Big Shots Die at Dawn (1961)
An early Okamoto yakuza film, though it's not in the Underworld series (along with The Last Gunfight and The Big Boss) despite being alternatively known as "Death of the Boss." While Okamoto did not write this film and took on the project because he was assigned and "just doing [his] job" according to an interview with Chris Desjardins in Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film, he did express a general excitement about working in action cinema (which shows through in this film's energy.)
Released: Apr 09, 1961
Runtime: 97 minutes
Stars: Yūzō Kayama, Kumi Mizuno, Mickey Curtis, Akihiko Hirata, Jun Tazaki, Tadao Nakamaru
Crew: Kihachi Okamoto (Director), Yoshitami Kuroiwa (Editor), Yukio Ota (Director of Photography), Sei Ikeno (Original Music Composer), Tomoyuki Tanaka (Executive Producer), Reiji Miwa (Executive Producer)