Japanese Fantasy Film Journal 12

8/8/2019 Japanese Fantasy Film Journal 12

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Welcome t o t h e t w e l f t h i s su e o fT h e J a p a n e s e F a n t a s y F i l m J o u r n a l ( p r o n ou nc ed " j a y - e f f - e f f - j a y " ) w hi c h c ou l d• o r e a p p r o p r i a t e l y be s u b t i t l e d " E v e r yt h i n g You Wanted to Know Abo ut Ja pa nes eF a n t a s y F i l m s . " T h e r e a s o n f o r t h e a g g r e g a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l i s a r e s u l t o ft h e d e l e t i o n o f t h e GORATH a r t i c l e d u et o t h e u n w i l l i n g n e ss o f t h e a u t h o r t oco m p le t e t h e m a n u s c r i p t i n sp i t e o fcon t in ued p rom ises by Mr . Greg Fe re t to

d o so . Ha d I a d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l a n di n f o r m a t i o n , o r e v e n a p r i n t o f t h ef i lm , I m ig h t h a ve b e e n a b le t o w r i t et h e r e m a i n d e r o f t h e p i e c e . R e a l i z i n gtfie i n e v i t a b l e , I g a t h e r e d u p a l l a -v a i l a b l e a r t i c l e s w h i c h y o u a r e s o o n t or e a d . They encompass qu i t e a b i t o ft e r r i t o r y o n t h e f a n t a s y f i l m m a k i n g i n d u s t r y i n J a p a n . T o kno w o n l y t h e i rf i l m s i s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t o u n d e r s t a n dt h e i r b a c k g r o u n d : t h e b u s i n e s s , t h ec o u n t r y i t s e l f o r i t s p e o p l e . A l s om ig h t I su g g e s t yo u r se e k in g o t h e rr e a d in g r e l a t e d t o t h e Ja p a n e s e c i n e m awh i ch sh o u l d e n a b le yo u t o b e t t e r a p p r e c i a t e wh a t yo u a r e v i e w i n g a t t h e a t r e s o r on t e l e v i s i o n .

T h e f a n t a s y s c e n e i s q u i t e v i s i b l en J a p a n , a l t h o u g h we f o r e i g n e r s a r e

b a r e l y a b l e t o p e r c e i v e t h i s f r e n e t i ca c t i v i t y s i n c e A m er i ca n d i s t r i b u t o r s 'm y o p ic v i e w p o i n t c a n o n l y p e r c e i v e f i l ma r e f r o m Ja p a n i n t e r m s o f g i a n t l i z

a r d s . An im a t i o n , g o o d a n d b a d , i s b e i n gp r o d u ce d i n i t s l a r g e s t v o l um e e v e r ,m os t o f t h i s f o r b r o a d c a s t , w i t h e p i sodes f r o m v a r i o u s s e r i e s c o m p i l e d f o rh e a t r i c a l r e l e a s e b e i n g a p o p u l a r l y

p r o f i t a b l e a v e n u e f o r t h e f i l m m a k e r s .

Rumors a b o u t a n ew G o d z i l l a f i l mhav e b e e n r a m p a nt f o r t h e l a s t s e v e r a l ye a r s . T h e a n t e d e lu v i a n m e n ace was

o h a v e f o u g h t s p ac e m o n s t e r s , d e v i l s ,a n t a g o n i s t s r e l e v a n t t o t h e t h e n c u r e n t c i n e m a c r a z e . L e t t h e r u m o r s

c e a s e . T h e l e v i a t h a n , a p p a r e n t l y s t i l lhe good guy, is to be a hero of a nu

c l e a r p o we r p l a n t a c c i d e n t i n h i s n e x ti l m a s s i g n m e n t c u r r e n t l y i n t h e m i d s t

o f s c r i p t w r i t i n g . T o mo y uk i T a n a k a ,p r e s i d e n t o f Toho I n t e r n a t i o n a l , w h e na ske d i f t h e p r o j e c t wo u ld a l s o d e a lw i t h c u r r e n t f e a r s o f a t h i r d w o r l dw a r , f o o d a nd e n e r g y sh o r t a g e s , a n de a r t hq u a k e s, r e p l i e d , ' " I d o n ' t t h i n kw e ' l l b e a l l t h a t l o g i c a l . " Y e t T an a ka

e e l s t h a t w h i l e t h e f i l m may be s ho r to n l o g i c , i t w i l l be hand led i n a se r o u s v e i n . " J u s t l i k e t h e f i r s t m o v ie

w h i c h w as a r e a c t i o n t o u n c o n t r o l l e da t o m ic bomb t e s t i n g i n t h e a t m o sp h e r e , "sa i d T a n a ka . " T h e Ja p a n e s e a r e n owe a r f u l o f t h e f u t u r e mu ch a s a t t h eime o f the 1954 f i l m . "

S a i d I s h i r o Ho n d a , d i r e c t o r o fmost o f To ho 's more memorab le gen ree n t r i e s a nd o f t h e l a s t G o d z i l l a f i l m :We w e n t d o w n h i l l i n t h e l a s t f i v e o ri x p i c t u r e s . " L i k e T a n a k a , H o n da ' s

o p i n i o n im p l i e s a m o r e s i n c e r e a p p r o a chw i l l b e m a i n t a i n e d i n t h e p r o d u c t i o n .

t i s a s s u r e d l y t i m e o u r f a v o r i t e m on s t e r i s a f f o r d e d t h e i n t e g r i t y h e h aso n g d e s e r ve d . Bu t l e t u s n o t h o l d o u r

c o l l e c t i v e b r e a t h s .

Jim G a r r i s o n

D A I E I : A HISTORY OF THE GREATER JAPAN MOTION by Greg Shoe make r 10PICTURE COMPANY. T h e e r r a t i c , o f t e n p i o n e e r i n g y e a r s o f G am e ra ' s c r e a t o r

EIJ I TSUBURAYA 16A r e p r i n t e d a r t i c l e i s s u e d u po n co m p le t i o n o f t h e Toho f i l m TH E LAST WAR

GHIDRAH ON FI LM by Tom Ro ge rs 18T h e t r i p l e t h r e a t ' s p e r s i s t e n ce o f v i s i o n a t wo r k a nd p l a y o n O g a sawa r a

TH E SUPERHERO by Greg Shoemak er 19

F o l l o w- u p i n f o r m a t i o n t o T HE SUPERHERO: JAPAN'S INTERPRETATION, J F F J #11

GODZILLA AND POSTWAR JAPAN by Jo n In oue 35G O J I R A , a t r i f l e more complex than Joseph E. Le v i ne le d us to b e l i e v e . . .

INNERVIEW 4M isc e l l a n i a o n f a n t a s y f i lm m a k in g i n J a p a n : m u s ic , e x i s t e n t i a l i s m , e t c .

ORIENT EXPRESS 8On a f a n t a s y p r o d u c t i o n f r o m a n o n - Ja p a n e se F a r Ea s t s t u d io : T HE PHOENIX

CLOSEUP: FAR EAST REPORT 21A f i l m update . A l l the news t h a t f i t s , i n c l u d i n g f e a t u r e s a nd t e l e v i s i o n

T R I V I A 38Th e n o n e s s e n t i a l s t h a t make Japan ese f i l ms and fandora more in te re s t in g?

BLOOD 25

BELLADONNA 26

BRIDE FROM HADES 27

LEGEND OF DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS 28

WEIRD T R I P 30

TH E LAST DINOSAUR 31

TH E POSSESSED 32

T ELEVER SION : .SUBMERSION OF JAPAN by B a r r y S c h l a c t e r 33

FRONT COVER: "Ma j in " by Canad ian a r t i s t Rob Mac in ty re

BACK COVER: P u b l i c i t y a r t f o r T a i w a n ' s T H E PHOENIX b y B o r i s V a l l e j o

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Greg Shoemaker NUMBER 12; $2.00

Al l mater ia l here in COPYRIGHT© 1979 by Greg Shoemaker unless otherwise indicated. J F F J i s p u b l i s h e d i r re g u la r l y a t3235 Col l ingwood Blvd ., To ledo, Ohio 43610 USA and is on sale at these lo cat io ns: AS Edit ion s F ran ce, 9 rue du Mi di,92 200 Ne ui l ly , F rance; Spaceage Bookshop, 317 Swanston St . , Melbourne, V i c t or ia , Au s t ra l i a ; C inemab i l ia , 10 West13th St ., New York , New York 10011 USA; Reid Books, 2 E. Mosman St . , Mosman Bay , Au st r al ia ; Real Free Press (Fo und a t ion) IN T. , Oude Nieu s traa t, Amsterdam, The Nether lands . CONTRIBUTIONS are we lcome, but contac t wi t h ed i t o r p r i o rto fo rmula t i on o f p ro je c t is req uested. Payment fo r pub l ished mater ia l is two cop ies o f issue in -wh ich your a rt ic leor art sees p r in t . DISPLAY AD RATES: P le as e c o n ta c t th e e d i t o r ia l o f f i c e . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Fred Chodkowsk i ; Wi l l iamMezzano; Uni japan F i lm; V ar ie ty ; A l a in Sc h lock off ; Johnny Har t ; K im Okabe o f F i e ld Newspaper Synd i ca te ; Horac io Hi guch i ; Tosh i 'yuk i Sh igeta ; Sak f H i j i r t ; Hajime I shf da; Hfd eki M urata; Masao Kono; Je f f Moore; August Ragone; T i s e Va -h imagi ; Patr i c Scott o f C inema In terna t iona l Corpor a t ion , Eng l and; Roger A l l i so n; Tet suo Ueda o f Toho C o . , L t d . , L osAngeles ; Hiroyuk i Chu jo of Shoch iku Co. , L t d . , Japan; Kaori Yamaguch i o f Da ie i Mot ion P ic ture Co ., L td . , Japan; Nippon Herald Fi lm s; Doug Pelt on; Werner Lehman; B i l l Gudmundsun; Noboru Tsubur aya of Tsu buraya Producti on C o. , Lt d. ,Japan; Tamotsu Higuchi of Toei Co., L td . , New York ; Worl dv is i on Enterp r is es , Inc . ; Hammer F i lm s, Inc . , Eng land;Walter Newk irk o f C inema Shares In t ernat iona l D is t r ib u t i on Corpo ra t io n ; Lawrence Steven Meyers o f JAD F i lms In t ernat i ona l , In c . ; Sanny Kao o f Eas tern Media In c . , Taiwan; Margaret Cheung of Shaw Bros., Hong Kong. DEDICATION ofthis issue goes to a r t i s t Tim Johnson whose ta len t {and patien ce) broug ht new l i f e t o th i s p u b l i c a t i o n . G ra t i tu d e i s

a lso ex tended to Hiroyuk i Chu jo o f Shoch iku , Pa tr i c Scott o f C inema In ter nat io na l Corpora t i on and Tetsuzo Ueda forth ei r gra cious assi stan ce toward producing th is issue of the Japanese Fantasy Film Jou rn al . And to my Toledo f ri en ds.

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INNERVIEWT O ^ / O FILM FIRMMAKES A MCK O UOF TURNING PROFIT

H a v i n g assumed the p re s id enc yo f T s u b u r a y a P r o d u c t i o n s o n t h edeath on h i s fa th er (who found ed th eo r g a n i z a t i o n ) , Noboru T s u b u r a y a ,w h i l e m a i n t a i n i n g t h e c o m p a n y ' simage as a leader in the f i e l d o fs p e c i a l e f f e c t s , i s a l s o i n v o l v e din t he p roduc t i on and d i s t r i b u t i o no f t h e a t r i c a l a nd T V f i l m s , a s w e l las c o m m e r c i a l s .

T s u b u r a y a a c h i e v e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l p rominence w i t h t he spe c ia l e f f e c t s f o r GODZILLA, and s ince t h a tt ime has made a sp ec ia l t y o f m i n i a ture work and t r i c k p h o t o g r a p h y . A -mong i t s ach i eve men ts in the f orm erc a t e g o r y is a 180 f o o t mons te r de s t r o y i n g h i g h - r i s e b u i l d i n g s ; a t i da l w ave tu rn in g ov e r bo a t s ; ane a r t h q u a k e c a u s i n g t h e c o l l a p s e o fe l e v a te d f r e e w a y s ; l a r g e r - t h a n - l i f ef o r m a ti o n f l i g h t s , w i t h v i v a c i o u sd o g - f i g h t s ; o v e r t u r n i n g o f t h e " b u l l e t " t r a i n t r a v e l i n g a t 3 2 0 m . p . h . ;and ae ros pace sequences fe a t u r i n ga r t i f i c i a l s a t e l l i t e s w i t h s p ac es h i p s a n d r o c k e t s .

I n t he f i e l d o f t r i c k c a m e r a w o r k , T s u b u r a y a ' s r e c e n t e f f e c t s i n c lu de a t r a ns pa re n t man , w hose s u i ton ly i s v i s i b l e , bu t w ho smokes ac i g a r e t t e ; t r a n s f o r m i n g a man ofno rma l s i z e e i t h e r t o 3 i nch es o r

100 feet t a l l , as w e l l as c r ea t i nga l i q u i d man and gas man, the l a t t e rab le t o su f f oca te t he enemy.

As a n a d j u n c t , T s u b u r a y a usesa mat te p roc ess t o mar r y spe c ia l e f f e c t s w i t h n or ma l l i v e - a c t i o n , w h i l ein an im a t io n has pe r f ec te d t he m ix i n g o f s t o p - a c t i o n w i t h c o n v e n t i o n a la n i m a t i o n .

R e c e n t l y , T s u b u r a y a w a s i n v o l ve d w i t h R a n k i n / B a s s P r o d u c t i o n s i nt h e f i l m i n g of THE LAST DINOSAUR.Company 's e x p o r t m a r k e t s i n c l u d e , a -s ide f r om Japan and Sou theas t A s i a ,A m e r i c a , L a t i n A m e r i c a a n d E u r o p e .(A r ep r i n t f rom th e May 4, 1977 i s

sue o f V a r i e t y )

JAPANESE MAN ISFULL ORCHESTIRAWHEN AT HIS M O O GSYNTHESIZER

A c o n v e r s a t i o n b e t w e e n t h ew o r l d o f t h e s p i r i t s a n d t h e r e a lw o r l d : t h a t ' s how I sao Tomi ta de

sc r i bes t he mus ic he c rea tes on ane l e c t r i c s y n t h e s i z e r . He h as e me rg edas p e r h a ps t h e w o r l d ' s l e a d i n g u s e ro f th e s y n t h e s i z e r , a n i n c r e a s i n g l yp o p u l a r d e v i c e t h a t can be p rog rammed to sound l i k e d i f f e r e n t o r c h e s t r a i n s t r u m e n t s . R oc k g r o u p s e s p e c i a l l y h a v e t a k e n t o u s i n g s y n t h e s i z e r s b e c a u s e t h e y o f t e n l i k e t h es p e c i a l " e d g y " q u a l i t y i t c r e a t e sbe t t e r t han the r e a l sound o f t hei n s t r u m e n t b e i n g i m i t a t e d .

T o m i t a works with a Moog s y n t h e s i z e r , named a f t e r th e man whodev elo ped i t . From the musi c o f Deb u s s y , M o u s so r g s k y a nd S t r a v i n s k y ,he p roduces p i t ch es , comb ines t hem,bu i l ds up ha rmony and rh y t hm , andf i n a l l y c r e a t e s sy m p ho n ic m u s i c .

