Kureji ogon sakusen

**Kureji ogon sakusen** (クレージー黄金作戦, *Las Vegas Free-for-All*) is a 1967 Japanese musical adventure comedy film directed by Takashi Tsuboshima and starring the Crazy Cats. It was released as one of Toho's 35th Anniversary (東宝創立35周年記念, *Tōhō sōritsu 35 shūnenkinen*) commemorative film.

The dance scene was shot in the main street of Las Vegas (Nevada), making it the first Japanese movie to film in the United States, and Hitoshi Ueki and Yuzo Kayama, who both supported the Toho entertainment route in the 1960s in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. The co-starring scene became a hot topic for both the media and critics. The timing of this film was 157 minutes long. It was a big hit within the box office revenue of ¥680 million while distribution revenue was about ¥340 million, and 2.9 million people came to watch this spectacular film.

This film would latter followed up by Mexican Free-for-All in 1968 was released. It became one of Toho's most famous film with the scenes shot in both the United States and Hawaii. Screenwriter Ryôzô Kasahara of "Zoku shachô senichiya" and Yasuo Tanami of "Let's Go, Young Guy!" co-wrote the scenario, and the sixth work of "Industrial Spy Free for All" directed by Takashi Tsuboshima in many Crazy Cats movies. The scenes was shot by cinematographer Masaharu Utsumi from You Can Succeed, Too.

## Plot

Even though he was a shaven, salesman Shinran Machida was competing gambling on horse racing to mahjong, and was forced to work for free by Managing Director Kitagawa of Shoji Kinyu due to his overlapping debts. He had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas, which he dreamed of visiting and playing at the local casino. He also met Kid Gold, a rich American businessman who offered him a trip to come visit his casino in Las Vegas. Shigekin Itagaki, a representative who raised a vet due to his manure disposal problem, and businessman Kino Nashimoto were together on the Pan American plane to Los Angeles, California.

Before they move out, Nishimoto witnessed a hit-and-run incident of Kid Gold and take him to the hospital. Before he died, Kid Gold gave Nishimoto the map of the abandoned mine in Skeleton Hill, located in Nevada to receive the lost treasure. After playing in Hawaii and eventually arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport, creditors accused them of turmoil in Japan, Itagaki was pursued as the black fog himself, and Nashimoto was requested to search by his lover and hospital Yuriko Hanazono, to found out about the lost treasure. What's more, Nashimoto's legacy was only the abandoned old mine and the map, and the last thing he relied on was his turbulent arm in Vegas. The three of them, who arrived in Nevada on foot because they had little money to pay their destination after spending their money on the slot machines at a local casino.

The three men earned about $50 with it and used it to grab $60,000 in a roulette game. However, after the arrival of female traveler and scholar Tsukiko Umino, who said that she would lose her luck when she met them, was no good, and in the end, everything went unnoticed. On the other hand, Tsukiko gets sick when she meets her turmoil. Meanwhile, Mob boss Al and his henchmen, aiming for a map of the abandoned mine, were chasing Nashimoto and fellow travelers. It appears that gold treasures was hidden by English pirates at the hill top of the West Coast. Nashimoto, who heard it from Al's girl Mary, went into the mine and brought out a large bag containing gold coins. Al also arranged a marriage between Mary and Nishimoto and exterminated them in order to get Kid Gold's treasure and his casino. Immediately, the battle for the bag with the Al crew began as the three men meet several characters including a tour guide, a Native American warrior, business secretary and two suspicion men.

Eventually, a bag that had left the turmoil fell on the winning number of the roulette wheel, and billions of yen of gold had fallen into it. Al and his mobsters were arrested by the Las Vegas Police. This upsets them who left Al to the police triumphantly and returned to Japan, but Tsukiko's strategy of not receiving a share ended up donating all their gambling money to the charity association for the poor and disables. Eventually, Nashimoto worked for a hospital built with his money, and Itagaki, who had closed his deputy's business, returned to the rice cracker shop of the family business and lived steadily. As for Shinran, he built a statue in front of his apartment complex with two of his close friend in golden statue.

## Staff

* Producer: Shin Watanabe
* Directors: Takashi Tsuboshima, Yoshinori Wada (Riviera Hotel Show sequence)
* Screenwriters: Ryôzô Kasahara, Yasuo Tanami
* Music Composers: Hiroshi Miyagawa, Hiroaki Hagiwara
* Cinematographer: Masaharu Utsumi (as Shoji Utsumi)
* Editor: Ume Takeda
* Production Designer: Kazuo Takenaka
* Art Director: Kazuo Satsuya
* Production Manager: Takeharu Shimada (executive in charge of production)
* Second Unit Director or Assistant Directors: Masao Asano (chief assistant director), Masaaki Hisamatsu (third assistant director)
* Art Department: Kyuichi Higuchi (props)
* Sound Department Kanae Masua (sound recordist), Teiichi Saitô (sound), Hisashi Shimonaga (sound effects editor), Noboru Yoshioka (sound)
* Special Effects: Akira Fujita (special effects)
* Camera and Electrical Department: Shinji Kojima (lighting assistant), Shin'ichi Ôno (lighting technician)

