Tora-san's Grand Scheme

Tora-san's Grand Scheme (新・男はつらいよ, Shin Otoko wa Tsurai yo) is a 1970 Japanese comedy film directed by Shun'ichi Kobayashi. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Kuruma Torajirō (Tora-san), and Komaki Kurihara as his love interest or "Madonna".^[1] Tora-san's Grand Scheme is the fourth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Tora-san's Grand Scheme
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Shun'ichi Kobayashi
Written by	Yoji Yamada Akira Miyazaki
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Komaki Kurihara
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Iwao Ishii
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	February 27, 1970 (1970-02-27)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Synopsis

Hoping to repay his family for the trouble he has caused them in the past, Torasan gambles and wins at the horse races. He plans to give his uncle and aunt a vacation in Hawaii, but the travel agent turns out to be a con-artist, and makes off with his money. Torasan falls in love with Haruko, a young kindergarten teacher who is renting a room in his uncle's home.^[2][3][4]

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro^[5]
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Komaki Kurihara as Haruko
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Masaaki Tsusaka as Noboru Kawamata
• Gajirō Satō as Genkichi (Man at the Temple)

Critical appraisal

The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Grand Scheme three out of five stars.^[6]

Availability

Tora-san's Grand Scheme was released theatrically on February 27, 1970.^[7] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1989 and 1995, and in DVD format in 2000, 2005, and 2008.^[8] AnimEigo released the film on DVD in the US along with the other first four films in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series on November 24, 2009.^[9]