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So the Nikkatsu Corporation was a Japanese film production company that reached its “golden age” during the late 1950s. In these movies, the studio cast its “diamond guys,” who were called that because the actors’ names alone could draw an audience. “Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 1” comprises of three films: “Voice without a Shadow,” “Red Pier,” and “The Rambling Guitarist.” Because I watched these three films in one sitting, I will review each of the three films here. While these individual reviews won’t be as researched or nuanced as my feature reviews, I will still try to give an idea of the rough terrain on which you are headed watching each film.
“Voice Without a Shadow” 
Eight years after directing “Voice Without a Shadow,”v Sejun Sezuki would go on to direct “Tokyo Drifter.” “Tokyo Drifter” is a stylized, idiosyncratic film with visuals that still stick in my mind. “Voice Without a Shadow” is the film that Sezuki had to make to get to “Tokyo Drifter.” “Voice Without a Shadow” borrows heavily from Hitchcock. (It also reminds me of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and Brian DePalma’s “Blow Out,” primarily because all of these films are obsessed with sound and its haunting effect.)
Based on a novel by Seicho Matusmoto, “Voice Without a Shadow” tells the story of Asako Takashi (Yôko Minamida), a switchboard operator who overhears a murder. Three years later, whoever committed the murder has still not been caught. Asako’s husband, Shigeo Kotani (Toshio Takahara), invites the pharmacist Kawai (Nobuo Kameko), the pool hall owner Muraoka (Shinsuke Ashida), and Hamazaki (Jô Shishido) over to his house to play tiles.
After a fight with Hamazaki, Shigeo comes home to Asako and collapses. Soon after, Hamazaki’s body is discovered by a bicyclist.
Hiroshi Ishikawa (Hideaki Nitani), a local reporter, sets out to discover who killed Hamazaki. Ishikawa begins by interviewing Kawai, the pharmacist. Hamazaki was doing advertising work for Kawai. Hamazaki was also blackmailing Kawai, who used public funds to pay for prostitutes. Ishikawa also interviews a handful of other involved parties.
Meanwhile, the situation looks increasingly bleaker for Kotani. Kotani is interrogated by the police who soon discover coal in Kotani’s trousers. Kotani maintains his innocence. Kotani claims that he had coal on his trousers because Kotani slipped through the coalyard to avoid spectators.
Ishikawa digs further. While Asako said Hamazaki was found on a rainy day, Hamazaki was actually found on a sunny day, which is support when the girl found Hamazaki’s bag reports the bag wasn’t wet.
To heighten tension in the film, someone tries to kill Ishikawa and Asako. Before long, Ishikawa figures out the murder: Kawaii planned the fight between Kotani and Hamazaki, Kawai went to a bar to create an alibi, Kotani woke up after the fight and took a back street through the coal yard to avoid being seen which means the coal in Kotani’s trousers is his own, Hamazai was made to inhale coal to look like he was in the coal yard, a fake crime scene was constructed at the coal yard including the planting of the bag.
There’s also a double-cross that occurs to the men who killed Hamazaki, but that twist is little more than a B-plot designed to make sure the viewer is paying attention.
“Voice without a Shadow” reminds one of the golden age of Hitchcock, but therein lies the trouble. The film is not good enough to stand up to Hitchcock during this era. The film is also not bad enough to be memorable flawed recreation of a Hitchcock film.
“Red Pier” 
“Red Pier” (or “Red Quay” as I have also heard it called), already has one strike against it. Unlike the other two films in the collection, “Red Pier” is forgettable enough that I can’t remember much of the plot. The film was directed by Toshio Masuda, who later directed 1970s “Tora! Tora! Tora!.”
The Sugitaya (who is so undeveloped I’m not even sure who played him) is killed by machinery. The exact killer of Sugitaya, however, remains a mystery. We are also not sure how much maliciousness to read into a death that may very likely have been the result of a machine accident.
Jiro (Yûjirô Ishihara) is soon introduced walking along a port. Before we know much about Jiro, rescues a small boy who is about to be struck by car. Jiro is a criminal with a heart of gold.
Jiro soon grows tired of his girlfriend, Mami (Sanae Nakahara), because Jiro hates the incessant fighting and drama that is Mami. From this point forward, we know that at least “Red Pier” is going to be about Jiro getting the one thing he is sure he doesn’t want and falling in love with a woman. The woman comes in the form of Keiko (Mie Kitahara), who is the aunt of the boy whose life Jiro saved. (Don’t these plots conveniently write themselves sometimes?).
