Stakeout

is a 1958 Japanese drama and crime film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, based on a short story by Seicho Matsumoto of the same name. Plot After the murder of a pawnbroker, Tokyo detectives Shimooka and Yuki are sent to Kyushu, home of murder suspect Ishii's former girlfriend Sadako, as the police expect Ishii to make contact with her. While observing her house, Yuki starts to sympathise with Sadako, who lives in an unhappy marriage with her loveless businessman husband. When Ishii finally meets with Sadako, Yuki's initial presumption, that he might want to kill her and subsequently commit suicide, is proven wrong. Sadako, regretting their once parting, asks Ishii to allow her to go with him, but Ishii, ill with tuberculosis, declines. The police arrest Ishii, leaving behind a grieving Sadako. As Shimooka and Yuki prepare to return to Tokyo with Ishii, Yuki writes a telegram to his girlfriend Yumiko, promising to marry her once he returns. Cast Seiji Miyaguchi as Shimooka Minoru Ōki as Yuki Hideko Takamine as Sadako Takahiro Tamura as Ishii Hizuru Takachiho as Yumiko Kin Sugai as Mrs. Shimooka Kumeko Urabe as landlady Ryōhei Uchida as Yamada Kamatari Fujiwara as Yumiko's father Tomoko Fumino as Yumiko's mother Miki Odagiri as maid Kazuko Yamamoto as maid Masao Shimizu as Sadako's husband Awards 1958 Kinema Junpo Award, Blue Ribbon Award and Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay (Shinobu Hashimoto).