## Cast

* Hitoshi Ueki as Shinran Machida
* Hajime Hana as Shigekin Itagaki (Shigekane)
* Kei Tani as Kaneo Nashimoto (Kino)
* Hiroshi Inuzuka as Native American
* Senri Sakurai as Nakabayashi (secretary)
* Êtarô Ishibashi as Suspicious man A
* Shin Yasuda as Suspicious man B
* Mie Hama as Tsukiko Umino
* Mari Sono as Yuriko Hanazono
* Peggy Neal as Mary
* Ichirō Arishima as Managing Director Kitagawa
* Yū Fujiki as Director Wang Jinguchi
* Kenjiro Ishiyama as Representative Sawashima
* Hisao Toake as Minister of Health
* Akira Hitomi as Branch Manager Sekiguchi
* Takuya Fujioka as Director Ohama
* Shigeki Ishida as Chief Namagawa
* Makoto Fujita as Tax Collection Bureau Director Kanao
* Chôko Iida as Kane Itagaki
* Nadao Kirino as Yamaguchi
* Ikio Sawamura as Toy Factory President
* Andrew Hughes as Kid Gold
* E. H. Erick as Father of a simple wedding hall
* Toki Shiozawa as Patient
* George A. Furness as Kid Gold's corporate lawyer
* Harold Conway as President H. Conway (President of the Bank of Las Vegas)
* Erik Neilson as Al
* Yūzō Kayama as Waikiki Beach Young Admiral
* The Drifters (Chosuke Ikariya, Cha Katō, Chû Arai, Boo Takagi, Kōji Nakamoto) as Demonstrators
* The Peanuts (Emi Ito, Yumi Itō)
* Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets
* Johnny's
* Machiko Kitagawa as Matsu Chiyo
* Machiko Naka as Takeya
* Yoshiko Toyoura as Umemaru
* Masumi Nasu as Stewardess
* Jun'ichirô Mukai as General Manager of Human Resources Department, Shoji Kinyu
* Shoichi Hirose as A creditor
* Naoya Kusakawa as Daito News reporter
* Kazuo Suzuki as Tocho Shimbun reporter
* Yutaka Sada as The head of a rice cracker shop
* Kenichiro Maruyama as Matsuda
* Tamami Urayama as Tsutsui
* Yoshiko Miyata as Hospital nurse
* Kan Yanagiya as Petition leader
* Masaki Shinohara as Photographer, seeing off the airport (2 roles)
* Jumpei Natsuki as Petition
* Hans Horneff, Dick Miller, Jerry Van Dyke, Alex Cord, James Stacy, Henry Corden as Al's gangsters
* Paul Frees, John Stephenson, Ralph Jesser, Robert Dunham, Hamilton Camp, Gene Wilder, Michael J. Pollard, Warren Beatty as Los Angeles/Las Vegas police officers
* Gary Owens as Casino croupier
* Jerry Dexter as Police officer getting hit with a bottle

## Insert songs

**Manyoshu** (万葉集, *Man'yōshū*)

* Lyrics: Rokusuke Ei, Composer: Hachidai Nakamura
* Performer: Hitoshi Ueki

**Don't Say Anything** (何も云わないで, *Nani mo iwanaide*)

* Lyrics: Kazumi Yasui, Composer: Hiroshi Miyagawa
* Performer: Mari Sono

**Representative Song** (代議士ソング, *Daigishi songu*)

* Lyrics and Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara
* Performer: Hajime Hana

**The Sea Of ​​Only Two People** (二人だけの海, *Futaridake no umi*)

* Lyrics: Tokiko Iwatani, Composer: Yūzō Kayama
* Perfomrer: Hitoshi Ueki, Yūzō Kayama

**Wish The Stars ~ Hollywood Boulevard Song** (星に願いを〜ハリウッド･ブールバードの歌, *Hoshininegaiwo 〜 Hariuddo būrubādo no uta*)

* Lyrics: Toshio Fujita, Hitoshi Ueki, Yasuo Tanami, Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara
* Performer: Hitoshi Ueki

**Take Me** (つれてって, *Tsurete tte*)

* Lyrics: Tokiko Iwatani, Composer: Hiroshi Miyagawa
* Mari Sono

**Hello Las Vegas-Gold, Gold** (ハロー･ラスベガス〜金だ金だよ, *Harō Rasubegasu 〜-kinda kinda yo*)

* Lyrics: Yasuo Tanami, Composer: Hiroshi Miyagawa
* Performer: Crazy Cats

**Tokyo Tasgore** (ウナ・セラ・ディ東京, *Una Sera di Tōkyō*)

* Lyrics: Tokiko Iwatani / Yasuo Tanami, Composer: Hiroshi Miyagawa, Planning & Composer: Kei Tani / Hajime Hana, Director: Yoshinori Wada
* The Peanuts, Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets, Johnny's, Crazy Cats

## Related

* Pan American World Airways - Appeared during the film as a partner company and sponsorship for the movie.
* Paramount Pictures - During the film, Itagaki visited the studio during a tour in Los Angeles.
* Hollywood Bowl - After all, Itagaki visited during the film and gave a speech from the stage to the empty audience seats (only to heard of cheering sound).
* Hollywood Walk of Fame - Appeared in the singing scene of "Wish for the Stars-Hollywood Boulevard Song", sung by Hitoshi Ueki. Names were written on a star-shaped plates: Walt Disney, Charles Chaplin, Clifton Webb and other celebrities. Hitoshi's name was also in seen in Japanese title in one of the star plate as he points at after singing his song.
* Greyhound Lines - During their trip through Nevada, Machida, Itagaki, and Nashimoto appeared as a means of moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (on the way).
* Damasarete moraimasu - One of the Toho Crazy Movies released on April 29, 1971, just four years after the release of this film. In addition to Hawaii, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, it was shot in New York City, the East Coast of the United States.