Kokusai himitsu keisatsu (2024)

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu series (国際秘密警察シリーズ, International Secret Police Series) is an action comedy spy film series made by Toho from 1963 to 1967. All movies were produced and stars Tatsuya Mihashi as a dashing secret agent. International Secret Police (I.S.P.) is an secret international intelligence law enforcement agency that protects people around the world from fiendish villains and other threats.

Overview[]

In 1963, after the first James Bond film, Dr No (directed by Terence Young), appeared in 1962 and became a worldwide hit. Since the popular of 007, many film companies like Toho began making a spy spoof spin offs. It is said to be "the first film produced under the influence of James Bond in the world."

The main story focused on Jiro Kitami, a Japanese secret agent (with a best Sean Connery looks) who was working for International Secret Police to destroyed evil organizations or gangs. Highlights are the unusual items used to get out of trouble and Mihashi's skillful handling of weapons.

The first two films, Interpol Code 8 and Fangs Of The Tiger, were produced as a pure spy action films with serious humor, but the third movie, Keg Of Gunpowder, director Takashi Tsuboshima and screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa make Kitami gets sloppy for women due to the addition of sultry elements, unrealistic enemy characters appear and comic touch elements are also included, which is closer to the "007" series and is lighter. It's finished like a job of entertainment.

After the fourth film, Key Of Keys, Toho invited American actor and television producer Roger Smith (who had starred in 77 Sunset Strip) to created a Japanese-American 1 hour TV series with an American cast who would fight along side with Mihashi. But the project was canceled due to poor quality and story development. Their fifth and final film, The Killing Bottle, was based on a original novel by Michio Tsuzuki as a pilot episode, but Sekizawa rewrote the draft and turn into a cinematic version.

Films[]

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Shirei dai 8-gō (国際秘密警察 指令第8号, International Secret Police: Directive No. 8), also known as Interpol Code 8[]

First installment of the series. Release date: August 31, 1963. Distributed by: Toho (TohoScope)

• Plot:
• A construction investigator named Quyen was killed in Saigon, southern Vietnam, and Akimoto, an employee agent of a Japanese trading company in contact with the government official, disappeared. Jiro Kitami was sent to Japan from the I.S.P. headquarters in Paris, alleging that a German-American merchant Rudolf Kent, who was involved in the incident. Kitami, along with Akimoto's colleague Natsuo Ezaki, gets up to stop the Kent Gang from selling weapons to the Viet Cong guerrillas.

• Staff:
  • Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Reiji Miwa
  • Directed by: Toshio Sugie
  • Written by: Moriyuki Mafuji, Ei Ogawa
  • Music by: Yoshiyuki Kozu

• Cast:
  • Jiro Kitami: Tatsuya Mihashi
  • Natsuo Ezaki: Makoto Satō
  • Saeko Kinomiya: Kumi Mizuno
  • Rudolf Kent: Jerry Itô
  • Akimoto: Yôsuke Natsuki
  • Mie Tsugawa: Akiko Wakabayashi
  • Managing Director Ashiya Haitani: Seizaburô Kawazu
  • Anzai: Kiyoshi Kodama
  • Binh Hoa: Tetsu Nakamura
  • Nonozaki: Jun Hamamura
  • Teshima: Hisaya Itô
  • Shû: Hideyo Amamoto
  • Tatsumi: Shôji Ôki
  • Quyen: Heihachiro Okawa

• Other project:
• Donike (Produced by: Takarazuka Eizo Co. Ltd., Story by: Kazuo Kikuta, Directed by: Seiji Hisamatsu, Starring: Yoko Tsukasa)

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Tora no kiba (国際秘密警察 虎の牙, International Secret Police: Fangs of the Tiger), also known as Trap of Suicide Kilometer[]

Second installment of the series. Release date: February 14, 1964. Distributed by: Toho (TohoScope)

• Plot:
• Klima, Deputy Minister of Industry of the Republic of Alabanda, came to Japan to purchase materials for the water dam construction. Kitami, who called himself a salesman and met Klima, acted as his bodyguard. However, Kitami learns that a large number of industrial cylinders were unrelated to the dam construction have been purchased and Klima has secretly confined his secretary (along with her father who was an army colonel) , and threatened to produce poison gas. Klima packed all the poison gas in the cylinders and sent it to Alabanda in an attempt to cause internal unrest and of course a civil war. Around this time, Klima had been secretly investigated Kitami's identity and learned that he was a undercover agent.

