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PLOT In 1954, a military train guarded by American soldiers and Japanese police is robbed of its cargo of guns, ammunition, and smoke bombs. During the robbery, a U.S. Army sergeant guarding the train is shot and killed. Five weeks later, a thief named Webber lies dying in a Tokyo hospital, shot by one of his own cohorts during a holdup in which smoke bombs were used. U.S. Army investigators discover Webber was shot by the same P38 pistol that killed the sergeant during the train robbery. Webber is questioned by military and police investigators, who discover among his possessions a letter from an American named Eddie Spanier, who wants to join Webber in Japan after his release from a U.S. prison. Though Webber refuses to implicate his fellow gang members, he does reveal that he is secretly married to a Japanese woman named Mariko Nagoya. Three weeks later, Eddie arrives in Tokyo and makes contact with Mariko, gaining her trust with a photograph of himself taken with Webber, and learns about Webber's death. Mariko admits that Webber made her swear to keep their marriage a secret; she did not know about his criminal life and never sought help from the police out of fear that she could be targeted by his killers. Later, Eddie goes to a pachinko parlour, attempting to sell "protection" to the manager. But when he tries to shake down another parlour, he is beaten by a group of Americans led by racketeer Sandy Dawson, who is so intrigued with Eddie's audacity that he later arranges for him to join his gang, a group of disgruntled former American servicemen who have been dishonourably discharged. After being accepted into the gang, Eddie secretly meets with U.S. and Japanese investigators, for whom he is actually working undercover. To solidify his cover, Eddie asks Mariko to live with him as his "kimono girl." Hoping to discover who killed Webber, Mariko consents to Eddie's offer. In the meantime, Sandy grows to trust Eddie and even saves his life when Eddie is wounded during a robbery, surprisingly disregarding his own rule to leave wounded gang members for dead. Eddie finally informs Mariko of his real identity
he is actually U.S. Army Sergeant Edward Kenner and
is working as an undercover infiltrator into the Dawson
gang. Mariko pledges to continue to assist Eddie in his
investigation. When Charlie, one of Sandy's men, spies
Mariko meeting with an American army officer to fill him in
on the details of the Dawson gang's next heist, he notifies
Sandy, and the job is thus aborted. However, an outside
informant reveals to Sandy that (a) the police are poised to
capture him and that (b) Eddie is a military plant. Sandy
thus sets up Eddie's death with a fake robbery; he has
Charlie knock Eddie unconscious and props him as the shop
robber so that he will be shot by the police; but that plan
backfires when Charlie is shot while trying to keep Eddie
upright. Sandy is chased by the police and a recovered Eddie
to a rooftop amusement park. After an intense gunfight,
Eddie shoots and kills Sandy. The film ends with Eddie and
Mariko being reunited. |
LYRICS Number fifty-four |