The Night of the Samurai - Recap

In San Francisco, Jim and Artie ride into town and are surprised when three men in Japanese armor ride down on them. After a brief struggle, the agents drive their attackers off and they continue to their appointment.



At a gathering of American diplomats with Prince Shinosuke of Japan and his entourage, two of the servants drug the tea and then serve it. The guests pass out just as Jim and Artie arrive. Artie quickly goes down and Jim disposes of the servants. However, a masked figure steps forward and easily knocks him unconscious using a sheathed sword that he is stealing

Afterward, Shinosuke’s translator Baron Saigo informs the State Department representative, Clive Finsbury, that over 30 years ago Admiral Perry took the Sword of Kuniyoshi, from Japan. Shinosuke blames the Americans for letting it be stolen and tells them that if he doesn’t have it when he leaves the next day, he will be obliged to commit seppuku. Once Shinosuke and Saigo leaves, Finsbury tells his personal translator, Reiko O’Hara, that she can leave as well. Finsbury then explains to the agent that there is an organization, the Tai-Nei-No-Wakare, that are a fanatical palace group jockeying for power. They want to eliminate all American influence in Japan. The return of the sword was intended to strengthen the hand of the Emperor, who favors the United States. Finsbury tells Jim and Artie to recover the sword in the next 24 hours.

Once Finsbury leaves, Reiko emerges from hiding and offers to help. They ask for her help but all she can determine is that the ringleader was a Tatsuejin, a master of the samurai sword. Jim recognizes the Hokkaido grip that the thief used and departs after kissing Reiko on the forehead. When she asks Artie if she can help, he tells her that she already has, kisses her as well, and leaves.



Jim goes to a Kenjitsu academy and dismounts. As he goes in, he bumps into Artie, disguised as a Portuguese sailor. Artie secretly tells him that he’ll be heading up the Barbary Coast to attract some attention. Jim then goes in and finds the teacher, Gideon Falconer, lecturing his students. He tosses a sword to Jim and attacks him, demonstrating his technique. Jim prove a capable swordsmen and the two men bow to each other. Gideon then talks to Jim, pointing out that his balance is off. The agent demonstrates the Hokkaido grip and Gideon admits that he’s been teaching it to his students for the last year. He calls another instructor, Aki Sergeiievitch, to take over, and explains that Aki arrived a week ago. Gideon takes Jim over to introduce him and Aki recognizes the man’s scar, confirming he’s the man who attacked him at the party.



Aki runs off and Jim goes after him. They go through a maze of barrels and Aki enters a warehouse. Jim goes in after him and hears a noise from above. He discovers that someone has stabbed Aki in the back and left him on an upper catwalk. A man is there and disposes of the body through a hidden trapdoor, and then pulls a rope to reveal a luxurious parlor beyond. He invites Jim in by name and they go inside. The man introduces himself as Hannibal Egloff, General Manager of the Aryan-Pacific Trading Company. Hannibal offers to recover the Sword of Kuniyoshi in return for a “finder’s fee” of $25,000. Once Jim pays the fee, he’ll put the agent in touch with the Dutchman. The agent will then have to negotiate with him. Jim agrees and Hannibal gives him a time and a place for the meeting. As he goes, Jim asks how the Dutchman knows he won’t set a trap, and Hannibal warns that the Dutchman would make short work of him.

A disguised Artie makes his way to a tavern, the Bucket of Blood, carrying a long thin package. He’s seemingly unaware that a local man, Soapy, is watching him. Soapy goes in and warns the owner, Madame Mustache. She approaches Artie and tells him to drink or leave. Artie buys a bottle and talks to the package, claiming it’s his friend and that it will make him rich. Madame Mustache knows that he has the Sword of Kuniyoshi and calls over her thugs to take it. Artie uses the cylinder, a fake, to shoot sparks and smoke and drive the thugs off. He then shares a drink with Madame Mustache and assures her that he has the real sword and needs a buyer. Madame Mustache summons Soapy and tells him to take Artie where he wants to go.



Jim makes his way down the street and notices someone following him. He ducks into the rendezvous address, a warehouse, to ambush his pursuer and discovers that it’s Reiko. She kneels in shame and cries, explaining that the agents have been good to her but now they must risk their lives to recover the Sword. Reiko offers him a small dagger as a gift and begs for him to let her accompany him.

As Jim ushers her out, several thugs with guns arrive. They usher Jim and Reiko back into the warehouse where the Dutchman is waiting for them. The Dutchman is in a chair with his back to the door, and asks for $500,000 in U.S. securities. When Jim asks if he can prove the sword is real, one of the thugs attacks Jim with a sword. He takes the man and his associates out, grabs the sword, and confronts the Dutchman... only to discover the chair has a fake arm and a speaker. The Dutchman laughs from a nearby peephole and another thug knocks Jim out from behind as he advances toward the shadowy figure.

