Detective Hibari 3: Hidden Coin (1959) AKA Hibari Torimonochô: Fruisode Koban
Hibari Misora was a popular singer and actress in Japan from 1937 to the 80's and even had a TV series in the 70's. Hidden Coin is filmed in beautiful color, filled with action, suspense, comedy, and of course, the singing numbers in the tradition of Japanese period films (jidai-geki).
The movie begins with a robbery of gold coins from a convoy. All of the guards are killed except for one officer, Okuda Jubei. As the main suspect, he is locked up and will probably be ordered to commit seppiku. As he is taken away, he asks his daughter, Misuzu to try to find the culprits to clear the family name. The scene is witnessed by a young sympathetic, samurai Kinnoshin Sakuma (Kôtarô Satomi).
Then we are taken into town for a stage show, and everyone is watching their favorite actress, Oshichi Abekawa (Hibari Misora), who is a singer, actress, and amateur detective, but is really Princess Tae incognito. She's followed very closely by her devoted servant, Gorohachi (Ogami Koinosuke).
Gorohachi is the only one who knows how much in love Oshichi is with an X-guard of the palace, turned Ronin, Hyoma Sasaki (Chiyonosuke Azuma). Hyoma is sort of working as a body guard for a restaurant, but spends most of his time fishing and drinking. Secretly, he's still working for the Prince as a spy.
There is a female pick-pocket, Oshima (Chizuru Kitagawa), who is more than a fan of the actor Tayu. They may have been separated brother and sister, and Oshima is trying to pay for his succession announcement. Oshima may be aware of who stole the gold shipment.
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