Kurahara's perfect little noir

KOREYOSHI KURAHARA pulls out all of the stops in his 1960 film noir, "ARU KYOHAKU (INTIMIDATION)."
I watched the film this morning, before heading to work.
The director includes betrayals, a point-of-view bank robbery scene, extreme closeups of characters' eyes and more than one plot twist.
Ko Nishimura stars as a stuck-in-a-rut provincial bank employee who endures humiliation as his childhood friend -- played by Nobuo Kaneka -- ascends up the corporate ladder with little regard for who he harms along the way.
Nishimura's many other film credits include "Daibosatsu Toge (Sword of Doom)" and "Biruma no Tategoto (The Burmese Harp)."
Kaneko has appeared in a number of Nikkatsu studio productions I love, including "Yaju No Seishun (Youth of the Beast)."
Kurahara keeps this taut thriller moving. It's only 65 minutes long, so it's all story and action.
It also proves the Japanese were very adept at noir. Kurahara got the genre completely right.