• Staffs:
  • Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shin Morita
  • Directed by: Jun Fukuda
  • Written by: Hideo Andô
  • Music by: Kan Ishii

• Cast:
  • Jiro Kitami: Tatsuya Mihashi
  • Rie Akashi: Yumi Shirakawa
  • Kilma: Tadao Nakamaru
  • Sabato: Susumu Kurobe
  • Reiko Matsushita: Kumi Mizuno
  • Sakuma: Akira Kubo
  • Colonel Akashi (Rei's father): Susumu Fujita
  • Colonel Zumba: Shoji Oki
  • Kajal: Tôru Ibuki
  • Omuta: Tetsu Nakamura
  • Akagi: Naoya Kusakawa
  • Sudo: Hisaya Ito
  • Belanko: Hans Horneff
  • Kilma's Henchmen: Nadao Kirino, Akira Wakamatsu
  • Takeda: Toyohiko Sata
  • Housewife next door: Noriko Sengoku
  • Repairman: Shoichi Hirose

• Other project:
  • Misuta Jaiantsu (Produced by: Tokyo Eiga Co., Ltd., Directed by: Kôzô Saeki, Starring: Shigeo Nagashima)

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kayaku no taru (国際秘密警察 火薬の樽, International Secret Police: Gunpowder Barrel), also known as Keg of Gunpowder[]

Third installment of the series. Release date: December 9, 1964 Distributed by: Toho (final TohoScope)

• Plot:
• Professor Tatsuno, who studies remote control of nuclear bombs, has been kidnapped by an unknown group. Kitami, along with Inspector Yagyu of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, immediately set out to investigate and understood that this was the work of an international criminal-terrorist organization called the World Union Alliance (W.U.A.) led by Hayato Kuroki, a criminal mastermind and far right leader with Nazi ideology. During the investigation, Kitami discovers the WUA secret hideout and infiltrated it until he was captured by Kuroki's men. Then, the WUA will get the design drawing of the Zeta Line, a remote control device which can detonate any nucleus on Earth, complete the device and plan the detonated on the Shinkansen bullet train as a starting experience.

• Staffs:
  • Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Koichi Takenaka
  • Directed by: Takashi Tsuboshima
  • Written by: Shinichi Sekizawa
  • Music by: Kenjiro Hirose

• Cast:
  • Jiro Kitami: Tatsuya Mihashi
  • Inspector Yagyu: Makoto Satō
  • Kayo Tatsuno: Yuriko Hoshi
  • Professor Tatsuno (Kayo's father): Jun Tazaki
  • Seinen Miyaji (Tatsuno's secretary): Masanari Nihei
  • Girl Taken at Haneda: Akiko Wakabayashi
  • Hayato Kuroki: Somesho Matsumoto
  • Sakurao Goda: Tadao Nakamaru
  • WUA No.6 (Rumi): Kumi Mizuno
  • WUA No.8: Nadao Kirino
  • WUA No.14: Naoya Kusakawa
  • WUA No.11: Shoji Oki
  • WUA No.5: Tôru Ibuki
  • Dr, Wagen: Harold Conway

• Other project:
  • Danchi nanatsunotaizai (Produced by: Takarazuka Eiga, Story by: Maruo Shioda, Directed by: Yasuki Chiba & Masanori Kakei)

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (国際秘密警察 鍵の鍵, International Secret Police: Key of Keys), also known as Key of Keys[]

Fourth installment of the series. Release date: October 23, 1965 Distributed by: Toho

• Plot:
• Kitami, who had infiltrated the country of Tonwan, was asked by the country's intelligence director, Sritai, to withdraw the large amount of money they had hidden from Gegen, who was the leader of the Darkness rebel guerrillas. He worked with two Tonwanian female agents like Miichin and Bai-Lan. Arriving at Yokohama, the three pursuit members of the Gegen Gang that they earned money from illegal gambling and prostitution. Gegen's main rival was the Chinese triads led by He-Qing Cai, who was also planning to bankrupt Gegen and set up his own operation in Japan. After teaming up with him, they disguised themselves as sailors to sneak on board of Gegen's ship where the money safe was kept at. However, they are no cash accept a piece of paper with a cipher code on it.

• Staffs:
  • Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shin Morita
  • Directed by: Senkichi Taniguchi
  • Written by: Hideo Andô
  • Music by: Sadao Bekku

• Cast:
  • Jiro Kitami: Tatsuya Mihashi
  • Miichin/Mi Chen (Tonwan Country spy): Mie Hama
  • Bai-Lan/White Orchid (Safe-breaking prisoner): Akiko Wakabayashi
  • He-Qing Cai (Triad boss): Susumu Kurobe
  • Numaguchi (Gang member): Hideyo Amamoto
  • Inagawa (Gang member): Sachio Sakai
  • Gegen (Chief of the rebel guerrilla "Darkness"): Tadao Nakamaru
  • Kapenam (Gegen's associate): Shunji Kasuga
  • Dord (Gegen's associate): Shôji Ôki
  • Suritai (Director of National Intelligence Tonwanian/NIT): Tetsu Nakamura
  • Choo (Tongwan Army Officer): Nadao Kirino
  • Yoko (Call girl): Akemi Kita
  • Dancing youth: Rikiya Yasuoka
  • Casino guest: Osman Yusuf

• Other projects:
  • Stairs of Evil (Story by: Norio Nanjo, Directed by: Hideo Suzuki, Starring: Tsutomu Yamazaki)

Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Zettai zetsumei (国際秘密警察 絶体絶命, International Secret Police: Driven to the Wall), also known as The Killing Bottle[]

Fifth and last installment of the series. Release date: February 11, 1967 Distributed by: Toho (collaborated with Takarazuka Eizo Co. Ltd.)

