Stray Dog (1949)

In Akira Kurosawa's gritty STRAY DOG, a young police detective named Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) gets his pistol stolen on a crowded bus during the oppressive heat of a late 1940s Tokyo summer. Since guns are scarce at the time, the impulsive Murakami decides to track it down rather than risk losing his position on the force. With the aid of Sato (Takashi Shimura), a laid-back senior officer, Murakami embarks on the determined hunt for the weapon that leads him into the darkest corners of the city's criminal underworld. As his investigation progresses, Murakami discovers that his gun has been used in both a robbery and murder, making his search for the pistol and the criminal even more urgent.

Mifune's third collaboration with Kurosawa, STRAY DOG displays the renowned actor's youthful intensity, a quality that would become more mature and refined in later films such as RASHOMON and SEVEN SAMURAI. Tempering Mifune's brash character is Shimura's wise older cop, an endearing figure from his first moment on the screen. The student/mentor relationship between the two proves crucial to the film, and elevates it above many crime movies of the era. Sporting excellent photography, a swinging soundtrack, and an increasingly perilous story line, STRAY DOG exemplifies a time, place, and genre with startling verve.