In contrast to Teruo ISHII of the same generation (he publicly declared that he hated actors from the new school of drama, and he often assuredly destroyed the flow of the film even if it was an entertaining movie), Okamoto was a director with the spirit of a true artisan and always sought refinement, dandy-ism, and well-made jobs, by using experienced actors like Eijiro TONO and Eitaro OZAWA, and other actors from Shingeki (the new school of drama), who were trained to pronounce the lines clearly.
ベテランの東野英治郎、小沢栄太郎らも含め、台詞を明快に発音できる新劇出身の俳優を多く起用した点は、同世代の石井輝男（新劇俳優嫌いを公言し、娯楽作品でもしばしば確信犯的に破綻させた）と対照的であり、洗練とダンディ、ウェルメイドを至上とする職人監督であった。