Th e Moog, th e most pop ula r o ft h e s y n t h e s i z e r s , h as a s h o r t p i a nok e y b o a r d a t t a c h e d t o a d e v i c e t h a tl o o k s l i k e an o l d - f a s h i o n e d t e l e phone sw i t c hb oa rd . When th e sy n t he s i z e r is progra mmed to sou nd l i k e asa xo p h o n e , t r ump e t o r any o t he r i n s t r u m e n t , p l a y i n g t h e k e y b o a r d p r o duces the sound of t h a t i n s t r u m e n t .T ape r e co rd e r s a re used to comb inethe sounds o f each i ns t r u men t i n to 'm u s i c a l c o m p o s i t i o n s .

" T h e s y n t h e s i z e r i s l i k e an a r t i s t ' s p a l e t t e , " T o m i t a s a y s . "Mus icup to now has had d e f i n i t e c o l o r s —t h e v i o l i n , t r u m p e t , an d o t h e r i n s t r u m e n t s . B u t t h e s y n t h e s i z e rd o e s n ' t h a v e l i m i t s . T h e r e are nod e f i n i t e sound s . You c r ea te t hesounds you have i n you r m ind , " hes a i d .

The 4 4 - y e a r - o l d T o m i t a ' s c o m p o s i t i on s a re used as backg ro und mus ic

in many Japanes e mov ies and t e l e v i s ion programs (an example of h i s f an t a s y w ork be ing t he sco re t o T o h o ' sCATASTROPHE 1999 a nd t e l e v i s i o n ' sKIMBA TH E WHITE L I O N ) . He beg an top l a y c l a s s i c a l m u s i c t h r o u g h a s y n t h e s i z e r f ou r yea rs ago , and has p ro duced three a lbums whose t o t a l s a l e sapproach one m i l l i o n r e c o r d s .

T o m i t a r e c e n t l y r e t u r n e d fr o mh i s f i r s t c o n c e r t t o u r , d u r i n g w h i c hhe gave n in e con ce r t s in West G e r many, H o l l a n d a n d B r i t a i n . " A c o n c e r t o f s y n t h e s i z e d m u s i c i s a k i n do f scu l p t u r e mu s i c , " he sa i d i n ani n t e r v i e w . " U s u a l l y , c o n c e r t s c om ef rom th e s ta ge . Fo r me , t he w ho leth ea te r i s t he p lace w her e t h e mus icmust come f ro m and th er e are spe ake r s even beh ind t h e aud ie nce . Soundsmove near you and aw ay f r om you . "

I t ta kes Tomi ta a month to pr od uc e f i v e m i n u t e s o f s y n t h e s i z e d m u s i c . So on h i s con ce r t to ur he usedtapes of sounds made in T o k y o , an dmixed them on stage through the useo f f o u r s p e a k e r s .

"Mos t peop le l i s t en t o mus icf rom two smal l spe ake rs in a smal lroom, w h ich i s l i k e l o o k i n g at a phot o g r a p h o f a g i a n t p a i n t i n g .

"I want to produce sound on al a r g e s c a l e , " h e s a i d .

H i s 10 - by - 12 - f oo t s t u d i o , aroom in the apar t ment wher e he l i v e sw i t h h i s w i f e a n d t wo c h i l d r e n , i sf i l l e d w i t h $150,000 wo r t h of soundand music equ ipme nt . T h e r e he isw o r k i n g o n h i s f o u r t h a l b u m , w h i c hhe hopes to f i n i s h by December .

He i s a so f t -s po ke n man who isa t r a d i t i o n a l Japane se i n h i s l ov e

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INNERVIEWo f t h e o l d Ja p a n e se t h e a t e r e n t e r ta i nm ent of Kabuki and Noh drama. Asa n a r t h i s t o r y s t u d e n t , he s t u d i e dco m po s ing t h r o u g h a co u r s e o f f e r e da t the YMCA a n d won r e co g n i t i o n f o rsome o f h is w orks wh i le s t i l l a s t u

den t . He f i r s t l e a r n e d o f t h e s y n t h e s i z e r in 1969 from th e re co rd j a c k e t o f " S w i t c h e d - O n - B a c h , " a n A -mer ican a lbum t h a t helped make thenew e l e c t r i c i n s t r u m e n t p o p u l a r . I tt o o k T o m i t a t wo ye a r s o f se a r ch in gt o f i n d a s y n t h e s i z e r a t a J a p a n e s et r ad in g company and tu rn h is c ar ee ri n a ne w d i r e c t i o n .

"I am s t i l l i n th e s tage o f e xp e r i m e n t i n g . A s i n p a i n t i n g o r s c u l p t u r e , t h e r e a r e no l i m i t a t i o n s . I fth e sounds I hav e in my mind can notb e p r o d u ce d , t h e y m u s t b e c r e a t e d .

" I c o n s i d e r m y s e l f a p l a y e r ,co m p o se r a n d a r r a n g e r . T h e r e ha sbeen a c o n t i n u i n g d i v i s i o n o f l a b o ri n t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f m u s i c . I f e e l Iam go ing back to the s t y l e o f th eo ld mus ic ians who p layed and sang byt h e m s e l v e s , w i t h o u t t h e c o l l a b o r a t i o n of many peop le .

" S t r a v i n s k y ' s ' F i r e b i r d ' , f o re x a m p l e , wo u ld r e q u i r e a 70- to-100-p i e c e o r c h e s t r a , b u t w i t h t h e s y n t h e s i z e r , these sounds can be prod u ce d b y o n e p e r so n . "

W i t h a co n t r a c t t o p r o du ce f i v emore a lbums, Tomi ta sa id he w i l l bebus y i n h i s s t u d i o f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s .T h e r e w i l l be a l i t t l e t ime to goswimming and horseback r i d i n g butn o t , he r e g r e t t e d , e n ou g h t im e t o

s t u d y E n g l i s h .(A r e p r i n t o f a K a t h r y n T o l b e r t a r t i c l e f ro m the Oc to be r 5, 1976 is su eo f t h e T o le d o B la d e )

500 f e e t , f l i e s f a s t e r t h a n t h espeed o f sou nd , and is immune to a r -t i l l a r y f i r e . I n s t ea d o f k i l l i n g t h em o n s t e r , t h e b e s t t h a t can be managed is to wa l l i t up in s i de a vo l can o

Even though peop le a t te mpt to

d e s t r o y Rodan, th er e is an i m p l i c i tres pec t fo r h im and what he s tandsf o r . Ra t h e r t h a n a s se r t i n g m a n ' sm a s t e r y o v e r n a t u r e , e ve n i n i t sm os t " p r i m i t i v e " f o r m s , t h e b e s t w ecan manage is to sweep i t und er t herug f ro m wh i ch a t any t ime i t m ig h tr e t u r n ( i n t h e i n e v i t a b l e s e q u e l )to haunt us once aga in .

In GODZILLA VS. THE T H IN G comme rc ia l i sm i s exp ose d. A huge eggwashes up on the beach o f a f i sh in gv i l l a g e a f t e r a s t o r m . L o c al e n t r e -peneurs c l a i m i t and be g in b u i l d i n gan amusement park ar ou nd i t . As ac o i n c i d e n c e , t h e s t o r m a l s o r e v i v e sG o d z i l l a who se t s a b o u t t h e u n f i n

i s h e d b u s i n e s s o f d e s t r o y i n g J a p a n .As i t t u r n s o u t , t h e e gg i s a c t u a l l yowned b y a " p r i m i t i v e " t r i b e l i v i n gon an a t o l l once used i n , you gue ssed i t , a n a t o m ic t e s t . Wa n t i n g t h ee gg b a ck , t h e t r i b e , t h r o u g h t h e u seo f m a g i c , se t s M o t h r a ( a l so r e f e r r e dto as The T h i n g ) upon th e home i s l a n d s . Onl y when th ey a re ass ure d o fthe re tu rn o f the egg do they agreet o c l o s e r an k s w i t h c i v i l i z a t i o nand or de r Mothr a t o at ta ck Godzi11 a.Mothra loses the b a t t l e w i t h G o d z i l l a , b u t t h e e gg h a t c h e s , r e l e a s i n gtwo huge s i l k worms who spin a deadl y c o co o n a r o u nd G o d z i l l a .

Co m m e r c i a l i sm , a s t h e r o o tcause of th e sudden appeara nce o ft h e m o n s t e r s , i s r e v e a l e d i n a l l i t sm a t e r i a l c r a s sn e s s . No t o n l y do t h ec a p i t a l i s t s b r u t a l i z e n a t u r e , b utt h e y l i e , b e a t u p n e wsp a p e r p e o p le ,

and murd er , a l l fo r the sake o f thea lm i g h t y ye n . O n l y t h r o u g h t h e m a g i c a l , n o n - t e c h n i c a l i n t e r v e n t i o n o ft h e t r i b a l i s l a n d e r s , i s t h e t h r e a tt o s o c i e t y a t t e n u a t e d .(A r e p r i n t o f a M a r t i n C h o r i c h a r t i c l e f rom the Ap r i l 25 , 1974 is su e o ft h e UCSB D a i l y Nexus)

THE BIGGER THEMONSTER THE

hWDER IT FALLSAcco r d i n g t o Ja p a n e se l e g e n d( o r a t l e a s t a cco r d i n g t o t h e J a p a nese l e g e n d s I r e ce i ve i n t h e m a i lf r o m p r e ss a g e n t s ) , G o d z i l l a wa s ap r e h i s t o r i c m o n s t e r who s t o o d 4 00f e e t t a l l and was not to be messedw i t h . I b e l i e v e i t . A m o n s t e r t h eh e i g h t o f a 3 8 - s t o r y b u i l d i n g wi t h ag o o d - s i z e d f o y e r c a n b e i n t i m i d a t i n g .T a l k al l yo u want about King Kongc l im b i n g t h e Em p i r e S t a t e Bu i l d i n g ;i t p r o b a b l y wo u ld n ' t e ve n h o ld Godz i l l a .

Th e w ay I f i g u r e i t , G o d z i l l acou ld s tand wi th one fo o t on the

MONSTER FILMSIMPRESS SENSE OFEXISTENTIALISM

I . . . h a d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o s eet h e f i r s t f e s t i v a l o f m o n s t e r f i l m s

l a s t F r i d a y n i g h t . B u t i n s t e a d o ff i n d i n g my inhuman heroes faded andl e s s c o n v i n c i n g s i n c e t h e S a t u r d a ya f te rno ons o f my yo u t h , I was i f any t h i n g more awed and impressed witht h e s e n s e o f a p o c a l y p t i c e x i s t e n t i a l i sm t h a t runs th roug h even the mostc r a s s co m m er c i a l e f f o r t s o f Ja p a n e s ec in e m a .

I n RODAN man is the v i c t i m o fh i s o wn m is t a k e s . A t o m ic t e s t i n g h asca u se d t h e r e - e m e r g e n ce o f a g i a n tp t e r o d a c t y l . B u t t h e m o n s t e r , i n s te ad o f impre ss i ng us wi th h is p r i m-i t i v i s m , h a s t r a i t s wh ich o n l y u n d e r l i n e t h e p u n in e ss o f h uma n t e ch no lo gy . I t has a w ings pan o f ov er

5



INNERYiEWHancock and the o ther on the SearsTower and mess up TV re ce pt io n a l lthe way to Lake G e n e v a , Wis . ( wh e r et h e U . S . C o n s t i t u t i o n g u a r a n t e e sy o u r r i g h t t o se e t o p le ss a nd b o t t o m l e s s g o - g o d a n ce r s , by t h e wa y , a l

t h o u g h I ' ve a lwa ys t h o u g h t t h a t ag o - g o dancer w i thou t her top andb o t t o m wo u ld h a r d l y be wo r t h t h ed r i v e t o W i s c o n s i n ) .

The o r i g i n a l G o d z i l l a l a y d o r mant fo r a long t im e, acc ord in g tosom e f i g u r e s I ' ve j o t t e d down here .I f yo u r e cko n t h a t t im e began at 3a.m. on March 28, 4004 B . C . , w h i c hi s t h e m o s t w i d e l y q u o t e d f i g u r e ,then God z i l l a was sacked ou t on theo ce a n f l o o r f o r m ayb e 5,959 y e a r sb e f o r e r a d i a t i o n f r o m H -b om b e x p e r i ments reac t iva ted h im in 1955. Hemade i t to th e su r f ac e j u s t in t imet o s t a r i n GODZILLA whic h tu rn s upo n " C r e a t u r e F e a t u r e s " e v e r y now and

t h e n .

T o b e s u r e , e v e n t h e o r i g i n a lG o d z i l l a h a r d l y l o o k e d 400 f e e t t a l l ,b u t t h e n p e r h a ps h e wa sn ' t Sa n f o r i z e d . He made a lo t of money an yw ay ,and re tu rn ed i n 1956 in GODZILLA ,KING OF THE MONSTERS, a f i l m w h i c hRaymond Bu r r ho p es yo u h a ve f o r g o t t e n h e s t a r r e d i n . G o d z i l l a cam ew i t h i n a w h i s k e r o f d e s t r o y i n g Tokyoi n t h a t o n e , b e f o r e he was o u t w i t t e dby a com bin a t i on o f human courag ea nd s c i e n t i f i c c u n n i n g , a s t h e y s a y .

De sp i t e t h e p r o m is i n g l i t t l ef i l m c a r e e r t h a t seemed to be sha pi n g u p f o r h im , G o d z i l l a t u r n e d o u t

t o be m a r ked f o r t r a g e d y . Be in g p r e h i s t o r i c a nd a l l , h e a p p a r e n t l ys h a r e d w i t h t h e b o t u l i s m b a c t e r i a at e n d e n cy t o sh r i n k u p on co n t a c t w i t ha i r . He was ba re ly 30 fe e t t a l l whenhe ba t t le d King Kong a few ye ar s l a t e r , and by the t im e he made GODZILLA VS. THE THING i n 1964, he was onthe wrong side of 10 feet and hadbeen reduced to b a t t l i n g a g r e e n -eyed b ee w h o se c h i l d r e n s q u i r t e ds p i d e r - w e b j u i c e a l l o v e r h i m . I twas not the f i r s t t im e m o v ie b u f f sh ad w i t n e s s e d t he d i s i n t e g r a t i o n o fa s ta r , b u t i t was one o f th e sadd e s t . They say the b ig f a l l h a r d ,b ut h e l l . . .

A n y w a y , G o d z i l l a w e n t i n t o r e t i rement a f te r h is 1964 comeback,r e n t e d a l i t t l e co t t ag e on one o ft h e sm a l l e r Ja p a n e se i s l a n d s a n dm a r r i e d a cu t e l i t t l e r o c k l o b s t e r -t a i l f r o m S o u th A f r i c a . H i s f r i e n d swo u ld r e ce i v e Ch r i s t m a s ca r d s f r o mhim, and t h a t wa s t h a t .

In the meant ime, as you mayhave he ar d , t he Ja pan ese economy wasc l i m b i n g to d i z z y i n g h e i g h t s . I n s p i r e d p r o b a b l y b y t h e e f f o r t n e c e s s a r y t o r e b u i l d T o k y o and house i t s6 m i l l i o n i n h a b i t a n t s a f t e r G o d z i l l ar a z e d t h e c i t y , t h e J a p a n e s e g o t i n t o i n d u s t r y an d b e g a n t u r n i n g o u t

c a r s , t r a n s i s t o r s , p o p - u p t o a s t e r s ,t h e wo r k s . Bu t t h e n P r e s i d e n t N i x o nd e v a l u e d t h e d o l l a r , s l a p p e d i m p o r tt a x e s o n e v e r y t h i n g a nd d e a l t t h eJ apanes e economy a body blow. And soI suppo se we can p ro bab ly tha nk Mr .

