The Million Ryo Pot

The Million Ryo Pot (丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺) is a 1935 black and white Japanese comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka and starring Denjirō Ōkōchi as the fictional samurai Tange Sazen.

Cast

 * Denjirō Ōkōchi: Tange Sazen
 * Kiyozo: Ofuji
 * Kunitaro Sawamura: Genzaburo Yagyu
 * Reisaburo Yamamoto: Yokichi
 * Minoru Takase: Shigeju
 * Ranko Hanai: Hagino

Story
A man gives an old pot to his brother, not realizing there is a treasure map inside. His sister-in-law sells the pot to a junk dealer, who in turn sells it to a boy named Yasu. A cast of colorful characters are all looking for this pot, and when the child runs away after being chided by Ogino, everyone goes after him. The end, however, is covered in disappointment - the hope of each character that their world will get better is each individually crushed, in a humorous manner.

Reception
Mark Schilling of The Japan Times noted that the film was "universally considered the best of all the Tange Sazen lot."

The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited this movie as one of his 100 favorite films.

Restoration
In 2020, Nikkatsu premiered a 4K digital restoration of the film at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival, including additional scenes (discovered at Kyōto's Toy Film Museum) that were missing from the previous surviving footage. The Japan Society organization held the North American premiere of the restored print the following year.

Home media
To commemorate Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary, a Japanese Blu-ray of the 4K restoration was released by the company.