'A MONUMENT TO THE GOOD IN MAN.' The Japanese motion picture is said to be facing a crisis which, I believe, can only be surmounted by the courage and sincerity of those who make the films. I expect the utmost effort from everyone in my newest production, RED BEARD. I also intend to probe the ultimate possibilities of motion pictures. — Akira Kurosawa STORY: [from the original press-sheet] Young Dr. Yasumoto returns to Edo following three years of medical training in Nagasaki. Believing he will become a physician to the Shogunate, he is badly disillusioned to learn he must work in the poorly-financed Koishikawa Clinic, which is headed by a Dr. Niide, known to most as Red Beard. Everything in the clinic is repulsive to Yasumoto, and he becomes determined to get himself discharged: He drinks, refuses to wear medical attire; breaks every rule he can think of, in fact, including venturing to a prison-like room, forbidden to all but Red Beard himself, to observe a loveoly mental patient, whom he believes normal. Red Beard was not only correct in his diagnosis of the girl's insanity; he also saves Yasumoto's life when she tries to kill him. Gradually, despite his total discontentment, young Yasumoto is brought to realize the greatness of the man Red Beard, a devoted doctor who examines his patients' hearts as well as their bodies. The young doctor learns to understand this man who, among other things, adheres to a policy of being charitable to the poor, tough with the rich. At a brothel Red Beard saves a twelve year old girl and places her in Yasumoto's care. The young doctor is alarmed at the girl's bitterness brought about by the atmosphere in which she was raised. But he works a gradual change in her, which is rewarded by the girl nursing Yasumoto, when he, in turn, falls ill. Yasumoto has harbored bitterness as a resulkt of his fiancée marrying another while he was studying in Nagasaki. But taught tolerance and understanding by Red Beard, he forgives her and instead marries her sister. And instead of becoming a physician for the Shogunate, Dr. Yasumoto resolves to devote his life to working in the clinic he had once loathed. NOTES: According to history, the Koishikawa Clinic, over which Red Beard presided, was built in 1722. The story takes place a hundred years later. In supervising set construction, then, Director Kurosawa insisted not only on accuracy, but also total accuracy in making the structures appear to have weathered the seasons for a century. The set for the clinic commanded approximately ten acres and presented an imposing attraction for innumerable visitors. Among the celebrities who came to see Mr. Kurosawa were Kirk Douglas, Peter O'Toole and sidney Poitier. These and other visiting personalities took genuine interest in the sets, costumes and shooting method, admired and complimented the actors, and were particularly impressed with the manner in which Akira Kurosawa, one of the world's greatest living directors, worked.