• Plot:
• Shimada, an undercover ISP agent who was investigating the assassination plan of the Buddhabar Prime Minister, was killed in Hong Kong. Kitami and John Carter, who were dispatched from the Far East Bureau headquarters, have started an investigation to protect the prime minister while visiting Japan. Then, two professional assassins, Ken Hayata and Akiko from the international assassination group ZZZ who undertook the assassination of prime minister's aide who also came to Japan from Hong Kong and attacked the prime minister, while Kitami, John and a female must prevented them from attempting to kill him.

• Staffs:
  • Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Koichi Takenaka (uncredited)
• Directed by: Senkichi Taniguchi
• Story by: Michio Tsuzuki
• Written by: Shinichi Sekizawa
• Music by: Sadao Bekku

• Casts:
  • Jiro Kitami: Tatsuya Mihashi
  • John Carter (American ISP agent): Nick Adams (Voice over by: Masaaki Yajima)
  • A Girl: Kumi Mizuno
  • Kan Hayata (ZZZ): Makoto Satô
  • Ayako (ZZZ): Annu Mari
  • Prime Minister of Buddhabar: Jun Tazaki
  • General Rubesa (Assistant to the Prime Minister): Yoshio Tsuchiya
  • Man With Turkish Hat (Assistant to the Prime Minister): Akihiko Hirata
  • Head of ZZZ Hong Kong Branch Office: Tetsu Nakamura
  • Head of the Far East Bureau (ISP): Ryûji Kita
  • Shimada (ISP agent): Sachio Sakai
  • Murderers: Hideyo Amamoto, Shoji Oki, Kazuo Kawakami
  • Man with Rifle: Raita Ryu
  • Gang comedians: Yasushi Yokoyama, Kiyoshi Nishikawa

• Other projects:
  • Rakugo yarō dai bakushō (Directed by: Toshio Sugie, Starring: Enka San'yûtei)

Video software[]

• In the early 1980s, the five TV-sized video software (VHS / β / U standards) were released by Toho Video primarily for commercial purposes.
• In the 1990s, two VHS of "International Secret Police: Fangs Of The Tiger" and "International Secret Police: Keg Of Gunpowder" were released from the Kinema Club label "Japanese Movie Funny Bunko".
• As of 2018, it has not been converted to DVD or BD.
• By On August 17, 2022, Toho announced that all five series will be released as a selection of Toho DVD collection. All the film series featured remastered audio, display aspect ratio with one layer on the side, movie trailers with previews, still images from the films will be included in the DVD menu.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?[]

What's Up, Tiger Lily? is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Woody Allen in his feature-length directorial debut.

Allen took a Japanese spy film, International Secret Police: Key of Keys, and overdubbed it with completely original dialogue that had nothing to do with the plot of the original film. By putting in new scenes and rearranging the order of existing scenes, he completely changed the tone of the film from a James Bond clone into a comedy about the search for the world's best egg salad recipe.

During post-production, Allen's original one-hour television version was expanded without his permission to include additional scenes from International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder, the third film in the International Secret Police series, and musical numbers by the band The Lovin' Spoonful. This experience helped convince Allen that he should secure creative control for all his future projects.[citation needed] The band released a soundtrack album. Louise Lasser, who was married to Allen at the time, served as one of the voice actors for the "new" dialogue soundtrack, as did Mickey Rose, Allen's writing partner on Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971). In 2003, Image released the film on DVD, with both the theatrical and television (called "alternate") soundtracks

The plot provides the setup for a string of sight gags, puns, jokes based on Asian stereotypes, and general farce. The central plot involves the misadventures of secret agent Phil Moskowitz, hired by the Grand Exalted High Macha of Rashpur ("a nonexistent but real-sounding country") to recover a secret egg salad recipe that was stolen from him. The recipe, in the possession of gangster Shepherd Wong, is also being sought by rival gangster Wing Fat, and Moskowitz, assisted by two female Rashpur agents, temporarily teams up with Wing Fat to steal the recipe from Wong.

The movie has an ending credits scene unrelated to the plot, in which China Lee, a Playboy Playmate and then-wife of Allen's comic idol Mort Sahl who does not appear elsewhere in the film, does a striptease while Allen (who is also on-screen) explains that he promised he would put her in the film somewhere.