N i x o n f o r G o d z i l l a ' s f i n a l comebacka t t e m p t , GODZILLA 'S REVENGE.

The t i r e d , o l d m o n s t e r , w h ow i l l n e ve r se e 6,000 aga in , came ou to f r e t i r e m e n t t o ma ke o n e l a s t m o v i e .I t wa s s o r t o f h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n t ot h e Ja p a n e se e x p o r t q u o t a , a n d soI suppose we sh ou ld n ' t ju dge h im tooh a r s h l y .

T h i s t ime he 's on ly about 6f e e t 7 i n ch e s t a l l , g o od e n o ug h f o rth e NBA bu t no matc h fo r K ing Ko ng.W h a t ' s w o r s e , he e x i s t s o n l y i n ach i l d ' s d r e a m . He l i ve s on M o n s t e rIs land , wh ich can be reached by aPan A m e r i c a n f l i g h t , and sadness hasc r e p t i n t o h i s o l d a g e . O n ce G o d z i l

l a co u ld d e s t r o y wh o le su p e r m a r ke t sw i t h h i s f i e r y - h o t b r e a t h , b u t h ef a t h e r e d a s o n l a t e i n l i f e , a ndG o d z i l l a J r . ca n o n l y p r o d u ce sm o ke -r i n g s . T h i s ca u se s G o d z i l l a n o e n do f d i s t r e s s , an d h e i n f o r m s h i s o f f s p r i n g t h a t h e ' d b e t t e r sh a p e u p .The k i d t r i e s , b u t ha s n o l u ck u n t i lG o d z i l l a s teps on h is t a i l one day .Then j u n i o r l e t s l o o s e w i t h a m i g h t yb l a s t t h a t p a r b o i l s a c r a b , a n d t h em o v ie e nd s h a p p i l y w i t h f a t h e r p a t t i n g son on the head.

I t h i n k t h a t ' s g r e a t , d o n ' ty o u , what wi th so many mov ies bei ngdownbeat these days?

(A r e p r i n t o f a R o g er E b e r t a r t i c l efrom th e Ja nu ar y 13, 1972 is su e oft h e Ch i ca g o Su n - T im e s )

HEY! THAT MONSTERSPEAKS ENGLISH!

Anyone who 's been here in Japan

fo r any le ng th o f t ime a t a l l knowst h a t John Wayne sp e a ks f l u e n t J a p a nes e . T hey k no w t h i s b e c a u s e t h e y ' v ehear d h im wi th th e i r own ears as hes tumps across the screen in any numb e r o f o l d Ho l l y wo o d sh o o t - ' e m - u p so n Ja p a n ' s u b iq u i t o u s b o ob t u b e .I t ' s p r o b a b l y s a f e t o s a y , t h o u g h ,t ha t n o t t o o m an y g a i j i n u n d e r s t a n dwhat "Beeg J aw n" i s a c t u a l l y s a y i n gin Ja pa nes e, any more than t hey u nders tand jus t how, as Mr . Wayne h im se l f m ig h t p u t i t , h e l e a r n e d i t sogood .

The se c r e t wo r d i s d u b b in g ,w i t h t h e ve r b " d u b " a p p a r e n t l y d e r i ve d f r o m " d o u b le , " m e a n in g a su b s t i t u t e a c t o r o r s i n g e r . A n d t h a t ,o f co u r se , i s e x a c t l y wh a t d u b b e r sd o — t h e y s u b s t i t u t e t h e i r v o i c e s f o rt h e vo i c e s o f t h e a c t o r s an d a c t r e s ses who a p p e a r i n t h e o r i g i n a l f i lm ,w h e t h e r t ha t f i l m be in F r e n c h , E n g l i s h , J a p a ne s e o r U r d u .

Un d e r s t a n d a b l y , m o st o f t h edubbin g being done in Japan is f r oma f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e i n t o J a p a n e s e —p r i m a r i l y f o r J a pa n es e t e l e v i s i o n —but there is a t leas t one g roup o fp r o f e s s i o n a l a m a t eu r s who r e g u l a r l yd ub Ja p a n e se f e a t u r e f i lm s i n t o Engl i s h f o r e x p o r t t o a d o z e n c o u n t r i e s .

Now " p r o f e s s i o n a l a m a t e u r s "

migh t sound l i k e a c o n t r a d i c t i o n i nt e r m s , b u t i t ' s a c t u a l l y a p r e t t yg o od d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e t a l e n t e dg a i j i n who ho l d down f u l l - t i m e j o b s

/ _ y t f V . >.*

6



INNERVIEWh e r e i n T o k y o y e t spend many a l ong

weekend i n some d i m l y - l i t s t u d i o —in h a p py a n o n ym i t y—m a t c h in g t h e i rv o i c e s and E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e d i a l ogt o t h e l i p movements o f Ja p a n ' s m o s t

f a m o u s m o v ie s t a r s .The f i r s t J a p a n e s e f i l m e v e r

dubbed i n t o E n g l i s h h e r e i n Ja p a n wasan underwhe lming Toho comedy ca l ledTHREE DOLLS IN COLLEGE t ha t was dubbe d at the o l d Ao i s t u d i o i n T a m e ikei n O c t o b e r , 1959, and t h r e e of theg a i j i n who h e lp e d t o make c inemat ich i s t o r y w i t h t h a t p i o n e e r i n g e f f o r ta r e s t i l l l i v i n g i n T o k y o — S a n d r aMor i , Car l Hansen an d B i l l R o s s .

Time marches on , and th e doyeno f t h e dubbers here i n T o k y o t o d a yi s t n a t same B i l l R o s s , whose F r o n t i e r E n t e r p r i s e s is the only companyi n J a p a n t h a t ' s r e g u l a r l y e ng a ge d i n

the dubb ing o f Ja p a n e se f i lm s i n t oE n g l i s h . Ross r e c e n t l y f i n i s h e d h i s361st f i l m — w h i c h has go t to be somet h i n g o f a r e c o r d — a - T o e i f e a t u r et h a t i n v o l v e s t h e r a v e n o u s a c t i v i t i e so f a p r e h i s t o r i c m o n s t e r w ho s u d de n l ymakes t h e sce n e i n the shadow of Mt.F u j i ( w h i c h , o f c o u r s e , e r u p t s i nt h e g r a n d e f i n a l e ) an d p r o ce e d s t ot u r n a happy summer o u t i n g i n t o ak i n d o f p l e s i o s a u r i a n f r e e l u n c h .

I t ' s a good t h i n g Ross p r o v i d e sh i s d u b b e r s w i t h an ample supp ly o fcough drops ( i n a d d i t i o n t o b a g f u l so f Bi g Macs an d g a l l o n s o f c o f f e e )because they had t o wade th rough anE n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e s c r i p t f o r TH E MONSTER FROM F U J I (which has been titled

LEGEND OF DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS

for English-language release—Ed.)

t h a t was 10% p s u e d o - s c i e n t i f i c d i a l o g ( " Y o u m ea n, p r o f e s s o r " - - s l i g h tp a u s e — " i t w a s a M e so zo i c p t e r o d a c -t y l o i d ? " ) an d 90% a s s o r t e d g a s p s ,g u r g l e s an d screams o f t e r r o r . G a s p sa n d g u r g l e s a r e c h i l d ' s p l a y f o r t hep r o f e s s i o n a l d u b b e r , bu t sc r e a m in gf r o m 9 to 5 f o r two d a ys r u n n in g i sa l i c e n s e f o r l a r y n g i t i s .

But how do t h e y dub a f i l m ? Howdo they go about i t ? What do t h e ya c t u a l l y do?

O k a y , f i r s t o f a l l t he f i l m i sc u t i n t o as many as 200 p i e c e s , w i t hmost of the p ieces runn ing some 20o r 30 seconds o r l e s s , an d r a r e l yas much as a min ute . The ends o feach p iece a r e s p l i c e d t o g e t h e r t of o r m an e n d l e s s " l o o p " an d whent h e se l o o p s are put on the p r o j e c t o r , b e ca u se t h e y a r e l o o p s , t h e ykeep showing t h e same sh or t sceneo v e r and o v e r a g a i n u n t i l t h e a c t o r sa n d a c t r e s s e s i n the s t u d io h a vebeen able t o s y n c h r o n i z e t h e i r Engl i s h - l a n g u a g e d i a l og w i t h t h e l i pmovements on the s c r e e n .

Each a c t o r and a c t r e s s w o r k sf r o m a s c r i p t i n which each l i n e o f

d i a l og was c a r e f u l l y t i me d a g a i n s tt h e o r i g i n a l Ja p a n e se so u nd t r a ck -

For e xa m p le , an a c t o r in the o r i g i n a lf i l m m ig h t s a y " I k i m a s h o , " w h i c ht r a n s l a t e s as " L e t ' s g o . " H o w e v e r ," L e t ' s go " is not enough d i a l og t oc o m p l e t e l y c o v e r t h e mouth movements

o f " I k i m a s h i , " so the E n g l i s h d i a l ogw i l l be padded out as " A l r i g h t , l e t ' sgo" o r some such. A w e l l - t i m e d s c r i p ti s the key to a w e l l - d u b b e d f i l m , an dt h i s i n f i n i t e l y t e d i o u s job o f t i m i ngis done l ong b e f o r e t h e dubb ing i nt h e s t u d i o e v e r b e g i n s .

Good d u b b e r s a r e g e n e r a l l y e v e n -t e m p e r e d , w e l l - c o o r d i n a t e d p e o p l ewho wo u ld n ' t kn o w a n e r vo u s t a n t r u mi f t h e y had on e. T h e y ' v e got to be,b e ca u se t h e y ar e not o n l y r e q u i r e dto keep one e y e on t h e i r s c r i p t ,they have t o keep t h e o t h e r eye ont h e sc r e e n and at l e a s t one ear

t u n e d to the o r i g i n a l s o u nd t r a c kby way of a set o f headphones. T h i ssometimes makes f o r a p r e t t y n e r v e -w r a c k i n g e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h e f i r s t -t i m e r .

L i k e e v e r y t h i n g e l s e c o n n e c t e dwi th mak ing mov ies , dubb ing is an ex-e r c i s e i n o r g a n i z e d c o n f u s i o n , ak i n d o f c o n t r o l l e d c h a o s , and th e i n -d i v i d u a l d u b b e r s , s e e i n g o n l y s h o r tb i t s an d p i e c e s o f f i l m , r a r e l y k n o wwhat i t ' s a l l a b o u t , an d t h o s e wh oa t t e n d t h e s c r e e n i n g o f the c o m p l e t ed f i l m a r e g e n e r a l l y i n f o r someb i g s u r p r i s e s . Not the l e a s t o ft h e s e s u r p r i s e s is the sound o ft h e i r own vo ice coming f rom t hemouth o f a J a p a n e s e f i l m s t a r .(A r e p r i n t o f a E l l i o t R a n k i n a r t i c l e f r o m t h e Ja p a n T i me s )

7





ORIENT EXPRESS

ithe .

pnoenix"H e w ho de s i r es t o pos s es s ev e r y t h i ng m ust l e a r n t o

b e c o n t e n t w i t h n o t h i n g . " T h i s h o m i l y o u t o f a n t i q u i t y ,a u t h e n t i c o r f a b r i c a t e d , i s t h e c a t c h - p h r a s e us e d b y p r o ducer Frank Wong fo r h is p ic tu re THE PH OEN IX , a 1979 f a n t a s y p e r i o d - f i l m f r o m T a i w a n now a v a i l a b l e f o r r e l e a s e i nt he F a r E as t by i t s p r odu c t i o n s t u d i o , E a s t e r n M edi a F i l mP r o d u c t i o n ( H . K . ) L t d . , w i t h w o r l d s a l e s e l s e w h e r e h a n d l e d b y J A D I n t e r n a t i o n a l , L t d . o f New Y o r k .

F . K e nn e th L i n ' s s c r e e n p l a y d e t a i l s t h e a d v e n t u r e so f T y , a p e n n i l e s s - f i s h e r m a n - t u r n e d - w e a l t h y - b u s i n e s s m a ndue to h is d is co ve ry o f the Magic Bro nze Pot and theeq ua l l y magica l Bamboo Book . Both ob je c t s are the lu c r es ough t by t he ev i l F l ow er F o x . She h as t r a v e l e d f a r f r o mher home in spac e to s te al them f o r th ey w i l l a i d he r i nhe r de s i re t o c on t ro l t he un i v e r s e . T y i s a i ded i n h i st r av a i l s by a m ag i c s w ord and a g i an t , m y t h o l o g i c a l b i r dc a l l ed t he P hoen i x as he f ac es Gras s hoppe r , F l ow er F o x ' sg u a r d i a n , a g i a n t t i d a l w a v e , and an eno rm ous w a r r i o rc rea t ed ou t o f s t one , t he l a t t e r two phenomenon both con

ju re d up by F low er Fox to s to p T y .

Ment ion mus t be made of the use o f p opu lar sc re env i l l a i n R i c h a r d K i e l as " G r a s s h o p p e r " w ho g u a r d s t h e r e m o te i s l an d upon w h i c h F l ow er F ox , p l ay e d by B e t t y N oon -a n , has ens c onc ed he rs e l f , and w ho ba t t l es t he da r i ngT y , es s a y ed by C ha r l es Lan g , i n h i s ques t t o rec ov e r t h edev i c es o f m ag i k .

A l s o no t a b l e i s t h e s e l e c t i o n o f S adam as a A r i k aw aas d i r e c t o r o f s p e c i a l v i s u a l e f f e c t s . C r e d i t e d a s " S am "A r i k aw a i n E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e p u b l i c i t y , S a da m as a , k no wnm os t l y f o r h i s w o rk w i t h f o rm e r em p l o y e r Toho I n t e r n a t i o n a l o f J a p a n , i s a l s o l i s t e d a s c o - d i r e c t o r w i t hR i c h a r d C aan .

T he 92 m i nu t e f i l m , pho t og r aphed by M i c hae l T om i ok a

i n E as t m anc o l o r and quad ro phon i c s ound , f e a t u re s a s c o reby L a w r e n c e B o r d e n .

L E F T : P u b l i c i t y a r t f o r T HE PHOENIX r ende red by t he v e r yt a l e n t e d f a n t a s y a r t i s t , B o r i s V a l l e j o . I n s e t t o p : R i c h a rd K i e l , m o re re c e n t l y k now n as " J a w s " in two James Bondf i l m s , p l a y s " G r a s s h o p p e r , " g u a r d i a n o f t h e f i l m ' s v i l -l a i n e s s . I n s e t b o t t o m : C h a r l e s L a n g a s t h e f i l m ' s p r o t a g o n i s t " T y , " h e r e b e in g s e d u c ed b y F l o w e r F o x ' s a g e n t sse nt to s te a l f ro m h im the Magic Bro nze Pot whi ch canp roduc e any t h i ng as k ed o f i t . RIGHT TO P: Th e end of theg i an t s t one w a r r i o r comm anded by F l ow er F ox t o t h w ar t T y .RIGHT MIDDLE: T y r i d i n g i n t he c l aw o f t he P hoe n i x , a g i g a n t i c b i r d u n d e r h i s i n f l u e n c e , k n ow l e d g e g a i n e d f r o mthe Bamboo Book , anot he r magica l d ev ic e whi ch so lv es a l lp r o b l e m s . N ot e w i r e s s u p p o r t i n g t h e a c t o r . RIGHT BOTTOM:

The f l y i n g s e d u c t r e s s e s o f t h e e v i l F l o w e r F o x .