Soapy takes Artie through the alleyways and brings him to a warehouse. Artie demands to know where they are, but Soapy suddenly collapses with an arrow in the back. Three Japanese men arrive toting a rickshaw, one of them armed with a bow. The rickshaw’s occupant gestures Artie forward and the agent realizes that it’s Saigo. He invites Artie to ride with him so they can conduct their business in private. Saigo offers him $25,000 for the Sword. When Artie point out it’s worth much, Saigo tells him he only want to borrow it for fifteen minutes for a samurai purification ritual. Artie agrees and Saigo drops him off at the Bucket of Blood with a warning not to try and trick him.



The Dutchman’s thugs tie Jim and Reiko to chairs. When Jim wakes up, the Dutchman tells him that he plans to take one of Reiko’s eyes as punishment for Jim trying to attack him. Jim seemingly agrees but asks for a kiss while she is still intact. The Dutchman agrees and Reiko approaches the tied-up Jim. She uses her body as cover to cut him free, and Jim produces a derringer from his sleeve. He tells the Dutchman to freeze but the Dutchman points out that it’s a Mexican standoff. He now demands $1 million for the Sword and tells him to meet him at the wharf in two hours, alone. Jim backs out with Reiko and departs.

Back at the Wanderer, Jim and Artie prepare $1 million in fake bonds while Reiko sleeps. They put the bonds in a case that leaves a trail of phosphorescence. The agents plan to get the sword, turn it over to Saigo, and find out why he wants it. After that, they’ll track down the bonds. The agents depart, leaving Reiko asleep.



At the wharf, Jim waits until a rowboat pulls up. The Dutchman’s thugs make the exchange but more of them ambush Jim and toss him into the boat. The Dutchman thanks him from the shadows and assures Jim that his men will make him feel welcome. As Jim fights the thugs in the boat, he puts a piece of plastic explosive on the side of the boat. Artie emerges from the upper floor of a warehouse, drops Jim a line, and swings him to safety. They recover the sword case as the plastic explosive goes off, sinking the rowboat.

The agents follow the glowing trail to a warehouse. Before they go in they check the sword and discover that it’s a fake. Inside, Jim realizes that they’re in Hannibal’s warehouse. They go up the stairs, careful to avoid the hidden trapdoor, and Jim opens the panel to Hannibal’s parlor. Hannibal is there and well aware that they gave him fake bonds. Jim is aware that he was impersonating the real Dutchman, and Hannibal admits that the agents never sent him his finder’s fee.

Artie threatens to tell the real Dutchman that Hannibal has been using his name unless he gives them the Sword of Kuniyoshi. Hannibal doesn’t know if the real Dutchman has the Sword and offers them a key to finding him. He gives them a small samurai helmet and then draws a gun and prepares to shoot them. One of his mechanical birds goes off, part of an alarm system, and he goes to the door to eliminate his visitor. When Hannibal opens the panel, the person on the other side shoots him dead and then tosses a bomb into the room. The agents try to get to it but the intruder pins them down with gunfire. They go back the way they came but more thugs enter the warehouse and open fire on them. Jim opens the concealed trapdoor and the agents dive through it and swim to safety as the bomb goes off.



Later at Gideon’s studio, Jim puts the samurai helmet on a small sculpture of a samurai horseman. The agents have brought Shinosuke and his men and look through the collection of sparring weapons. None of them are the Sword, but they realize that a suit of armor has the Sword within. Jim gives it to Shinosuke as Gideon comes down with four Japanese men wielding sword. Gideon says that the weapon should be tested in combat and Jim realizes that he’s the Dutchman. The weapon master explains that he has grown disenchanted with the U.S. and it’s moral flabbiness, and plans to ally himself with Asian warlords who understand the need for strength and discipline. He plans to secretly rise to power.

Gideon demands that Shinosuke give him the sword but Jim challenges him to a fight for it. He asks about the students and Gideon assures him they won’t involve themselves. Jim draws the sword and after a moment the fight begins. The two are evenly matched but Gideon steps back and impales himself on a spiked decoration. He collapses, still critiquing Jim’s technique, and passes away. Reiko emerges from hiding and goes to Gideon’s side, and Jim realizes that she’s Gideon’s lover and Hannibal’s murderer. He asks if the tears he saw from her earlier were real and she tells him that he’ll never know. Shinosuke has his men take Reiko away and Jim gives him the sword.



Back at the Wanderer, Shinosuke and Saigo inform Jim and Artie that the handle contains $750,000 in diamonds. Saigo admits that he sought the sword to take the diamonds for himself, and will now go back to Japan for punishment. Shinosuke thanks them and departs, and the agent settle down. However, an attractive Japanese woman comes in. She addresses them with a New York accent, telling them that she’s come for a job with Finsbury as a translator.

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