined Castle

1954

I Live in Fear poster
7.3

An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to Brazil. When they petition to have him declared incompetent, a family-court counselor witnesses his obsession slide into ruin—and asks whether ignoring the atomic threat is any saner.

I Live in Fear

1955

Gate of Hell poster
7.1

Japan, 1159. Moritō, a brave samurai, performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Kesa during a violent uprising. Moritō falls in love with her, but becomes distraught when he finds out that she is married.

Gate of Hell

1953

Outlaw poster
NR

A young engineer and a pure-hearted mountain girl take on the challenges of the Akan primeval forest, where lawlessness and violence run rampant.

Outlaw

1953

Inhibited Love poster
NR

Chieko Izumi is a reporter for the magazine "Weekly Japanese Women". She had come to Tokyo to stay with her aunt in order to escape her stubborn grandmother in her hometown in Kyushu, who was trying to force her to marry Komori, the local ringleader.

Inhibited Love

1955

Scandal poster
6.9

A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.

Scandal

1950

Hana aru dotō poster
NR

An emotionally charged tale of love and passion set on a remote island lighthouse, where a mysterious woman arrives out of nowhere to cast a shadow over a wedding.

Hana aru dotō

1951

Shunsetsu no mon poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shunsetsu no mon

1953

Muhō Ichidai poster
NR

The movie is about a man who started a brothel to make money out of his poor circumstances in the late Meiji period.

Muhō Ichidai

1957

The Stand in Hakone poster
7.0

A period film about a peasant revolt in the region near Mount Fuji, occasioned by high officials' depriving the farmers of their water rights.

The Stand in Hakone

1952

The Sea of Beauty poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Sea of Beauty

1950

White Beast poster
5.6

Keiko Yukawa is a former prostitute and the newest inmate at White Lily, a female rehabilitation facility.

White Beast

1950

No artwork available
NR

A desperate detective on the trail of criminals who are holding a baby hostage and demanding one million yen

San akunin to akanbō

1950

Shinzōyaburi no oka poster
NR

A moving story depicting the spirit of a young marathon runner who set a new world record in Boston, encouraged by the love of his family, a young woman’s prayers, and warm friendship.

Shinzōyaburi no oka

1954

Secret of Naruto poster
7.0

From the pen of Yoshikawa Eiji comes this exciting story. The Naruto Strait separates Tokushima from the islands of Awaji and Honshu. On Tokushima the mad lord dreams of conquest and forges a bloody revolt against the Tokugawa shogunate. A mysterious swordsman named Noriyuki Gennojo has crossed Naruto’s waters to uncover the Awa clan’s secrets. He puts his life on the line after finding a testament of Awa’s secrets, written in blood by a dying man. Joining Noriyuki are a female ninja who loves him, and the beautiful daughter of an enemy who’s sworn to kill him. Awa’s defenders willl stop at nothing to prevent the blood-soaked letter from reaching the shogun.

Secret of Naruto

1957

Lovers poster
NR

Eisuke Narita, a painter, visits a hot spring town in Tohoku, and for some reason, he is reminded of the events of ten years ago.

Lovers

1956

Wife poster
7.2

Ten years into a marriage, the wife is disappointed by the husband's lack of financial success, meaning she has to work and can't treat herself and the husband finds the wife slovenly and mean-spirited: she neither cooks not cleans particularly well and is generally disagreeable. In turn, he alternately ignores her and treats her as a servant. Neither is particularly happy, not helped by their unsatisfactory lodgers. The husband is easily seduced by an ex-colleague, a widow with a small child who needs some security, and considers leaving his wife.

Wife

1953

The Immortal Pitcher poster
NR

Baseball movie about Eiji Sawamura.

The Immortal Pitcher

1955

On This Earth poster
7.0

Ichiro’s family used to be a large landowner, but now he is living in poverty with his mother. His mother works hard to get her son through school. Under such circumstances, Ichiro meets Wakako, the daughter of a wealthy man, and they fall in love with each other, but they are opposed by those around them because of their different social status.

On This Earth

1957

Asakusa no hada poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Asakusa no hada

1950

Called to the Stand poster
8.0

Chief editor Shiro Kamisaka (Hisaya Morishige) of Sankei Publishing Inc. is being tried for embezzlement and the staging of Chiyo Umehara's suicide. The victim is a woman who's said to have had sexual relations with the defendant. Four intertwined witnesses: a critic, Shiro's employee, a singer, and his wife, are all called to the stand. His destiny now lies in their hands.

Called to the Stand

1956

The Eagle of the Pacific poster
7.8

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.

The Eagle of the Pacific

1953

Saijoke no kyoen poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Saijoke no kyoen

1951

Children of Hiroshima poster
7.1

Shows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.

Children of Hiroshima

1952

The Champion poster
6.7

Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date.

The Champion

1957

No Time for Tears poster
9.0

Coach Shimamura of the hapless Sparrows baseball team is pleased to obtain a hot new pitcher named Onishi. But when Onishi begins a romantic relationship with the coach's daughter Michiko, Shimamura becomes angry with the young man, lashing out at him when he disobeys instructions during a game. In turn, Michiko becomes angry with her father, who becomes increasingly depressed. When a tragedy strikes the family, Coach Shimamura begins losing control of his life, just when his family and his team need him most.

No Time for Tears

1955

Break Down that Wall poster
7.5

A man is wrongfully accused of murder.

Break Down that Wall

1959

The Street Without Sun poster
7.0

Based on the novel by proletarian writer Sunao Tokunaga. The story is about a long strike by workers at a large printing house and the strikers' steadfastness, which neither hunger nor violence could break. The heroine of this story actively participates in her colleagues' struggle against layoffs, oppression, and police brutality.

The Street Without Sun

1954

Hanran poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hanran

1954

1940s · 9 titles

Drunken Angel poster
7.6

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

Drunken Angel

1948

Stray Dog poster
7.6

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Stray Dog

1949

One Wonderful Sunday poster
7.2

Two broke sweethearts wander war-scarred Tokyo on a single Sunday, stretching 35 yen as they chase housing, small pleasures, and a little hope.

One Wonderful Sunday

1947

The 47 Ronin poster
6.9

In the early 18th-century, Lord Takumi-no-kami Asano, feuding with Lord Kira, tries to kill his opponent in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Asano to seppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Kira. Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the Lord's dishonour. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi seeks to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses, and Oishi and 46 rōnin are out for revenge.

The 47 Ronin

1941

No Regrets for Our Youth poster
6.9

After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own path in pre- and post-WWII Japan.

No Regrets for Our Youth

1946

The Ball at the Anjo House poster
7.0

After Japan's defeat in the war, the Anjo family lose their peerage and wealth. Since their mansion is due to pass into the hands of a creditor, the family holds one last ball before leaving.

The Ball at the Anjo House

1947

A Fool's Love poster
9.0

Adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki's novel whit the same name. It is perversely erotic relationship between a young salaryman and his teenage wife whom he 'adopted' at first as to 'train' her to be his idealistic modern woman.

A Fool's Love

1949

Apostasy poster
6.0

In the Meiji period, a schoolteacher tries to hide his lower-class upbringing as he supports a visiting liberal intellectual.

Apostasy

1948

Arashi no naka no shimai poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Arashi no naka no shimai

1949

Series credits