DAB: A HISTORY OF THE GREATERJAPAN MOTION PICTURE COMPANY

Daiei's career has not been an uneventful one. Nor has

its former president, Masaichi Nagata, been idle in af

fecting thestudio 's uneven course. In this issue we pre

sent our look at the Daiei film factory beginning with

Nagata's earliest dealings prior to thestudio's forma

tion up to the company's revival in 1974 following Daiei's

197:1 bankruptcy closing. A filmography of Daiei's SF,

fantasy and horror motion pictures will be presented in

the second and concluding portion of this article to be

printed in a future issue.

I n 1933 N i k k a t s u , i n a move t o e n l a r g e i t s f a c i l i t i e s , s ho p pe d s e v e r a l T ok y o s t u d i o s i t e s , f i n a l l y p u r c h a s i n g Tamagawa, an i n de p en d en t r e c e n t l y f a i l e d , b u i l d i ng ad d i t i o na l s ound s t ag es at the s i t e as w e l l . T h i sa c t i v i t y w o r r i e d S h o c h ik u who d e c i d e d t h a t a second subs i d i a r y , i n a d d i t i o n t o i t s r e c e n t l y o r g a n i z e d S h i n k o ,w ou l d be f o rm ed t o i n s u r e i t s r i v a l ' s f a i l u r e . W i th i n am o n t h D a i - I c h i E i g a was f o r m e d , and M as a i c h i N aga t a b e-

came i t s nomina l head.N a g a t a , who had e n t e r e d N i k k a t s u as a s t u d i o g u i d e

i n 1924, e v e n t u a l l y was to spend t e n y e a r s w i t h t h e company and become manager of the p r o d u c t i o n and s c e n a r i odepa r t m en t of the s t u d i o ' s new Tamagawa p r o d u c t i o n h o u s e .He wa s among those t o f o r c e N i k k a t s u ' s l o n g - t i m e p r e s i d e n tt o r e s i g n i n a p l an t o b r e a k t h e c o m pa n y ' s " f e u d a l i s t i c "p r a c t i c e s . Th e new p r e s i d e n t t h e n b e g a n a c o m p l e t e r e n o v a t i o n by f i r i n g a number o f p e o p l e . I n the m i d s t o f a l lt he c om m ot i on N aga t a res i gned . A pa r t f r om t h e f a c t t h a the was d i s p l e a s e d w i t h t h e f i r i n g o f v e t e r a n p e r s o n n e l ,he was a l s o e m bar ras s ed w hen the new p r e s i d e n t f o u n df a u l t w i t h a n a r r a t i o n he had w r i t t e n f o r a f i l m and

d i s a p p r o v e d o f s u d d e n d i c t a t e s to do a f i l m " i n 20 day sa nd e i g h t - t h o u s a n d f e e t " w i t h o u t c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f o t h e rf a c t o r s . T h e s e w e r e t h e r e a s o n s N ag a t a o f f e r e d t h enew s pape rs .

N i k k a t s u t o l d t h e p r i n t media a d i f f e r e n t s t o r y ,s a y i n g t h a t N aga t a ha d r e s i g n e d b e c a u s e he had h e a r d t h a tt h e s t u d i o wa s i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h e r e p o r t o f h i s h a v i n ga c c e p t e d a b r i b e . A c c o r d i n g t o N i k k a t s u a c c o u n t s , i t wasl a t e r " p r o v e d " t h a t N aga t a ha d r e c e i v e d a $20 t h o u s a n db r i b e f r o m S h o c h i k u t o s a b o t a g e p r o d u c t i o n a t N i k k a t s u ' snew T ok y o s t u d i o s . A m i d a l l t h e money t a l k i t was a s c e r t a i n e d t h a t a p a r t of th e sum needed f o r f o r m i n g D a i - I c h iE i g a came from an e x c l u s i v e E n g l i s h s c h o o l f o r c h i l d r e no f t h e K y o t o e l i t e r un by N a g a t a ' s w i f e , but j u s t w h e r et he rem a i nde r c am e f rom w en t und e t e r m i n ed . D a i - I c h i E i g aw o u l d f a i l i n 1936 an d w i t h i t a l l o f S h o c h i k u ' s h o p e so f e s t a b l i s h i n g i t s own t i g h t l y c o n t r o l l e d d i s t r i b u t i o ns y s t e m .

T h e y e a r 1941 a r r i v e d , d a r k e n e d by a g o v e r n m e n t a l

d e c r e e t h a t t he ten m a j o r J a p a n e s e f i l m companies mergei n t o t w o . T h e c o n s o l i d a t i o n was a w a r - t i m e m a n e u v e r d e -s i g n e d t o make e a s i e r i n d u s t r y c o n t r o l . As raw f i l ms t o c k was a war m a t e r i a l , i t s a v a i l a b i l i t y t o the s t u d i o sdepended on t h e i r m a k i n g t h e k i n d o f p i c t u r e s t h e s t a t ere qu i r ed . T he announc em en t c r ea t e d m uc h m aneu v e r i ng asi n d u s t r y p e r s o n n e l f o r e s a w t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a r b i t r a r yadv anc em en t o r d e m o t i o n .

M as a i c h i N aga t a c l a i m ed t h a t t h e t w o - f i l m - c o m p a n i e sp l a n as d e s i g n e d by S h i ro K i do , head o f S h o c h i k u , was ameans t o c o n s o l i d a t e h i s pe rs ona l pow er an d S h o c h i k u ' ss t r e n g t h . T h i s s t a t em en t ende a red N aga t a t o c e r t a i n m e m b e r s o f t h e f i l m m ak i ng c om m un i t y who oppos ed t h e g o v e r n -

BY GREG SHOEMAKER

11



ment p lan , and they e lec ted h im to head a counte rmeasurecommi t tee s i n c e , i t was th ou gh t , as a Kyo t o man he cou ldt a ke a m o re a r g u m e n t a t i v e a t t i t u d e t h a n t h e T o k y o p e o p l ewh o h a d come i n t o d a i l y co n t a c t w i t h t h e g o ve r n m e n t ' sO f f i c e o f P u b l i c I n f o r m a t i o n . N a ga t a g l a d l y a c c e p t e d f o ru n d e r t h e o r i g i n a l t wo - co m p a ny p l a n t h e Sh in ko Kyo t os t u d io s wh i ch h e n ow h e a de d wo u ld b e c l o s e d , l e a v i n g h imu n e m p lo ye d .

I n h i s m em o i rs Sh i r o K id o co n f i r m e d t h e r i v a l r y b e t we e n h i m s e l f a n d N a g a t a , s a y i n g t h a t t h e l a t t e r was i nch r o n i c f e a r o f b e i n g su b o r d i n a t e t o so me o ne a n d h a d d i s l i k e d b e i n g u n d e r K i d o . " I t w as m o s t l y f a t e , n o t t a l e n t ,

t h a t made Nagata b i g . "To b a ck u p h i s d i s l i k e f o r t h e c o n s o l i d a t i o n p l a n o f

t h e g o v e r n m e n t , Na g a ta o f f e r e d u p a n a l t e r n a t i v e t h a two u ld c r e a t e t h r e e co m p a n ies i n s t e a d o f t wo . T h e O f f i ceo f P u b l i c I n f o r m a t i o n q u i c k l y r e a l i z e d t h a t t h i s n e w ,t h i r d company, composed o f f i rm s wi th weak management ,w o u l d h a v e no e s t a b l i s h e d e x e c u t i v e s t a f f t o o p p o se g o v e r n me n t p o l i c y , p r o v i d i n g t h e O f f i c e w i t h m a j o r c o n t r o lo v e r a new company t h a t w o ul d b e t r u l y " s e m i - o f f i c i a l . "N a g a t a ' s p l an w as q u i c k l y r a t i f i e d , a nd a l m o s t e v e r y o n ewa s c o n t e n t .

The e xce p t i o n wa s Kyu sa ku H o r i , h e ad o f N i k k a t s u .His s tu d i o , Sh in ko and Da i to were to be combined to fo r mD a i e i ( D a i - N i h o n E i g a , o r T h e G r e a t e r Ja p a n M o t i o n P i c t u r e Company) , wh ic h wo u ld m ake N i k ka t su i n c l u d e i t sl a r g e c h a i n o f t h e a t r e s i n t h e m e r g e r w i t h o u t r e c e i v i n ge q u i va l e n t c r e d i t f o r t h e s e a ss e t s as t h e m e r g e r wa s t obe made in te rm s o f p r od uc t i on f a c i l i t i e s a lo n e . I n a na t t e m p t t o sa l va g e h i s o wn co m p a n y , Ho r i e a r n e d t h e d i s p l e a s u r e o f t h e h i g h e r p o w e r s . When t h e t i m e a r r i v e d t o

j o i n a s s e t s , N i k k a t s u wa s p u r p o s e l y u n d e r v a l u e d , w h i l eSh inko was padded to the ex ten t t h a t i t became th e dom inan t company in the combin e . Sh in ko ' s new head foun d h isf i r m n ow w i t h t h e r e a l p o we r , a n d h e h i m s e l f co n se q u e n t l yi n t h e t o p p o s i t i o n . T h e co mp a ny h e a d wa s , o f co u r se ,Masa ich i Nag ata . Becaus e the boa rd cou ld no t dec i de on ap r e s i d e n t , Ma n ag i ng D i r e c t o r N a g at a w i l l i n g l y t o o k o n t h ee x t r a d u t i e s i n 1 94 2.

N i k k a t s u d i d n ot b ec om e c o m p l e t e l y d i s s o l u t e d f o rK y us ak u H o r i wa s a l l o w e d t o r e t a i n N i k k a t s u as a t h e a t r e -h o ld i n g co m p a n y . T h i s c o n s o l a t i o n l e f t D a i e i w i t h p l e n t yo f s t u d i o s b u t w i t h o u t a n y t h e a t r e s e xce p t t h o se f e wbro ug ht in by Sh inko and Da i t o .

O t h e r p r o b le m s su r f a ce d . W i t h Sh o ch i ku t y i n g u p t h ewomen 's aud ience and Toho a p p e a l i n g t o t h e u r b a n a u d ie n ceo n l y t h e f a r m e r s an d ch i l d r e n r e m a in e d f o r t h e n ew Da ie i .W i t h i t s f i r s t f e w f i l m s f a i l i n g to make money, the s t u d i o r e l i e d o n ca p i t a l f u n d s l o a n e d f r o m a n o t h e r f i l mcompany.

F o l l o w i n g t h e f i r s t suc ces s o f a Da i e i f i l m , NEWSNOW, t h e p o l i c e a r r e s t e d N a g a t a . T h e Home M i n i s t r y , i s s u e r o f t h e w a r r e n t a nd t r a d i t i o n a l r i v a l o f t h e O f f i c eo f P u b l i c I n f o r m a t i o n , a c c u s e d N a g at a o f b r i b i n g t h e I n f o r m a t i o n O f f i c e t o h a v e h i s t h r e e - c o m p a n y p l a n a c c e p t e d .Na g at a d e n ie d t h e ch a r g e a n d was r e l e a se d w i t h i n f i f t y

days t o t h e so r r o w o f o t h e r s i n t h e f i l m i n d u s t r y .Wo r l d War I I e nd ed, and Jap an was kep t i n tow by t he

O c c u p a t i o n F o r c e s l e d b y Do u g la s M a cAr t h u r . T h e h u n t i n go f " wa r c r im in a l s " wa s a t a sk t h a t ke p t t h e O ccu p a t i o nbus y , ev en i n t h e r e a lm o f t h e f i lm m a k in g i n d u s t r y wh e r ea l i s t of sus pec ts was d rawn up by the Ja pan Mot ion Pi c t u r e a n d D ra ma Em p lo ye e s Un i o n , a co m m u n is t o r g a n i za t i o noften at odds with management. Among those on the l i s twas N a ga t a w ho w as r e m ov e d f o r " r e h a b i l i t a t i o n . " T h e p r o c es s co m p le t e d i n 1 94 8, Na g a t a was f u l l y r e i n s t a t e d , b u syw i t h b i g p l a n s a n d b i g g e r i d e a s .

As yo u n g e s t o f t h e p r e - w a r co m p a n ie s , Da ie i e m e rg e di n t o t h e p o s t - w a r e r a w i t h o u t a c h a i n o f t h e a t r e s , a n ds i n c e i t h ad b e e n o r g a n i z e d a t a t im e wh e n d i s t r i b u t i o nwas i n t h e h a n d s o f a m o n o p o l y , t h e r e wa s n o o p p o r t u n i t yt o l i n e up c o n t r a c t e d t h e a t r e s . A d d i t i o n a l l y , t h e f i r m ,hav ing been f a i t h f u l to th e numerous demands o f the m i l i t a r y u n t i l t h e e nd o f t h e wa r , wa s w i t h o u t p i c t u r e s t ob e sc r e e n e d , s i n ce a lm o s t a l l o f i t s p r o d u c t i o n s we r e c o ndemned by th e Occ upa t io n becau se o f feud a l o r a n t i - de mo c r a t i c c o n t e n t . L a c k i n g c o n t r a c t s w i t h m o st o f t h e t o pc o s t u m e - p i c t u r e s t a r s , D a i e i ' s h an ds w e r e t i e d so f a r asp e r i o d - f i l m s w e r e c o n c e r n e d . W i t h t h e O c c u p a t i o n F o r c e sf r o w n i n g on t h e s e p i c t u r e s , t h e K y o t o b r a n c h o f D a i e i ,w h i c h h ad s p e c i a l i z e d i n j u s t t h i s s o r t o f f i l m , w as v i r t u a l l y c l o s e d .

T o r e g a i n a f o o t h o l d i n t h e b u s i n e s s , D a i e i a p p r o a c hed Toho wi t h a d i s t r i b u t i o n t i e - u p sche me a s t h e co m pa n ywas now v e r y m uch i n f a vo r o f a t wo - co m p a n y i n d u s t r y .S h o c h i k u o b j e c t e d s o s t r o n g l y t h a t t h e p r o j e c t w a s d r o p p e d .

W i t h o u t t h e l u x u r y o f b i g s t a r s on i t s p a y r o l l , t h ec om pa ny b e ga n t o e x p l o i t s e n s a t i o n a l i s m i n i t s f i l m s :

12



i s s i n g s c e n e s , a d u l t e r y , e r o t i c i s m . On e o f t h e m o st i n e n i o u s o f t h e p o s t - w a r k i s s e s o c c u r r e d i n D a i e i ' s B R I L IA N T REVENGE, w h i c h a p p a r e n t l y f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f i n c l u dn g a k i s s , . i n s e r t e d a s c e n e s h o wi n g T o l s t o y ' s R e s u r r e c o n b e i n g p e r f o r m e d o n t h e s t a g e . I n t h i s p l a y w i t h i n al m t h e r e c o u l d b e n o t h i n g o b j e c t i o n a b l e s i n c e t h e J a p a

ese i n v o l v e d w e r e p l a y i n g f o r e i g n e r s , an d e v e r y o n e knewh a t f o r e i g n e r s k i s s i n p u b l i c .

