A Gambler's Certain Death

1969 1h 33m JA

Crime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Part 7 in the Gambling Den series. This time Koji Tsuruta is a gambler who feels sympathetic towards a woman whose naive husband is driven to a debt trap by a rotten gambling den owner (Tatsuo Endo) and his dishonest card dealer (Isamu Nagato). The plot is standard stuff and features too much talk, but there's also a decent balance between melodrama and lyricism in the form and storytelling. Tsuruta was a perfect fit for these kind of roles, with the stoic and emotional sides nicely mixed in his screen persona.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Koji Tsuruta
Isamu Nagato
Yuko Hama
Rinichi Yamamoto
Ken Sudo
Takashi Ebata
Shōtarō Hayashi
Michimaro Otabe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kiyoshi Saeki
Writers: Gorō Tanada
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

57 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Gamblers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kiyoshi Saeki, shot by Shigeru Akatsuka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Masanobu Higurashi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kozo Horiike shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Koji Tsuruta and Isamu Nagato and Yuko Hama carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt8161622 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kiyoshi Saeki directs. Shigeru Akatsuka behind the camera. Masanobu Higurashi scores. Kozo Horiike cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

157 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Gamblers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Kiyoshi Saeki, shot by Shigeru Akatsuka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Masanobu Higurashi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Kozo Horiike shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Koji Tsuruta and Isamu Nagato and Yuko Hama carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt8161622 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.