A Colt Is My Passport (1967)

A Colt Is My Passport (Koruto wa ore no pasupooto)
Directed by Takashi Nomura
Written by Hideichi Nagahara and Nobuo Yamada
1967/Japan
Nikkatsu
First viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] War is the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight, the lawyer’s jest, the hired assassin’s trade. — Percy Bysshe Shelley[/box]

This is one of the better of the many “noir” gangster movies put out by Japan’s Nikkatsu studio in its prime.

Jo “Chipmunk Cheek” Shishido plays Shuji Kamamura, an assassin for hire.  As the film begins, he is assigned to kill a mob boss.  His target is heavily protected.  Then Kamamura’s boss is offered a lot of money to wipe his employee out.

I find these things are a bit samey in the plot but generally of a fairly high standard.  I particularly liked director Nomura’s attention to detail.  But best of all was the jazzy score!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39pm0Es7w4

Hear Morricone’s influence?