Nagata became the f i r s t member o f t he i nd us t r y t oe a v e Japan s in ce the end o f t he w a r . R e tu r n in g f r om then i t ed S ta te s he dec i ded t h a t h i s c o u n t r y m u s t e n t e r i n

e r n a t i o n a l f e s t i v a l s as s oo n a s p o s s i b l e , t h e i n c e n t i v eo r th i s d ec is io n s temming f rom a rema rk made to h im du r ng h i s v i s i t t o Ame r i c a : "A r e mov ie s made i n J a p a n ,o o ? "

In t he mean t ime , a t t he u rg ing o f t he Ven ice F i lme s t i v a l s p o n s o r s , G i u l l i a n a S t r a m i g o l i , h e ad o f t h et a l i f i l m branch i n J a p a n , v i ewe d a number of po ss ib lea p a n e se e n t r i e s a n d t o o k a d e f i n i t e l i k i n g to one Daie il m b e c a u s e o f i t s " s t r a n g e n e s s . " T h e f i l m wa s RASHOMON.

Sometime be f or e, Na gat a, who had more or le ss a c c i e n t a l l y s i g n e d a o n e - y e a r d i s t r i b u t i o n a nd p r o d u c t i o no n t ra c t w i t h Ak i r a Ku rosa w a , w as app roached by t he d i ector to make RASHOMON. N aga ta ob j ec t ed t o Ku rosaw a ' sf f e r , h o l d i n g t h a t t h e s t o r y w as t o o o f f b e a t . K u r o awa campa igned heav i l y and N aga ta r e len ted , bu t w i t hany ob je c t i o ns s in ce i t w as h i s money t h a t t h e d i r e c t o r

ou ld be us in g .( I n t he Japanese f i l m i n d u s t r y o p e r a t i n g u n d e r t h e

d i r e c t o r s y s t e m " o f h i e r a r c h y , t h e h ea d o f t h e s t u d i o ,r v e r y of te n th e head of t he company, as in th e case ofa i e i ' s N a g a t a , wa s t h e a c t i v e d i r e c t o r o f p o l i c y a s t oh a t k i n d o f p i c t u r e s w e r e t o b e p r o d u c e d . R e s p o n s i b i l i t y

o r d e l e g a t i n g d e t a i l s t o a p r o d u c e r w as n o t e x e r c i s e d .h e d i r e c t o r wa s h e l d r e s p o n s i b l e f o r e v e r y t h i n g i n al m a nd r e p o r t e d d i r e c t l y t o t h e h e ad o f p r o d u c t i o n . A

ro duc er under th e syste m was l i t t l e more than an er rando y , s i n c e t h e t w o p o w e r s , d i r e c t o r a n d s t u d i o c h i e f ,e l d a l l th e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . )

When RASHOMON began to t ake an o ve r l y l ong pe r iod o fme to comp l e te , N aga ta w as i n te re s t ed i n mak ing se ve ra lheap qu i ck i es t o f i l l up the s ch ed ul e. He was approach edy Kane to Sh indo and Komisaburo Yosh imura w i t h a sc re en

a y t h e y ha d c o m p l e t e d . Y o s h i m u r a : " . . . b e c a u s e o f h i so r r y i n g o v e r RASHOMON, Nagata came to l i k e me, and at

D a i e i i f N a ga t a l i k e s y o u e v e r y t h i n g i s a l l r i g h t . "

M iss S t r am ig o l i i n fo rm ed N agata t h a t RASHOMON o u g h tto go t o Ven ic e , bu t he he s i t a te d t o ag r ee . H e w as a f r a ido f f a i l u r e a n d t h e c o n s e q u e n t h u m i l i a t i o n , a nd w o r s t o fa l l , t h e f a c t t h a t t h e f i l m had no t been made " es pe c i a l l yf o r e x p o r t . " T h i s be ing the e ra w hen We s t e r ne rs ' op i n io nswere l i s t e n e d t o , N a g at a r e l u c t a n t l y t o ok t h e p l u n g e .

T o e v e r y o n e ' s s u r p r i s e RASHOMON won, and Nagata wasfo r ce d i n to g r ea tn es s . I t was a s t r o ke o f l uc k , and l uckwas someth i ng whi ch both Nagata and Dai e i n eed ed.

Wi t h the ind us t r y fa c i ng a dou ble demand in 1953,

t ha t of t he home au di en ce and t h a t o f i n t e r e s t e d f o r e i g n e r s , th er e was much tu rm oi l and not a l i t t l e d i s c u s s i o n .One of th e few in v o l v e d who knew what was go in g on wasM a s a i c h i N a g a t a . C l e a r l y s e e i n g t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f b o t hma rk et s, he se t o f f to do someth ing about t hem.

F or some t ime Da ie i had been ex pe r i me nt in g w i thJapanese-made c o l o r f i l m , b u t f o u n d i t s e v e r l y l a c k i n g i nqu a l i t y . Because o f t h i s N aga ta t u r ned to Eas tma nco lo ra n d , a l t h o u g h t h e f i l m was s t i l l i n a somew ha t expe r i menta l s ta ge , sent two of h i s peop le to Ame r ic a to makete s t s . The move w as i ns p i r e d bo th by h i s see ing t h a t c o l o rwould be the coming t h i n g and by h is d es i r e to brea k evenf u r t h e r i n t o t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t .

The i n v e s t i g a t i o n s a m pl y p a i d o f f . GATE OF HELL wa sre leased in 1953 and proved the answ er t o N aga t a ' s e v e r yp r a y e r . T h e f i l m was o r d i n ar y enough fo r th e home mark et

and ex ot ic enough " for th e fo re ig n ma rk et . What made GATEOF HELL impo r tan t even more w as i t s i nc o r po ra t i on o f t hem o st b e a u t i f u l c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h y e v e r t o g race the sc reenup to t h a t t i m e .

Now d e f i n i t e l y o n t o p , D a i e i s e t w h a t s h o r t l y w as t obecome a pa t t e r n , r e p r es en t i ng as i t d i d t he pe r f ec t comp r o m i s e b e t we e n t h e e x o t i c i m w h i c h t h e s t u d i o b e l i e v e dthe Wes t hungere d fo r and the med io c r i t y w h ic h i t w ast h o u g h t t h a t Japan w ou ld ha pp i l y consume. The i n du s t r ywas e l a t e d . T h e d a y s o f b i g b u s i n e s s w e r e f i n a l l y h e r e .

GATE OF HELL went on to win the 1954 Grand P r i z e a tCannes and a ye ar l a t e r an Amer ica n Academy A w a r d . Butt h e J a p a n e s e c r i t i c s w e r e c o m p l e t e l y c o n f o u n d e d b y t h ef o r e i g n s u c c e s s o f t h e f i l m s i nc e i t made no on e ' s "b es tt e n " l i s t in 1953 in J a p a n , a n d t h e i r a t t i t u d e wa s t h a to f t h e i n s u l t e d an d i n j u r e d s i n c e t h e s e f o r e i g n e r s

seemed t o s u g g e s t t ha t t he Japane se c r i t i c s d id no t knowt h e i r b u s i n e s s . Ma ny w e r e t h e a r t i c l e s s u g g e s t i n g t h i s

13



ri

a n d c l a im in g t h a t J a p a n h ad s u f f e r e d a n a t i o n a l i n s u l t .One c r i t i c p o i n t e d o u t t h a t " i n t h e sam e w a y , f o r e i g n e r s ,f o r e v e r s o u v e n i r - h u n t i n g , a l w a y s p i c k J a p a n e s e - s t y l ep a i n t i n g s o n s i l k r a t h e r t h an o u r o i l s o n c a n v a s . " D a i e i ,h o w e v e r , w a s n o t c o m p l a i n i n g .

D a i e i t h e n l a u n c h e d a r e g u l a r p r o g r am o f c o l o r - f i l mpr od uc t i on and thu s became th e f i r s t Jap ane se company togo i n f o r c o l o r o n m o r e t h a n a n e xp e r im e n t a l b a s i s .

E v a l u a t i n g t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t , Na g at a d e c i d e dt h a t t h e s u c c e s s o f h i s f i l m s o v e r s e a s l a y i n t h e i r e x o t i c i s m , a n d h e t h e r e f o r e d e c i d e d o n m or e l a r g e - s c a l e

p e r i o d - f i l m s . L i t t l e - b y - l i t t l e , h o w e v er , i t became a b u nd a n t l y c l e a r t h a t Na g a t a wa s w r o n g . H i s p o l i c y o f p r o d u c i n g p e r i o d - f i l m s " t h a t a p pe a l t o f o r e i g n e r s " w a s d i s a s t r o u s .

I n 1 9 5 5 Na g a t a l e a r n e d t h e e x t e n t o f h i s m i se r y . Hef a i l e d t o w i n a n y t h i n g a b r o a d , a n d t h e f i l m s i n q u e s t i o n ,a p a r t f ro m n o t s e l l i n g i n f o r e i g n c o u n t r i e s , h ad o n l ym o d e r a t e su cc e ss i n Ja p a n b e ca u se o f t h e i r p o o r q u a l i t y ,n o t b e ca u se t h e y we r e m ad e f o r e x p o r t .

T h i s c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f r e s o u r c e s o n a f e w f i l m s f o rf o r e i g n e r s r e s u l t e d i n a n e g l e c t o f D a i e i ' s w e e k l y b r e a d -a n d - b u t t e r p r o d u c t s a nd a co n se q u e n t f a l l i n t h e i r o v e r a l l q u a l i t y . T o o , d e s p i t e D a i e i ' s f r e q u e n t a n n ou n c em e n tsc l a i m i n g s o l e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n " b i g , q u a l i t y p i c t u r e s , "d ue i n p a r t t o N a g a t a ' s d i s d a i n t o t h e d o u b l e - f e a t u r e sp o l i c y s e t b y s e v e r a l o f t h e o t h e r s t u d i o s a n d h i s r e a s o n i n g t h a t t h e r e wa s b i g g e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r ma k in g m o ne y

on a f i l m t h a t was su c ce s s f u l a b r o a d t h a n on t h e b i g g e s tf i lm s a t h o m e, Da ie i ' s a c t u a l o u t p u t sh o we d a n a lm o s tt o t a l c o n ce r n w i t h s l i c k l y - m a d e , b u t e s s e n t i a l l y t r i t ea d a p t a t i o n s o f f i c t i o n a p p e a r i n g i n s e c o n d - r a t e m a g a z i n e s .

Th e c o mp a ny ' s m or e c o n s t r u c t i v e e f f o r t s i n t h i sp e r i o d w e r e t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e c o l o r f i l m and thep e r s u a s i o n o f o t h e r p r o d u c e r s t o t u r n t h e i r e y e s to mar ke t s a b r o a d . Da ie i a l s o se r ve d a s e xa m p le i n t h i s t im ef r a m e o f h ow n o t t o m ake a co - p r o d u c t i o n . T h e o t h e r co m p a n i e s , p r o f i t i n g b y D a i e i ' s tw o f a i l u r e s w h en t h e s t u d i ou se d a n Am e r i ca n d i r e c t o r o n o n e f i l m an d f i l m s t a r M a r g a r e t O ' B r i e n i n t h e o t h e r , d e c i d e d t o e m ba r k o n a f e w co l l a b o r a t i o n s o f t h e i r o w n .

D e s p i t e i t s c o - p r o d u c t i o n f a i l u r e s , D a i e i w as a n x i o u st o t r y a g a i n . T h i s t im e i t lo ok ed to Hong Kong and i n t e r e s t e d t h e S ha w B r o t h e r s , t o t h e e x t e n t o f t h e i r p u t t i n g

u p t h i r t y p e r c e n t o f t h e m o n e y , t h e r e su l t b e i n g T HE P R I N

CESS YANG ( Y O H I K I ) , a r a t h e r d u l l i f p i c t o r i a l l y b e a u t i f u l r e w o r k i n g o f C hi n e s e h i s t o r y . B o x - o f f i c e r e t u r n s w er en o t i m p r e s s i v e , b u t a t l e a s t D a i e i r e c e i v e d t h e d u b i o u sp r e s t i g e o f h a v i n g made a n o t h e r f o r e i g n c o - p r o d u c t i o n .

A d i v i s i o n o f t h e m a r k e t i n t o s i x s p h e r e s a s s u r e deach major company ( T o h o , D a i e i , S h o c h i k u , t h e r e c e n t l yf o r m e d T o e i a n d S h i n t o h o c o m p a n i e s , p l u s N i k k a t s u , t h el a t t e r b a ck i n p r o d u c t i o n ) i t s o wn p r i v a t e s h a r e a n d ap r e su m a b l y l o ya l a u d i e n c e , a n d h a d a s o n e o f i t s e f f e c t sa p a r t i a l r e m ov a l o f i n t e r - c o m p a n y r i v a l r y , h a mp e ri n gg r e a t l y t h e h e a l t h y p r i n c i p l e o f c o m p e t i t i o n . D a i e i

so u g h t o u t t h e t e e n a g e a u d ie n ce w i t h i t s yo u t h f i l m s , e -r o t i c o r o t h e r w i s e , a l s o m a ki n g p e r i o d - d r a m a s w h i c h p a r t i c u l a r l y a p pe a l e d t o t h e c i t y s t o r e k e e p e r s .

W h i l e t h e p o l i c y o f d i v i s i o n w a s s u c c e s s f u l i n a l l o w in g e a ch co mp a n y t o a t t r a c t t h e t y p e o f a u d ie n ce i tw a n t e d , i t was n e v e r c o m p l e t e l y r i g i d . Each s tud io madema ny f i l m s w h i c h n a t u r a l l y i n c l u d e d a u d i e n c e s n o t w i t h i ni t s s p h e r e o f i n f l u e n c e . I n g e n e r a l , h o w e v e r , t h e r e s u l to f t h i s s t r i v i n g f o r s e c u r i t y w i t h i n t h e i n d u s t r y w as ac o m p l e t e c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n o f t h e f i l m p r o d u c t .

Though Daie i had p roduced the f i r s t J a p a n e s e s c i e n c ef i c t i o n f i l m in 1949, THE TRANSPARENT M AN, i t w a s n ' t u n t i l Toho i s s u e d GODZILLA in 1954 t h a t t h e g e n r e t o o k o f f .Eager fo r a p ie ce o f th e a c t i o n , Da i e i p r oduce d a SF numb e r f o r t h e f o r e i g n m a r k e t t i t l e d SPACEMEN APPEAR IN T OKYO w h i c h i n f u l l c o l o r , m i s s i n g i n t h e Toho e f f o r t , s o l e m n ly w a r n e d a g a i n s t t h e t h r e a t o f an i n v a d i n g a s t e r o i d ,

a d v i s i n g u n i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n t o e nd t h e t h r e a t . F o r e i g n e r s n e v e r saw the f i l m t h e a t r i c a l l y s i n c e D a i e i w asuna b le to s e l l i t t o anyo ne , bu t th e company was ab le tod i s t r i b u t e t h e p i c t u r e t o A m e r i c a n t e l e v i s i o n u n d er i t so wn a u sp i ce s n i n e y e a r s l a t e r a s WARNING FROM SPACE. T h ef i l m w as e v e n t u a l l y p i c k e d u p b y A m e r i c a n I n t e r n a t i o n a lT e l e v i s i o n , a l o n g w i t h m o s t o f D a i e i ' s m o n s t e r f i l m s , f o rt e l e v i s i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n i n t h e l a t t e r s i x t i e s .

