JUDO IN THE MOVIES

By Barron Shepherd

Hollywood tough guy James Cagney gave American audiences their first real taste of Asian martial arts action by playing a judo-trained newspaper reporter who uncovers Japanese plans to attack the U.S. in the pre-World War espionage thriller BLOOD ON THE SUN.

Cagney starred as Nick Condon, the American editor of a pre-WW2 Tokyo newspaper. When two of his best friends are horribly murdered, Condon suspects that the "peaceful" Japanese military government is up to no good. He dedicates himself to getting his hands on the "Tanka Plan," a Japanese blueprint for conquering the world, and bringing this document to the attention of the Free World. As a result, he is targeted for persecution by the corrupt Tokyo police.

 Insisting on doing his own stunts, Cagney a judo black belt incorporated authentic judo technique in the film’s action sequences.  Cagney performed numerous judo techniques in the film. The screen fighting in this movie is exceptional for its day. The throws and locks were very well executed. 

Cagney's character is first introduced as a skilled student of judo and this becomes a key element of the plot He developes a rivalry with Oshima that builds up to a climax as the two do battle using rugged Judo moves never before seen in Hollywood at the time and rarely seen since Cagney's Judo fight scenes were way ahead of their time. 

For many martial artists, they will say that Bruce Lee got them interested in martial arts or he influenced them in some way. While that may be true for most it isn’t in my case. One of my earliest recollections of Judo was back in the 70’s around "78" I had seen the movie “Breaking Point” on Television.

http://barronsjudopage.blogspot.com/2009/09/judo-looking-back.html

“Breaking Point” starred actor and real life tough guy Bo Svenson, he played Micheal Mcbain, an ex marine and judo instructor who witnesses a murder carried out by the mob and he and his family are entered into a witness relocation program. However the mob threatens him and his family and will stop at nothing to keep Mcbain from testifying. 

Mcbain (Svenson) and his family are stalked relentlessly and nothing and no one seems to help until the Svenson  goes outside the law to fight back. With his believable performance, Bo Svenson practically carries this film himself.

There are some well handled and intelligent action scenes but it is the drama that makes it interesting and very different from other films. Robert Culp is good as the cop who tries but fails to give good advice to Svenson and keep Svenson’s family out of the mafia's reach. The main mafia henchman has some great scenes and causes a lot of mayhem. Svenson's anger at Culp's never ending failures to protect his family, and the mafia henchman's dirty mouth make for some tense moments. Svenson makes his way out of the witness protection program and takes out the bad guys one by one in one scene he breaks a guy's neck in one brutal scene and throws another sending him crashing thru a window.

 Mr. Svenson served in the U.S. Marines and trained in Judo and earned his shodan (first-degree black belt) at the famed and notoriously tough Kodokan in Japan, the home dojo of the sport, in 1961 while stationed there in the U.S. Marines. He earned his nidan and sandan (third degree) in ’62 and ’63. Injuries forced him from the sport in 1965. He was also the 1961 Far East Judo Champion in the Heavyweight Division.

In 2009 Bo Svenson competed in his first judo tournament in more than 40 years winning silver in the 2009 USA Judo National Championships, a bronze in the IJF World Judo Masters Championships, and a gold in the 2013 USJA Winter Nationals.