Snow Trail (1947) DVD-R

Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Kosugi
Directed by Senkichi Taniguchi
Print: Black and White
Runtime: 89 min
Genre: Action

After three banks robbers are able to escape with the money, the police have evidence that they are holed up at an inn in the mountains above Nagano, hence the police moving their base of operations to the Japanese Alps. The police don't want to inform the innkeepers as the robbers are armed, and the police fear the public may get themselves killed if they know robbers are in their midst. Indeed, the three robbers, Eijima, Nojiro, and Takasugi, all different in ages and temperament, are hiding out at the inn pretending to be tourists on a ski holiday. The police know the situation benefits them as the robbers either have to come back down the mountain, or head up which basically is a dead end. The robbers feel it their best interest to leave the inn, they heading further up the mountain. In doing so, they take refuge at a lodge owned and occupied by an old man and his granddaughter, Haruko, and who have as a guest their friend Honda, an experienced mountaineer. Welcoming the strangers in, they have no idea of their nature. Regardless, the robbers are able to convince Honda to take them up the mountain to descend on the other side. The question then becomes if they will be able to survive both the dangers of the mountain and from each others hands, the latter especially if any one of them feels cornered into an inescapable situation.