Sanshiro Sugata: Akira Kurosawa's effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. The most beautiful: This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during world War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Sahshiro Sugata, part two: This sequel is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original and featuring a two-part narrative in which Sanshiro first fights a pair of Americans and then finds himself the target of a revenge mission undertaken by the brothers of the original film's villain. The men who tread on the tiger's tail: The plot is based on a legendary twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune and a group of samurai retainers dressed as monks in order to pass through a dangerous enemy checkpoint.