Perhaps even m or e t y p i c a l o f t h e c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o no f t h e Ja p a n e se f i lm s wa s t h e f a d o f t h e t a i yo zo ku m o v ie sdu r in g the summer o f 1956. T he con cept o f the ta iy oz ok u( l i t e r a l l y , " s un t r i b e " ) was o f t e n c r e d i t e d t o S h i n t a r oI s i h a r a f o r h i s s h o r t n o v e l S e a so n o f t h e S u n , a v i o l e n t ,a d o l e s c e n t o u t c r y a g a i n s t t r a d i t i o n a nd t h e o l d e r g e n e r a t i o n . I t i s t h i s theme wh ich was soon tak en up by theyo u n g p e o p le wh o se a n a r ch i s t i c i d e a s a l l o we d t h em t o

t h i n k t h e m s e l v e s m em be rs o f t h e t a i y o z o k u .

14



Though the nove ls based on th is conc ept a rous ed l i t -t l e p u b l i c r e se n t m e n t , t h e f i lm s d i d . Da i e i was u n sym p a t h e t i c . S e e i n g t h e t a i y o z o k u p i c t u r e s a s a l o g i c a l e x t e n s i o n o f i t s e r o t i c f i l m s f o r t e e n a g e r s , i t w as d e l i g h t e dto no te t ha t i t s f i l m , PUNISHMENT ROOM, about sex andl a w l e s s y o u t h , w as p l a y i n g t o s t a n d i n g - r o o m - o n l y f r o mm o r n in g t o n i g h t b e ca u se o f i t s a t t r a c t i ve n e ss t o f e m a leh i g h s c h o ol s t u d e n t s .

B e s i d e s s e x , w a r a nd s c i e n c e f i c t i o n , a n o t h e r f a v o r e d e x p l o i t a t i o n t h em e i n co m me r c i a l Ja p a n e se c i n em awas t h e us e o f e x o t i c a nd f o r e i g n l o c a l e s , D a i e i ' s T H E

PRINCESS YANG be ing an exam ple . Bu t Da ie i went f u r t he r a -f i e l d t o sh o o t i t s BURUBA i n H o l l y w o o d i n a n " A f r i c a nju n g le " s e t s i n ce t h e s t o r y was a b o u t a Ja p a n e se T a r z a n .

Pe r i o d - d r a m a s m e a n wh i l e , i n t h e m a nn e r o f H o l l ywo o d ' sw e s t e r n , p r o ve d t h e m o st s t a b l e a n d su r e o f a l l . Y e t , i tt o o was u n d e r g o in g t r a n s f o r m a t i o n n ow t h a t T o e i , w i t hi t s s e r i o u s , s h o r t f e a t u r e - l e n g t h p e r i o d - f i l m s , w as s e t t i n g t h e p r o f i t - m a k i n g , t h o u g h c r i t i c s w e r e o f t h e o p i n i o n t h a t Dai e i was mak ing the more competen t pe r i od -p ic tu re s . One o f th e reason s was t ha t Dai e i had bo th T e i n o -suke Kinug asa and Da is uke I t o who cou ld t u r n ou t commer c i a l p r o d u c t s b e t t e r t h a n o t h e r s i n t h e f i e l d . I n a d d i t i o n , K e n j i M i z o g u c h i ' s h i g h l y c r e a t i v e e x p e r i m e n t s i nt h e a r e a o f t h e p e r i o d - f i l m h e l p e d c o n s i d e r a b l y t o r a i s eD a i e i ' s r e p u t a t i o n .

(A b u s in e ssm a n ' s b u s in e ssm a n , M a sa i ch i Na g a t a n e ve r t h e l e s s , w as a l w a y s ov e r w h el m e d b y g e n u i n e a r t i s t s , b e i n gf a sc i n a t e d b y b o t h th e m a n d t h e i r wo r k . De sp i t e h i s r e p u t a t i o n a s a m a ker o f t h e mo s t u n in t e r e s t i n g a n d m o s t f i n a n c i a l l y s u c c e s s f u l o f p o t - b o i l e r s , N a ga t a h ad a l w a y sl i ke d to use h i s commerc ia l ta le n t s to he lp men o f g e n i u s , h e n ce h i s l o n g a s so c i a t i o n w i t h M i zo g u ch i an d h i sc o n t i n u i n g s u p p o r t t o p r o v i d e t h a t d i r e c t o r w i t h e v e r y t h i ng he needed to make good f i l m s . )

In th e s i x t i e s Da i e i found i t s money-makers to be thew o r k s o f Yasuzo M a sum u r a, wh o se s t y l e r e l i e d u p on sh o cke d i t i n g , s e n s a t i o n a l i s m a nd e r o t i c i s m , an d t h e p o p u l a rs e r i e s a b o u t Z a t o i c h i t h e b l i n d swordsman fo r ma ins t reama u d i e n ce s . I n t h e a r e a o f f a n t a sy a n d h o r r o r t h e s t u d iof o u n d a cce p t a n ce i n i t s m an y su p e r n a t u r a l f i lm s a n d t wos e r i e s f e a t u r i n g g i a n t m o n s t e r s , o n e a b o u t a h u g e , a v e n g in g s t o n e i do l which comes to l i f e ( 3 f i lm s ) a n d t h eo t h e r a b o ut a f i r e - b e l c h i n g , g a r g a n t u a n t u r t l e ( 6 f i l m s )

whose f i r s t f i l m f i n d s h i m i n s i m p l y a m o n s t e r - o n - t h e -

l o o se p r e m ise , b u t who l a t e r b ecam e a so r t o f a cc i d e n t a ls a v i o r of mank ind .

In December , 1971 i t a l l cease d to e x i s t . Da ie i dec l a r ed ban kru p tc y amid a number o f su sp ic io ns and ac cu sa t i o n s w h i c h o c c u r r e d i n a " b l o o d y " c l i m a t e o f c o r r u p t i o nin management o v e r money and p o l i t i c a l i n v o l v e m e n t .

T he l e n g t h y b a n k r u p t c y b a t t l e co n t i n u e d i n t o 1 9 7 2.I n A p r i l t h e b a n k r u p t c y a d m i n i s t r a t o r f o r t h e d e f u n c t c o mp an y s u ed t h e f o u r e x e c u t i v e s o f t h e i n s o l v e n t f i r m , i n c l u d i n g p r e s i d e n t M as a i c h i N a g a t a , f o r a p p r o x i m a t e l y $ 1. 6m i l l i o n i n damages comp ens at i on . Acco rd i ng to the su i t

f i l e d w i t h t h e T o k y o D i s t r i c t C o u r t , t h e f o u r e x e c u t i v e sh ad ma de i l l e g a l d i sb u r se m e n t s i n d o n a t i o n s t o p o l i t i c a lgroups and o t he r acco unts beyon d th e compa ny 's norma lb u s i n e s s a c t i v i t i e s a nd i n c u r r e d l o s s e s t o t h e s t u d i o u n t i l i t went ba nk rup t December 23, 1971.

Da ie i was r e v i v e d in th e summer of 1974 under th ep r e s i d e n c y o f n e wsp a p e r p u b l i sh e r Y a s u y o s h i T o k u ma . T h eDa ie i p a r e n t co m pa n y n ow h a d f o u r su b s id i a r i e s , o n e o fw h i ch d e a l t e x c l u s i v e l y w i t h d i s t r i b u t i o n , a s e co n d w i t hp r o d u c t i o n , a n d t h e r e m a in i n g two o p e r a t e d s t u d io s i nTokyo an d K y o t o . A d d i t i o n a l l y , t h e r e w as a n a f f i l i a t e dcompany, Toko T oku ma Co . wh i ch sp e c ia l i ze d i n t h e im p o r to f Ch in e se f i l m s a n d t h e e xp o r t o f Ja p a n e s e f i l m s t oC h i n a .

The s t u d io p r o d u ce d 8 m o t i o n p i c t u r e s f r o m t h e t im eof i t s re v i va l up th r oug h 1978, one o f wh ic h was an occ u l t t h r i l l e r c a l l e d YOBA, c o - p r o d u c e d b y f o r m e r p r e s i d e n t M a sa i ch i Na g a t a , a ma n o b v i o u s l y u n f a ze d b y a l l h i sl e g a l u n ce r t a i n t i e s a nd f o r who m su p p o se d o f f e n s e s a p p e a r e d t o b e l a c k i n g su b s t a n ce , an d d i s t r i b u t e d b y S h o ch ik u , the s tu d i o f o r w h ic h Nagata had work ed some 43y e a r s e a r l i e r a n d wo u ld l a t e r d i so wn t o f o r mD a i e i . T h e c i r c l e , i t s e e me d , w o u l d n e v e rb e u n b r o ke n .

BIBLIOGRAPHYA n d e r s o n , J os eph L . a nd R i ch i e , Do n a ld . T h e Ja p a n e se F i lm .New Y o r k : G r o v e P r e s s , 1960.

S v e n s s o n , A r n e . J a p a n . New Y o r k : A . S . Ba r n e s & Co . , 1 97 1.

" D a i e i ' s 8 P i x S i n c e I t s R e v i v a l Under Y. T o k u m a . " V a r i e -

ty_. May 9 , 197 9.



R e p r i n t e d f r o m a n a r t i c l ewh ich appeared in Caper magaz ine

( c i r ca 1 9 6 2 , a u t h o r u n kn o wn ) ,t h e f o l l o w i n g r e p r e s e n t s

o n l y a p o r t i o n o f t h e p a n t h e o n

t h a t i s E i j i ' s . L i b e r t i e shave been tak en w i t h

r e s p e c t t o t h e c o p y — E d i t o r .

The m i ld - l o o k i n g g e n t l e m a n b e lo w h as H -b om be d P a r i s ,d e s t r o y e d T o k y o , changed the o r b i t o f t h e Ea r t h a n d c r e a t ed many mo ns te rs . He is E i j i T s u b u r a y a , a nd h i s i n t im a t e sa r e drago ns and og re s , men f rom ou t e r space and den iz enso f t h e n e v e r - n e v e r l a n d o f f o l k l o r e . He h as l i v e d i n aw o r l d o f f a n t a s y a l l h i s a d u l t l i f e , b u t t h i s e sc a p e f r o mr e a l i t y , f a r fr o m b e in g a p e r s o n a l i t y a b e r r a t i o n , h asamounted to the se cr e t o f h i s su cc es s . And when he tu r nst o t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a c t u a l e v e n t s o r t h e p r e d i c t i o no f p o s s i b l e r e a l i t i e s , t h i s f l a i r f o r t h e f a n t a s t i c a n dt h e u n im a g in a b le co n t i n u e s t o s t a n d h im i n g o o d s t e a d .

J a p a n ' s ( a n d p r o b a b l y t h e w o r l d ' s ) t o p s p e c i a l e f f e c t sf i l m m a k e r , T s u b u r a y a h as e n c h a nt e d a nd t e r r i f i e d m i l l i o n swi th h i s own brand o f c in ema t i c mag ic . He has used op t i ca ld e v i c e s , p a i n s t a k i n g m i n i a t u r e s a n d o v e r s i z e m o de l s t orcuke t h e im p o ss i b l e e a sy a nd t h e f a n c i f u l r e a l .

When h i s t o r y (a s i n t h e c o n t r o v e r s i a l I BOMBED PEARLHARBOR) o r l e g e n d d o e s n ' t p r o v i d e hi m w i t h a c h a l l e n g i n gs u b j e c t , E i j i l e t s h i s f e r t i l e i m a g i n a t i o n t a k e o v e r . Heh as b ee n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r s ome o f y o u r f a v o r i t e m o n s t e r s :G o d z i l l a , R o d a n , t h e M y s t e r i a n s an d M o t h r a .

P erhaps t h e m o st s p e c t a c u l a r o f a l l T s u b u r a y a ' s p r o d u c t i o n s i s T HE LAST W A R, u ns h ow n t h e a t r i c a l l y i n t h e U . S .a nd o n l y r e c e n t l y r e l e a s e d t o t e l e v i s i o n . I n t h i s g r i mv i s u a l i z a t i o n o f t h e f u t u r e , a l l t h e i n g e n u i t y o f T s u b u -r a y a ' s sca le - m o d e l wo r k i s u se d t o d e p i c t t h e p o ss ib l ec o n s eq u e n ce s o f a l a r g e - s c a l e n u c l e a r a c c i d e n t i n v o l v i n g

bombs 1 ,000 t imes more d es t r uc t i v e than the one t h a t f e l lo n H i r o sh im a , T h e Em p i r e S t a t e Bu i l d i n g g o e s c r a s h in gdown as a 20-m egat on H-bomb hi t s New Y o r k . T h e Ar ch o fT r i u m p h c r a c k s l i k e a t o y . T h e l a s t b u i l d i n g i n T o k y os i nk s in to a r i v e r o f l av a and a huge c l ou d sucks up ther e m a in s o f a t o t a l l y d e va s t e d L o n d o n . T h e p r o d u ce r s sa yt h e y p u t $830,000 i n t o t h e r e p l i c a s o f t h e w o r l d ' s g r e a tc i t i e s i n o r d e r t o p e r f e c t t h i s " a p p e a l t o t h e w o r l d "s h o w i n g " e x a c t l y w h a t w i l l h a pp e n i f t h i s co l o s sa l h o r r o rb e f a l l s u s . " Wh at i s n o t a b l e i s t h a t t h i s f i l m i s no t

j u s t h o r r i b l e , b ut s t r a n g e l y b e a u t i f u l . T h i s i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f E i j i T s u b u r a y a ' s wo r k a s a wh o l e , n o t a l l o fw h i c h i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e c a t a s t r o p h i c .

A s m a l l , s h y p e r s o n w i t h l i v e l y , h u mo ro us e y e s , T s u b u r a ya s a y s ; "My heart and mind are as they were when Iwa s a c h i l d . Then I loved to p lay w i th toys and to reads t o r i e s o f m a g i c . I s t i l l do . My wi sh is on ly to make l i f e

h a p p ie r a n d m o r e b e a u t i f u l f o r t h o se who w i l l go and seemy f i l m s o f f a n t a s y . "

E i j i sa ys he was te n when he saw a to y f i l m v i e w e r i na shop window. By f i l c h i n g c o i n s e v e r y few days f rom theca sh b o x i n h i s f a t h e r ' s sh o p , h e was e v e n t u a l l y a b l e t obuy th e mac h in e . Once he owned i t , how eve r , he r ea l iz e dhe co u ld no t be seen us i ng i t , s i nc e qu es t i on s about th ep u r c h a s e w e r e s u r e t o ha v e p a i n f u l r e p e r c u s s i o n s . S o h et o o k t h e p r o j e c t o r a p a r t , s t u d i e d i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n an dt h e n d e s t r o y e d i t . W i t h b i t s o f w i r e , p a s t e b o a r d t u b e sand a box he b u i l t h i s ow n p r o j e c t o r f r o m s c r a t c h . Heev en d r e w t h e p i c t u r e s o n a s t r i p o f p a p er a nd t e d io u s l yp u nc h ed h o l e s f o r t h e s p r o c k e t s . T h e r e s u l t i n g m a c h in eand " f i l m" no t on ly worke d bu t so amazed h is f am i l y t h a tt h e o r i g i n a l c r i m e , no w d i s c o v e r e d , w as o v e r l o o k e d . H a l fa c e n t u r y l a t e r , E i j i T s u b u r a y a i s s t i l l d o in g r e m a r ka b le

r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s .