As unseen criminals begin pursuing Jiro, a love triangle is created between Jiro, Mami, and Keiko.
It’s at this point I should note the odd relationship I had to the subtitles in “Red Pier.” I would hazard a guess that someone wrote the subtitles for “Red Pier” fairly recently because there are several words that break the aura of this black and white film from the late 1950s, including one scene in which Mami refers to Keiko as a “slut.”
Jiro’s boss, Katsumata (Hideaki Nitani) grows concerned about the trouble that Jiro is making. Katsumata wants Jiro sent back to Tokyo. Jiro stays in town, and before long is confronted by Detective Noro (Shirô Ôsaka). Detective Noro stalks Jiro throughout most of the movie, waiting for enough evidence to exist to arrest Jiro even though Jiro beats up several men directly in front of Noro. Turns out that Katsumata actually loves Jiro and plans on making Jiro his successor.
Mama (Yukiko Todoroki) finds Jiro to tell him that she has arranged a boat to Tokyo. Mama also wants Jiro to take Mami to Tokyo, but Jiro refuses. (Mama only exists in the story to be the person who arranges for the boat for Jiro. Mama has no other purpose whatsoever).
On the night to take the boat to Tokyo, Jiro does not appear. Stalked through the shadows by police officers for allegedly killing three men, Jiro is chased through the darkness. Jiro ends up walking towards the hospital, where he is told Keiko is. Jiro is pretty sure the hospital is just a trap, though. Jiro ends up walking into what he is almost certain a trap that will bring about his downfall.
I don’t dislike “Red Pier,” but I feel like the film does little to make itself distinguishable (Maybe the most memorable part of this movie are some shots of a man-made dragon during a parade). You can read every twist and turn a mile away. That’s not to say everything in the film is bad, but simply that the plot is predictable and the characters are defined by the most stereotypical of broad stokes. If I ever saw (which I won’t) “Red Pier” playing on TV at night, I wouldn’t change the channel. And all things considered, that’s not a terrible compliment.
“The Rambling Guitarist”
“The Rambling Guitarist” is the only film in the set in color. Directed by Buichi Saitô (“Lone Wolf and Cub”), the film stars “the mighty” Shinji Taki (Akira Kobayashi), who looks and acts a lot like Elvis Presley. Actually, if you pressed me, I could make a somewhat strong argument that “The Rambling Guitarist” is a Japanese Elvis movie without Elvis. Takin’s long, black hair mimics the King’s. Taki sings random songs at several times including the film’s introduction. (Heck, there’s even one sequence in which Taki plays a guitar that has balloons attached to it.) Also, in glorious technicolor.
“The Rambling Guitarist” also reminds me of “El Mariachi” by Robert Rodriguez, which would be directed many decades later but similarly feature a mysterious guitar player.
Soon after arriving in a new town, Taki finds himself in the middle of a bar fight. Taki is a poor, guitar playing drifter who has seen some unknown, bad things.
Eventually, the bad guys offer Taki a job. Yuki Akitsu (Ruriko Asaoka), the boss, wants to construct an amusement center on a location where a house has already been constructed. When the henchmen confront the house’s owner Akio Shôji (Yûzô Kiura), the man does not have enough money.
Taki begins a relationship with Akitsu’s daughter. The guitarist reveals his story backstory: the woman he loved died. Taki and Akitsu fall deeper in love. Akitsu doesn’t like the budding romance and tells Taki to stop seeing Akitsu’s daughter. Taki ends up in a fight with Akitsu’s daughter. Things don’t look good for the couple.
The film ends with Taki taking off on a ship to another town.
“The Rambling Guitarist” is a film of trivialness. Nothing is won nor lost in this film because nothing is of consequence. If you approach “The Rambling Guitar” expecting drama, significance, or meaning, you will be let down. If you can watch it to be rewarded by musical interludes and a light, meaningless plot, you will like this film quite a bit.
I liked the “Diamond Guys” collection because I got to see a handful of older films (and a film sub-genre) that I wasn’t even aware existed. None of these films are well remembered, but that’s okay. Many of the directors and stars of these films would go on to create much more memorable work in the twenty years after the release of these films. Sometimes, you have to make structurally conventional films to learn how to enable yourself to make weirder, quirkier flicks. If you like older black and white films or enjoy early Japanese cinema or are just a film buff, “Diamond Guys” has much to offer even if none of the films are individual masterpieces.
Available now in a Blu-ray & DVD 3-Disc Limited Special Edition Box-set
