James Shigeta Movies

Filmmaker Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese pays homage to the first century of the American film industry, as specifically colored and influenced by the Chinese immigrants to whom Hollywood owes an inestimable debt. Dong touches on everyone from actress Anna May Wong, of Limehouse Blues (1934) and Lady from Chungking (1943), to the late cameraman James Wong Howe, responsible for giving the Rock Hudson thriller Seconds (1966) such a creepy and inventive look. Dong also explores the newer generation of Chinese-American filmmakers, including such giants as Wayne Wang and Ang Lee, responsible for such contemporary classics as The Joy Luck Club, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Brokeback Mountain. At the same time, a haunting and telling undercurrent of racism and stereotypes weaves its way in, suggestive of the difficulties that Chinese men and women found working in Hollywood -- particularly in the early years. As a historical footnote, Dong also makes film history by rediscovering and editing in footage from what is alleged to be the first Asian-American film ever made: the 1916 Curse of Quon Gwan, directed by Marion Wong. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Internationally acclaimed director and Japanese media phenomenon Takeshi Kitano follows up his well-regarded Kikujiro with this straight-ahead gangster saga with a cross-cultural twist. The film focuses on Yamamoto (Kitano), a yakuza forced out of the country when a gang war all but wipes out his clan. Armed with a fake credit card, a forged passport, and a bag of money, he journeys to the strange and foreign land of Los Angeles to join his half-brother Ken (Claude Maki), who works as a low-rent street tough alongside fast-talking hustler Denny (Omar Epps). With brutal efficiency, the poker-faced Yamamoto starts staking out turf and organizing Ken's mob into one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the city. As his gang grows in number and power, he is joined by Kato (Kitano regular Susumu Terajima), his former lieutenant from Japan, who entreats Little Tokyo's pathological crime boss Shirase (Masaya Kato) to join the group. Yamamoto seems unstoppable until his gang runs afoul of the Mafia. Soon, all that he built quickly and bloodily starts to unravel as every member in his gang is marked for death. This film was screened at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Race agrees to help his estranged lady love Jade recover a precious, and supposedly cursed, diamond. Travelling to Indonesia in the company of Jonny and Jessie, Race finds that his assignment is even more dangerous than he expected it to be -- and that the "curse" is far more than a silly superstition. "Diamonds and Jade" originally aired on March 15, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After surviving Vietnam and the illegal fighting circuit, one man finds himself facing a whole new set of challenges in this action-drama. Billy Thomas (Lou Ferrigno) is a kind soul who happens to have a colossal body -- and a remarkable talent for the martial arts. Tim Yum Lin (James Shigeta) is leader of an underground crime syndicate who has dreamed up a way to profit from Billy's size and strength. Tim and his underlings kidnap Billy and hold him captive, telling him that his best friend has been killed and he must obey or he'll be next. Billy is forced to take on a number of brutal, fearless competitors in no-holds-barred cage matches held in an underground arena, with Tim's gang taking bets on the action. Billy handily wins the matches set up for him, but seeing no other way out, he makes a deal with Tim to bet on himself in an upcoming fight -- with Billy's freedom hanging in the balance. The Cage 2: Arena of Death also stars Shannon Lee, Reb Brown, and James Lew. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Len Cariou is back as Michael Hagarty, semi-retired British secret agent and longtime friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). On this occasion, Hagarty is distressed that his estranged daughter (Kim Johnston Ulrich) has become engaged to a young man engaged in questionable business practices with a mob-connected Hong Kong financial house. When the fiancé is murdered, Hagarty is accused of the crime, but Jessica can't believe he did it (nor can the audience!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During a non-stop flight to London, a valuable necklace is stolen and the courier hired to guard the necklace is poisoned. One of the passengers is Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who of course offers her services to Scotland Yard as they try to retrieve the gems and catch the killer. Among the main characters in this melodrama are a famous actress, a taciturn former police officer, and a furtive-looking tourist couple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Magnum (Tom Selleck) embarks upon a personal vendetta against the unknown culprit who nearly killed Higgins (John Hillerman) by tampering with the brakes of his car. It turns out that this murder attempt is linked with Higgins' current efforts to research an incident which occurred in 1942 at an Honolulu internment camp for Japanese-Americans. One of the camp's guards is alleged to have killed an inmate--and despite the passage of 40 years, there is still someone around and about who is willing to kill again to keep the full story of this incident from ever seeing the light of day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, undercover investigators are recruited from the streets to prevent arms smugglers from getting their weapons to street gangs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lee Cantrell (Joe Penny) is a half-Asian, half-Anglo assistant district attorney in San Francisco. By day he helps to prosecute criminals through the justice system, but at night he straps on his samurai sword and does battle with the underworld in his own way. His main enemy is a power-crazed businessman who has built an "earthquake machine" with which he intends to destroy San Francisco. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson) is in dire need of a life-saving operation. Lacking the necessary funds, Mary's father, Charles (Michael Landon), signs up for a high-paying -- and highly-dangerous -- new job. Working shoulder to shoulder with his neighbor Mr. Edwards (Victor French), Charles becomes a "powder monkey," part of a team blasting a tunnel for the railroad. Inevitably, disaster befalls Charles and Edwards in the form of a sudden cave-in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Killer Who Wouldn't Die was the original network title for the 1976 TV movie also known as Ohanian. Mike Connors plays Ohanian, an Armenian-American ex-cop who runs a charter boat service. He's pulled back into the investigation game when one of his old friends is killed in Hawaii by a foreign assassin. The Killer Who Wouldn't Die was the two-hour pilot for an unsold series starring Mike Connors. Had it been picked up, undoubtedly much would have been made by the publicity mills that Ohanian was Connors' real last name--just as we were constantly reminded that Sanford was the actual moniker of comedian Redd Foxx. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this detective adventure, the pilot episode for the short-livedTV series, suave Matt Helm gets involved with the smugglers who have been providing black market munitions to African mercenaries when he assigned to protect the life of a movie star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

James Hilton's beloved fantasy novel about the land of Shangri-La was given an awkward musical treatment in this extravagantly produced flop. Larry Kramer's screenplay stays close to the 1937 Frank Capra original, as a plane fleeing China crashes in the Himalayas and a mixed group of survivors discovers the magical, peaceful land of Shangri-La. Here the film becomes a full-fledged musical, with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David illustrating the distant realm's nature and the conflict that happiness causes amongst the survivors. Curiosity-seekers may be intrigued by the film's reputation as a notorious dud, but fans of the story would be better served by the classic original, despite a cast of well-respected names, including Peter Finch (in the Ronald Colman role), John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, and Charles Boyer. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide