Tokyo Naito (aka Tokyo Knights) (1961)

A high school student (Koji Wada) studying in America is called back to Japan after his father's death. He is now head of his father's construction company. But he is suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his father's "accidental" death and sets out to prove not only was his father killed but who murdered him. Based on a story by Hara Kenzaburo and directed by Seijun Suzuki. I've seen most of Suzuki's major films and have loved or liked all of those I've seen. This one is a major disappointment. It's a curious blend of corporate espionage, high school teen comedy and even has some singing and dancing tossed in. Honestly, I'm quite at a loss what to make of it. But Suzuki was a contract director for Nikkatsu and TOKYO KNIGHTS was one of six films he churned out for Nikkatsu in 1961 alone! Judging from the end result, I'm just guessing it's not a film he was particularly interested in. While it's never boring, it's never engaging either and pretty silly actually. Needless to say, I had a hard time swallowing that a high school kid would be the corporate head of a major construction company! With Nobuo Kaneko, Mayumi Shimizu and Yoko Minamida.