The Hidden Fortress

Action, Adventure

Minoru Chiaki	Tahei
Susumu Fujita	General Hyoe Tadokoro
Takashi Shimura	Izumi Nagakura
Misa Uehara	Princess Yuki
Kamatari Fujiwara	Matakishi
Toshirô Mifune	Gen. Rokurota Makabe
Shiten Ohashi	Samurai
Toshiko Higuchi	Farmer's Daughter bought from slave trader
Toshiro Mifune
Eiko Miyoshi	Old Lady-in-Waiting
Koji Mitsui	Guard

Director	Akira Kurosawa
Producer	Akira Kurosawa; Sanezumi Fujimoto
Writer	Akira Kurosawa; Ryuzo Kikushima; Shinobu Hashimoto

This is the story of a general (Toshiro Mifune) and a princess (Misa Uehara) who have to travel through hostile territory in wartime to get to a safer place. Along the way they encounter two peasants, Taheri (Minoru Chiaki) and Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara), who then travel with them for safety. Eventually the general realizes the peasants aren't very trustworthy and have agreed to travel with them mostly because they hope to steal the princess's treasure. But he doesn't chase them off or hurt them for the sake of the princess and his sense of honor. The opening of the story is told from the point of view of the peasants, so the audience realizes they are untrustworthy before the general and the princess do. On their way to the hidden fortress they pick up a fifth traveler, a farmer's daughter who is kept by slave traders, and the princess insists her freedom be purchased and she be brought along.