TH E FINAL WAR ( T o h o ,

1961). B e l o w : D i r e c t o rT s u b u r a y a r e s t s b e t we e n

t a k e s . B o t t o m : A g a i n s t ab a ckd r o p o f a n a t o m ic c l o u d ,

p r o p m e n se t a m in i a t u r ef r e i g h t e r a d r i f t on

t h e s t u d i o " s e a . " R i g h t :L o n d o n , a n e x q u i s i t e l yd e t a i l e d m i n i a t u r e , i s

so on t o be d e s t r o ye d .

jj§§

16



17



i nmm

TOM ROGERS

As many of J F F J ' s r eaders undoub ted l y know , G h id rahi s a f a t , t h re e -he aded i nv ade r f r om ou te r space . H e ' sso r t o f a space d ra gon , and i ns tea d o f b re a th ing f i r eand smoke, he exudes l i g h t n i n g b o l t s f rom any or a l l o fh i s th re e heads . L i ke many of T o h o ' s g i a n t c r e a t u r e s , h ec a n a l s o f l y ( e v e n G o d z i l l a c a n p r o p e l h i m s e l f t h r o u g hthe a i r , as w e w i t nes sed i n GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONS T E R ) ; he has two huge wings t h a t somewhat rese mble tho seof a bat, and he employs them q u i t e w e l l . Ho we ve r , hen e v e r seems to f l y v e r y f a s t . Ro da n c a n c e r t a i n l y f l y

r i ng s a round the t r i - do med mons te r , desp i t e h i s ap paren ts l u g g i s h n e s s ( h e i s , a f t e r a l l , q u i t e l u m p y ) .

U n l i ke mos t o f T o h o ' s d i n o s a u r - t y p e s , G h i d r a h a c t sas a loner . Perhaps he j u s t d o e s n ' t f i t i n w i t h E a r t hmons te r s because he do es n ' t speak th e i r l anguage (a cc o r d i ng t o T o h o , al l mon ster s speak the same lan gua ge; I 'm

j u s t r e l a t i n g t h e i r o p i n i o n s , s o d o n ' t h o l d i t a g a i n s tm e) . Whatev e r t he r e as on , G h id rah i s one ( t h r ee ) n as t yg u y ( s ) .

Th e space dragon was f i r s t shown in GHIDRAH, TH ETHREE-HEADED MONSTER (196 5) . He came to Ear th ins id e ag i g a n t i c m e t e o r t h a t f e l l in a sec lud ed are a of J a p a n .Af te r a w h i l e , t he me teo r became ex t r eme ly magn e t i c , andb e f o r e long i t e x p l o d e d — u n l e a s h i n g G h i d r a h u po n t h i sm o n s t e r - p l a g u e d w o r l d o f o u r s . A mi d a f a n t a s t i c d i s p l a yo f spe c i a l e f f e c t s , t he a l i e n w as fo rmed in m i d - a i r , an d

once again Earth seemed doomed.Whi le Ghidra h was bein g formed in h is dynamic f as hio n , G o dz i l l a and R odan w ere f i g h t i n g each ot he r in an



a r e a n o t f a r a w a y . L i k e t h e c a l l o u s c r e a t u r e s t h a t t h e yw e r e , t he tw o mons te r s w ere t e a r i n g up the c ou n t r y s i de .N a t u r a l l y , i f a n y t h i n g o r a n y b o dy g o t i n t h e i r w a y , t h e ysmashed i t . In thos e da ys , th ey d i d n ' t care about humans( wh o , to them, were l i k e an ts a re t o us ) . A ny w ay , t heo n l y s u r v i v i n g M o t hr a cam e c r a w l i n g a l o n g ( t h i s o ne h a d n ' tt u r n e d i n t o a m ot h y e t ) a nd t r i e d t o c o n v i n c e G o d z i l l aand Rodan t h a t t hey shou l d he lp mank ind aga in s t t he i n te r -ga lac t i c menace t h a t ha d o nc e d e s t r o y e d t h e c i v i l i z a t i o no f M a r s ( c o m p l i c a t e d , i s n ' t i t ? ) . A t f i r s t , t h e g i a n t sr e f u s e d , but Mothra managed to shame them i n t o f i g h t i n g

G h i d r a h . A f t e r a l e n g t h y b a t t l e , t h e t h r e e g oo d m o n s t e r smanaged to defeat the bad o n e ( s ) . At the f i l m ' s c l i m a x ,G h i d r a h w e n t f l y i n g o f f i n t o t h e d i s t a n c e — h e a d e d f o r w h oknows where?

Soon a f t e r w a r d , G h i d r a h r e t u r n e d a s MONSTER ZERO ( a l so known as INVASION OF A S TRO -MO NS TE R) . T h i s t ime a r o u n d ,E a r t h got to be inv ade d by a rac e of be i ngs f r om theP lan e t X . The d ragon had f l o w n the re a f t e r h i s de fea t a th e hands of the good mo ns te rs , and was now making i tough fo r t he i nh ab i t an t s t he re . The a l i e ns made con tac t

w i t h E a r t h , and then t r an sp or te d G o dz i l l a and R odan tot h e i r w o r l d t o f i g h t G h id rah . A f t e r t he good guys w on ,t h e o u t s i d e r s g a i n e d c o n t r o l o v e r a l l t h r e e b e a s t s an dmade them attack E a r t h . Thanks to t he he ro i c ac t i ons o fN ick Adams and a Japane se as t r on au t , t he con t ro l ov e r"ou r " d ino sau rs w as b r ok en , and G o dz i l l a and R odan immed

a t e l y t u r n e d a g a i n s t t h e t h r e e - h e a d e d c r e e p . A n o t h e ro n g , d r a g - o u t f i g h t r e s u l t e d i n G h i d r a h ' s d e f e a t , a n do u r m i l i t a r y f o r c e s s u c c e e d ed i n e l i m i n a t i n g t h e i n v a de rs by us ing a spe c ia l son i c de v i ce . We w on ag a i n , bu tnow Ghidrah was rea l ly angry because he had been beatena g a i n — t h i s t ime by on l y two oppon en ts !

In 1969, the or de r went out to a l l E ar th un i t s toDESTROY ALL MONSTERS. T h i s was becau se an oth er race ofa l i e n s — K i l a a k s — h a d g a i n e d m a s t e r y o v e r a l l o f o u rw o r l d ' s mons te r s and tu r ned them ag a i ns t us . L i ke t heX - i t e s , t hese c rea tu res w an ted to conquer ou r r ace . The

a p a n e se d i n o s a u r s w e r e f o r c e d t o a t t a c k e v e r y m a j o r c i t yon E a r t h , a g a i n s t t h e i r w i l l s . T h i s l a s t e d t h r o u g h o u tmost o f the f i l m , but f i n a l l y the good guys managed tode s t r o y t he enemy ' s moonbase and f r ee t he c r ea tu re s 'm i n d s . Then o u r o v e r - s i z e d h e r o e s , l e d b y G o d z i l l a , b an de d

o ge th er and ganged up on poor o ld G hid rah and the i n v ad e r s . As soon as the space dragon was beaten i n t o t h er o u n d , a l l o f t he mons t e r s a t t ack ed the a l i e ns ' base on

E a r t h , w h i l e s om e o f o u r f e a r l e s s a s t r o n a u t s b a t t l e d au p e r - s a u c e r . B y t h e t ime t he end c r ed i t s came on , a l l o fhe f oes had been vanqu ished .

Th e l as t t ime t h a t Ghidrah showed up was in GODZILLAV S . G I G A N . T h i s t im e , t he t h ree -he ade d one teamed w i tha n o t h e r s p a c e b e a s t , G i g a n , a t t he r eques t o f—can you

u e s s ? — i n v a d i n g a l i e n s f r o m a d i s t a n t p l a n e t . T h e i n v a ers were us i ng an amusement park as a f r o n t , but t h i s

wa s d iscove red by t he end o f t he mov ie . Wh i l e G h id rah andudgy G i g a n w e r e b u s y s m a sh i n g e v e r y t h i n g w i t h i n s i g h t ,

G o dz i l l a and Anguru s dec i ded to pu t an end to t he de s t r u c i o n . A f t e r a long and humorous ba t t l e , G od z i l l a and h i sompan ion w on ou t ov e r t he d in osa urs f r om ou te r sp ace .

G h id rah and h i s a l i en man ipu la t o r s w ere de fe a t ed , bu t t heh r e e - h e a d e d d r a g o n w i l l u n d o u b t e d l y r e t u r n i n a f u t u r eG o d z i l l a f i l m .

U n l i k e m os t J a p a n e s e m o n s t e r s , G h i d r a h d o e s n ' t a p p e a ro have any so r t o f pe r s on a l i t y . He seems to on l y w an t t oe s t r o y t h i n g s . Even th ou gh he was un de r the command ofl i e n i n v a d e r s i n t h r e e o f h i s f o u r f i l m s , h e a l w a y s

ooked as t hough he en j oy ed h i s w or k . We mus n ' t f o rg e th a t most of T o h o ' s d i n o s a u r s w e r e e v i l i n t h e b e g i n n i n g ,ut then changed somewhere a long t he wa y, howe ver Ioub t i f t hey w i l l a l t e r G h i d r a h ' s m a n n e r. I n my o p i n i o n ,e is the most dynamic of T o h o ' s b e a s t s t a r s . N ot o n l y i se na s t y , bu t w e ge t t o see some sp ec i a l e f f e c t s i n ac t i onh e n e ve r he shows up . I f he e v e r d i d j o i n t he good quys ,

hen ou r Mons te r A rmy w ou ld be i n v i nc ib le —a nd w e ca n ' te t t h a t happ en, can we? I f t he y became so po we r f u l , thenh o c o u l d p o s s i b l y c h a l l e n g e t h e m ? G h i d r a h ,ta y t he w ay yo u a r e . We lo ve .y ou i n sp i t ef y o u r s e l f .

HE SUPERHEROAddenda to Par t One

L a s t i s s u e ' s p r e s e n t a t i o n o f " T h e S u p e r h e r o :

J a p a n ' s I n t e r p r e t a t i o n , " w h i l e a c c u r a t e i n i t sa n a l y s i s o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e f i l m s i n c l u d e d i n t h eper iod 1957 th ro ugh 1964 , had a m is p r op or t i on a t eamoun t o f i nna cu rac ies i n r e ga r ds t o f i l m i n f o r ma t ion . As au th o r o f t he p ie ce i n qu es t i on , Iw ou ld l i k e t o a p o l o g i z e f o r t h e e r r o r s . H a d Iknown I wa s m i s r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e f a c t s , t h e a r t i c l e would not hav e appe ared u n t i l more datac o u l d h a v e b e en c o l l e c t e d . T h i s p i e c e , t h e n , i st o c o r r e c t m a n y , b u t n o t a l l , o f t h o s e e r r o r s ,w i t h g r a t e f u l a p p r e c i a t i o n t o t w o i n d i v i d u a l s ,H o r a c i o H i g u c h i a n d R o g e r A l l i s o n .

Japanese superhe ro comics appeared muche a r l i e r t h a n I s u r m i s e d , p o s s i b l y as f a r b ac k a st h e l a t e f o r t i e s , a n e x a m pl e b e i n g f r o m S h o n e n ,

a m o n t h l y p u b l i c a t i o n f o r t e e n a g e r s , w h i c h p r e -sen ted the adven tu res i n ' 48 o r ' 49 o f "Te tsuw anA t o m u , " an and ro i d boy l a t e r t o appear i n an im at e d f o r m f o r t e l e v i s i o n as ASTROBOY, t h e c r e a t i v e a r t i s t f o r t he s t r i p be ing O samu T e z u k a .R obo ts a r r i ve d i n t he comic s t r i p med ia i n t hee a r l y f i f t i e s , e . g . , " T e t s u j i n N i j u - H a c h i go "( " I r on Man N o . 28Y l r becoming GIGANTOR whenc h a ng e d t o a t e l e v i s e d c a r t o o n s e r i e s ) a n d t h eh u mo ro u s " R o b o t t o S a n t o - h e i " ( " B u c k P r i v a t e R o b o t , T h i r d C l a s s " ) , t h e l a t t e r p o s s i b l y h a v i n gb e e n ' i s s u e d e a r l i e r t h a n s t a t e d h e r e . S u ch n o n -r o b o t c h a r a c t e r s i n e v i d e n c e i a t h e m i d - f i f t i e swe r e J i r o T s u n o d a ' s f a n t a s t i c m as ke d h e r o e s ,"Gekko Kamen" ("Man in the Mo on l i gh t Ma sk" ) and"Maborosh i T a n t e i " ( " D e t e c t i v e S p e c t r e " ) w h i c ha p p e a r e d i n s c r e e n v e r s i o n s a f t e r t h e i r g e n e s i si n c o m i c s t r i p s , t h e l a t t e r a l s o p o p u l a r i z e d i na r a d i o s e r i a l . A t t h i s p o i n t , Mr . H iguch i w ou ldl i k e t o a sk i f a n y J a p a n e s e - b o r n r e a d e r s w o u l dc a r e to shed l i g h t upon the o r i g in s o f t he su per -h e r o e s . W e l l ?

In the "Man in the Moonl ight Mask" f i l ms e r i e s , I h a v e t h e f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n :

(1) MAN IN THE MOONLIGHT M A S K ( T o e i ; 1 9 5 8 ) ;D i r e c t o r : T s uneo K o y a y o s h i ; S c r e e n p l a y : Y a s u h i -r o K a w a u c h i ; P h o t o g r a p h y : I c h i r o H o s h i y a m a ;S t a r r i n g : F u m i ta k e O m u r a , J uny a U s a m i , H i r o k oMine , M i t sue Komiy a ; R unn ing t i me : 102 m ins .

(2) THE MONSTER GORI LLA ( T o e i ; 1959) ; D i r e c t o r : S a t o r u A i n o d a ; S t a r r i n g : F u m i t ak e O m ur a ,Yaeko Wahamigu; Running t im e: 60 mi ns .

(3) THE CHALLENGING GHOST ( T o e i ; 1959) ; D i r e c t o r : S h o i c h i S h i m a z u ; S t a r r i n g F u m i t a k e O m ur a .(4) THE LAST DEATH OF THE D E V I L ( T o e i ;

1959) ; D i r e c t o r : S h o i c h i S h i m a z u ; S t a r r i n g : F u m i take Omura.

