This is one of a series of notes for
A Chronological Biography of Akira Kurosawa.
Set during Japan's feudal wars, this comedy/drama concerns a gilded princess and her loyal general who undertake a dangerous journey to their homeland, assisted only by a pair of misfits and pursued by warriors and bandits attempting to loot their gold and valuable possessions.
The forgotten basis of George Lucas's Star Wars, his wealth, and thus the American economy and much of contemporary American culture. The film opens and closes with the two bickering farmer/soldiers who inspired R2-D2 and C3P0, but they're nothing like their Star Wars versions. Their swings from slapstick to basest treachery are so weird and un-Hollywood that Mr. Lucas' robots are paragons of integrity, sanity, and heroism by comparison
Title: The Hidden Fortress
Original Title in Japanese: Kakushi Toride no San Akunin ("Three Guys in a Hidden Fortress")
Running Time: 139 min
Year: 1958
Company: Toho
Writer(s): Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Koguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa
Director of Photography: Kazuo Yamazaki
Production Designer: Yoshiro Muraki
Music: Masaru Sato
Cast:
Toshiro Mifune (Rokurota Makabe), Misa Uehara (Prince Yuki), Minoru Chiaki (Tahei), Kamatari Fujiwara (Matashichi), Takashi Shimura ( Izumi Nagakura)