Stakeout (1958 film)

Stakeout (張込み) is a 1958 Japanese drama and crime film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, based on a short story by Seicho Matsumoto of the same name.

Plot
After the murder of a pawnbroker, Tokyo detectives Shimooka and Yuki are sent to Kyushu, home of murder suspect Ishii's former girlfriend Sadako, as the police expect Ishii to make contact with her. While observing her house, Yuki starts to sympathise with Sadako, who lives in an unhappy marriage with her loveless businessman husband. When Ishii finally meets with Sadako, Yuki's initial presumption, that he might want to kill her and subsequently commit suicide, is proven wrong. Sadako, regretting their once parting, asks Ishii to allow her to go with him, but Ishii, ill with tuberculosis, declines. The police arrest Ishii, leaving behind a grieving Sadako. As Shimooka and Yuki prepare to return to Tokyo with Ishii, Yuki writes a telegram to his girlfriend Yumiko, promising to marry her once he returns.

Cast

 * Seiji Miyaguchi as Shimooka
 * Minoru Ōki as Yuki
 * Hideko Takamine as Sadako
 * Takahiro Tamura as Ishii
 * Hizuru Takachiho as Yumiko
 * Kin Sugai as Mrs. Shimooka
 * Kumeko Urabe as landlady
 * Ryōhei Uchida as Yamada
 * Kamatari Fujiwara as Yumiko's father
 * Tomoko Fumino as Yumiko's mother
 * Miki Odagiri as maid
 * Kazuko Yamamoto as maid
 * Masao Shimizu as Sadako's husband

Awards
1958 Kinema Junpo Award, Blue Ribbon Award and Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay (Shinobu Hashimoto).

Legacy
Matsumoto's short story was repeatedly adapted for television in later years. Some of these adaptations stayed closer to the original story, which has only one detective, Yuki, observe Sadako, while others took over Hashimoto's idea to present two detectives.