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Like many postwar Japanese films, Traitors bore the heavy influence of Hollywood westerns. The hero, played by Utaemon Ichikawa, is a samurai warrior, answerable to the Emperor. Sent to Okinawa to keep the peace and uphold loyalty to the crown, the samurai takes on wave after wave of treasonous swordsmen. Though the action seems comical at times, the film is consistently well-photographed in color by Shintaro Kawasaki. Traitors had its American premiere at the Museum of Modern Art, as part of a special program of contemporary Japanese films.