After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter , he made his debut as a director in 1943 , during World War II , with the popular action film `` Sanshiro Sugata '' ( a.k.a. `` Judo Saga '' ) .
After years of working on many movies as an assistant director and scriptwriter , he became a director in 1943 . This was during World War II with the popular action movie `` Sanshiro Sugata '' ( a.k.a. `` Judo Saga '' ) .