Black Line

The story

Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.

In the same saga

Chitai collection

In release order

Secret White Line Zone

1958

This film

Black Line

1960

Yellow Line

1960

Sexy Line

1961

See all films (5)

Fire Line

1961

Cast

S Shigeru AmachiKoji Machida U Utako MitsuyaMisako Y Yōko MiharaMaya T Toshio HosokawaGoro Torii R Reiko SetoReiko Onuma K Kyôko YashiroChiaki J Junko UozumiKaneko Sano H Hiroshi AyukawaHotel manager Y Yuji MunakataJoe J Jun ŌtomoYukichi Tachibana M Masaru KodakaPhoto seller R Ryuji MoriyamaTaizo

See more cast

H Hiroshi AsamiKayoko (gay boy) M Miho JoHotel maid Tokiko K Kuniko YamamuraKayo Y Yoko NanbaraEmi Hamaguchi K Kyōko KatsuraKyôko K Keiko MinakamiSingapore (waitress) M Masayo YoshidaRanko Kuroki M Masao TakamatsuOld man at boat store Y Yoji NarutoSabu S Sōten KuniManager D Daijiro KikukawaNamikawa T Tomohiko ÔtaniOld man at mannequin store K Ken Kawahara K Kazuhiko Saeki S Shogo SakaneGay boy B K Kyoji MurayamaPoliceman S Seiji HaraGrocery store clerk T Takashi Yamaguchi M Minoru Miyake K Kôichi MiyaDetective Kondo Y Yūzō HarumiDetective Suzuki H Hiroaki KurahashiDetective Inoue E Eisuke Sakauchi K Kyōko Ōgimachi E Eiko Wakaroku