R egar d ing t he "Super G i an t " se r i e s I havec ome a c r o s s t h e f o l l o w i n g :

( 1 ) KOTETSU NO K Y O J I N — S U P A J Y A I A N T S U ( T H ESTEEL G I A N T — S U P E R G I A N T ) ; 49 m i n u t e s ; r e l e a s e dJ u l y 30, 1957

( 2 ) ZOKU KOTETSU NO K Y O J I N — S U P A J Y A I A N T S U(FO L L O W-UP TO THE ADVENTURES OF TH E STEEL GIANT

— S U P E R G I A N T ) ; 52 m i n u t e s ; r e l e a s e d A u g u s t 1 6 ,1957

( 3 ) KOTETSU NO K Y O J I N — S U P A J Y A I A N T S U : K A I -

( co n t i nue d on ne x t page)

1



THE SUPERHEROAddenda to Pa r t One

( co n t i n u e d f r o m p r e ce d in g p a g e )S E I J I N NO MAJO ( T H E ST EEL G IAN T — SU PER GIAN T :THE EVIL CASTLE OF THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET PEOPLE) ;

48 m in u t e s ; r e l e a se d O c t o b e r , 1957( 4 ) KOTETSU NO K Y O J I N — S U P A J Y A I A N T S U : C H I -KIYU METSUBO SUNZEN ( T H E S T E E L G I A N T — S U P E R G I A N T : TH E EARTH WILL BE AN N IH ILAT ED SOON ) ; 39 minu t es ; re le as ed Oct ober 8 , 1957

( 5 ) S U P A J Y A I A N T S U : J I N K O E I S E I TO J I N R U INO HAMETSU (SUPER GIANT: TH E S A T E L L I T E S AND THEDESTRUCTION OF MANKIND) ; 39 m in u t e s ; r e l e a s e dDecemb er 28, 1957

( 6 ) SUPA JYAIANTSU: UCHUSEN TO J I N K O E I S E INO GEKITOTSU (SUPER GIANT: TH E SPACESHIP AND THES A T E L L I T E S IN D U E L ) ; 39 m in u t e s ; r e l e a se d J a n u a r y 3, 1958

( 7 ) SUPA JYAIANTSU: UCHU KAIJ IN SHUTSUGEN(SUPER GIANT: MYSTERIOUS SPACEMEN APPEAR) ; 45m in u t e s ; r e l e a s e d Ap r i l 2 8 , 1 958

( 8 ) ZOKU SUPA JYAIANTSU ( D A I H A C H I B U ) : AKU-

MA NO KESHIN (FURTHER ADVENTURESOF SUPER GIANT(CHAPTER E I G H T ) : D E V I L I N C A R N A T E ) ; 5 7 m in u t e s ;re le as ed March 27, 1959

( 9 ) ZOKU SUPA JYAIANTSU ( D A I KYUBU): DOKUGAOOKOKU (FURTHER ADVENTURESOF SUPER GIANT (CHAP TE R NINE) : KINGDOM OF THE VENOMOUS MOTH); 57m in u t e s ; r e l e a se d Ap r i l 2 4 , 1 9 5 9.

T h e f i r s t s i x f i l m s f o r m e d 5 i n d e p e n d e n t ,t w o - p a r t s t o r i e s , a nd w e r e d i r e c t e d b y T e r u oI s h i i . T h e E n g l i s h t i t l e s found in Japanese p resssheets a re : (1 ) THE STEELMAN FROM OUTER SPACE,

( 2 ) RESCUE FROM OUTER SPACE, ( 3 ) INVADERS FROMTH E P L A N E T S , (4) THE EARTH IN DANGER, (5) THES I N I S T E R S P A C E - S H I P S , (6) THE DESTRUCTION OF THES P A C E - F L E E T . T h e l a s t t h r e e f i l m s we r e i n d e p e n d e n t e n t i t i e s : ( 7 ) was d i r e c t e d b y Ak i r a M iwa ,

(8) and (9) by Chogi Akasaka.Most source s g i ve the same s ta f f and cas t

f o r t h e e n t i r e s e r i e s w h i c h i s i n c o r r e c t . F o re x a m p l e , t h e l e a d i n g l a d i e s we r e d i f f e r e n t f o re a ch s t o r y : Ju n ko I k e u ch i , ( 1 ) a nd ( 2 ) ; M ina koYamada, ( 3 ) a nd ( 4 ) ; U t a ko M i t su y a , ( 5 ) a nd ( 6 ) ;Ch i sa ko T a k a r a , ( 7 ) ; Re i ko Se t o , ( 8 ) ; T e r u m i Ho -s h i , (9 ) . The pho t ogr aphe r fo r (8 ) and (9 ) wasKiminobu Okada; the composer , Sadao Nagase. K in -ema Junpo l i s t s (8 ) as be ing the on ly f i l m o ft h e s e r i e s i n c o l o r .

Am e r i ca n t i t l e c o r r e s p o n d e n t s : ATOMIC RULERSOF TH E WORLD, (1 ) and (2 ) ; INVADERS FROM SPACE,

( 3 ) a n d ( 4 ) ; ATTACK FROM SPACE, (5 ) and (6 ) ;EV IL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPA CE, ( 7 ) .

F renc h t i t l e c o m p i l a t i o n s : L ' I N V I N C I B L ESPACEMAN (85 minutes; #1 and #2) ; L ' A T T A Q U E DESSOUCOUPES VOLANTES (85 mi nu t es ; #3 and #4 ) ;SPACEMEN CONTRE SATELLITES (85 minutes; #5 and# 6 ) .

Much o f the "Supe r G i an t " da ta is in d i re c tc o n t r a d i c t i o n t o s e v e r a l A m e r i ca n r e f e r e n c e s , b u tt h e i n f o r m a t i o n p r i n t e d h e r e i n i s d i r e c t l y f r o mJ apanes e sources , and as such shou ld be cons ider e d c o r r e c t . I f a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n i s u n c o v e r ed on the superhero f i l m between the years 1957through 1964, i t w i l l a p pe a r i n a s i m i l a r a r t i c l e n e x t i s s u e .

GREG SHOEMAKER

A b o v e : Sparke d by the renewed i nt er es t in Kong vi a t heParamount remake, the T o e i t e l e s e r i e s , KING KONG, i s cu r

r e n t l y i n r e r e l e a s e b y W o r l d v i s i o n E n t e r p r i s e s , I n c . T hese r i e s sp o r t s 48 co l o r e p i so d e s , e a ch a p p r o x . 8 m in u t e slong and one 50 minute show broken up i n t o two 25 minutesegment s . Be low : The o r ig in a l Amer ic an ad campa ign fo rT oho 's GOD Z ILLA V S . MECHAGODZILLA (1974) . F i lm has under gone t i t l e change to GOD Z ILLA V S . COSMIC MONSTER due toSTAR WARS a cce p t a n ce . C in em a Sh a r e s ' a b i l i t y to marke tf i l m s a long cu r r en t t r end s wou ld seem to be an ass e t .

SEE THE MIGHTY GODZILLA INA FIGHT TO THE DEATH

WITH HIS BIONIC DOUBLE!

D n i f b u i e d by

C I N E M A S H A R E S I N T E R N A T I O N A L D I S T R I B U T I O N C O R F



cT\f7~^{—j Two T o e i e p i s o d e s i n the f u r t h e r a d v e n - \ I fl /y t u r e s o f t h e i r s u p e r h e r o p r o d u c t w e r e r e -

L i b l e a s e d on March 18. SPECTREMAN (SUPEKTO-

RUMAN), 25 m i n u t e s l o n g , c o n t i n u e d t h e m o n s t e r v s . E a r t hS t o r y . MASKED RIDER VS. SHOCKER (KAMEN RAID A TAI SHOKKA),

d i r e c t i o n byMinoru Yamada ,and a 32 m i n u t e l e n g t h , f e a tu red Masked R ide r ' s a t t empt t o c o u n t e r t h e r a g i n g s o fh e mad S h o c k e r . T o e i a lso p roduced t h e c a r t o o n f e a t u r e t t e

GO GET THEM 0011 LINERS (MAKEN RAINA ZERO-ZERO-WAN-WAN

HENSHIN SEW), d e p i c t i n g t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f dogs i n t oi g h t i n g mach ines . Tsu tomu an d h i s f o u r pe t c a n i n e s f i g h t

a g a i n s t m o n s t e r s who p l o t t o make in ro ad s upon t h e E a r t h .R e leased J u l y 16, t h e 50 m i n u t e f i l m was d i r e c t e d by T a k e s h i T a m i y a . ( T h e c h a r a c t e r s ' c o de n um be r i s a pu n i nJ a p a n e s e , as "wan-wan" means someth ing l i k e " b o w - w o w " ) . . .W i t h d i s t r i b u t i o n by T o h o , T s u b u r a y a P r o d u c t i o n ' s c o n t i n

ued success i n the s u p e r h e r o f i e l d was e v i d e n t i n t he r e e a s e o f a n o t h e r MIRAMAN e p i s o d e on March 12 w i t h a 25

minu te r unn ing t ime an d d i r e c t i o n by the d i s t i n g u i s h e d I -s h i r o H o n d a . D i r e c t o r E i z o Yamagiwa staged a b a t t l e b e ween U l t raman and s p ac e m o n s te r Y a d o k a r i n . i n a 48 m i n u t e

T su b u r a ya P r o d u c t i o n s f i l m f o r t h e ULTRAMAN RETURNS (KAET-

TEKITA URUTORUMAN) s e r i e s . . .

V n / ^ r — ~ ~ ) / ~ ~ \ MOTHRA an d LATITUDE ZERO w e r e r e i s s u e d as| J / /{A a doub le b i l l on December 14 i n J a p a n . . .\s^2J\J L T T h e s o l u t i o n t o t he c o n t r o v e r s y s u r r o u n d

n g D a i e i ' s p r o po s e d f i l m , SINKING OF THE JAPANESE IS

ANDS, a n n o u n c e d p r i o r t o t h e s t u d i o ' s b a n k r u p t c y , andT o h o ' s SUBMERSION OF JAPAN r e l e a s e d i n 1974, wa s d i s c e r n e d f r o m i n f o r m a t i o n r e c e i v e d r e g a r d i n g t h e p u r c h a s e o fa l l o f D a i e i ' s f i l m i c p r o p e r t i e s i n the T a t t e r ' s b a n k r u p t cy d a y s , on e o f t he p r o p e r t i e s b e i n g t h e f i l m r i g h t s t o

he nove l upon w h ic h D a ie i ' s f i l m was to be b a s e d . . .K a z u h i k o W a t a n a b e ' s p u p p e t - a n i m a t i o n f i l m ,THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, was s e l e c t e d w i n n e r of the Golden Mermaid Award i n the

i r s t F a i r y t a l e F i l m F e s t i v a l i n t he c a t e g o r y o f " B e s tHans C h r i s t i a n An d e rs e n f i l m . " T h e f e s t i v a l was o r g a n i z e dn t h e n a t i v e t o w n o f Andersen , O dense , D enmark , t o markh e c e n t e n a r y o f t he dea th o f D e nm a rk ' s g r e a t f a i r y t a l e

w r i t e r on A u g u s t 4, 1875. An i n t e r n a t i o n a l f e s t i v a l j u r yeaded by P o l a n d ' s r e n o w n e d f i l m c a r t o o n i s t , J a n L e n i c a ,hose t h e w i n n i n g p r o d u c t i o n s . D u r i n g t h e t e n - d a y f e s t i a l , more than 12,000 c h i l d r e n c r o w d e d i n t o two l o c a lh e a t r e s t o w a t c h a t o t a l o f 58 c a r t o o n o r puppet f i l m srom more than 20 n a t i o n s . . . T o e i f a n t a s y o u t p ut f o r 1975

wa s , as u s u a l , c o n s i d e r a b l e . T h e y o f f e r e d no l e s s t h a nh r e e k i d d i e p r o g r a m s , known as manga-matsuri o r c a r t o o n

e s t i v a l , w i t h b ot h l i v e - a c t i o n an d a n i m a t e d s h o r t s .F e s t i v a l No. 1 t ook p lace on March 21, w h i c h ca n be c o n i d e r e d as th e i n i t i a l r e l e a s e d a t e f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g

f i l m s , and c o m p r i s e d t h e 68 m i n u t e AN ANDERSEN FABLE-

PRINCESS MERMAID (ANDERUSEN SOWA—NINGYO RIME) w i t h d i r e c t i o n by T o m oh a r u K a t s u m a t a , a n i m a t i o n d i r e c t i o n by R e i k oOkuyama, s c r e e n p l a y by Ikuko Oyabu and M i e k o O s a n a i , andmus ic by T s u y o k u n i H i r a y o s h i . I t wa s f i l m e d i n E a s t m a n -c o l o r an d T o e i S c o p e . On the same b i l l : LITTLE WITCH MEG

AND THE AIDE FROM THE MOON (MAJOKKO MEGUCHAN— TSUKIYORI

NO SHISHA), a 25 m i n u t e c a r t o o n f o r g i r l s d i r e c t e d b y H i -r o s h i S e t s u r a k u ; GREAT MAZlNGA VS. ROBOT GETTER (GURETO

MAJINGER TAI GETTAROBO), an a n i m a t e d s u p e r h e r o v s . r o b o tt a l e d i r e c t e d by Masayuk i Akeb i and r u n n i n g 30 m i n u t e s i n1 e n g t h ; MASKED RIDER AND THE AMAZONS (KAMEN RAIDA—AMAZON) ,

a n o th e r l i v e - a c t i o n s p i n o f f w i t h t h e m u t a n t m o t o r c y c l e r i ding hero i n a 24 m i n u t e s h o r t d i r e c t e d by I s s a k u U c h i d a ;t h e 25 m i n u t e GANBARE ROBOKON, t h e f i r s t i n a new s e r i e so f l i v e - a c t i o n s h o r t s i n v o l v i n g l i t t l e automaton Robokon,d i r e c t e d by S e t s u r o O k u n a k a ; an d a 16 m i n u t e c o l o r d o c u m e n t a r y , THESE ARE THE U.F.O. ! FLYING SAUCERS (KORE GA

u .F .o. DA! SORATOBU ENBAN), c o m p i l e d by I s s e i S h i g e n o . T h esecond program was h e l d on J u l y 26, 1975. I t f e a t u r e d twoc a r t o o n s : GREAT MAZINGA VS. ROBOT GETTER-G: THE GREAT AIR

DUEL (GURETO MAJINGER TAI GETTAROBO- G: KUCHU DAIGEKITOTSU) ,

d i r e c t e d by Masayuk i Akeb i and r u n n i n g 25 m i n u t e s ; an d WAR

OF THE SPACE SAUCERS ( UCHU ENBAN DAISENSO), d i r e c t e d byv e t e r a n Yugo S e r i k a w a and r u n n i n g 30 m i n u t e s i n l e n g t h .A l s o p r e s e n t e d w e r e t h r e e l i v e - a c t i o n s h o r t s : t h e 20 m i n ut e ROBOKON AND HIS AMUSING FRIENDS (GANBARE ROBOKON—

YUKAINA NAKAMA), d i r e c t e d by H i d e t o s h i K i t a m u r a ; MASKED

RIDER AND THE STRONGER (KAMEN RAIDA—SUTORONGA) , d i r e c t e dby I t a r u S e t s u d a and r u n n i n g 20 m i n u t e s ; an d SECRET FORCE

FIVE RANGERS (HIMITSU SENTAI GORENJA), abou t a team o ff i v e m a s k e d s u p e r h e r o e s , d i r e c t e d by K a t s u h i k o T a g u c h i andr u n n i n g 20 m i n u t e s . On December 20 t h e t h i r d an d f i n a lf e s t i v a l wa s p r e s e n t e d i n w h i c h t h e f o l l o w i n g w e r e s c r e e n e d : t h e an ima ted u .F .o. ROBOT GURENDAISER (U.F.O. ROBO

GURENDAISA), d i r e c t e d by Y o i c h i K o s o an d r u n n i n g 24 m i n u t e s ; and t h e l i v e - a c t i o n f i l m s , e a ch r u n n in g 24 m i n u t e s :OHMYGOSH ! J CAN 'T E A T \ (GANBARE ROBOKON MUGYOGYOll KUINEE

d i r e c t e d by H i d e t o s h i K i t a m u r a ; AKUMAIZU-3, a new s u p e r he ro ep i c b y Setsuo O kunaka ; an d SECRET FORCE FIVE RANG

ERS AND THE BLUE FORTRESS (HIMITSU SENTAI GORENJA—-AOI

DAIYOSAI), d i r e c t e d by K a zu h ik o T a g u c h i . . . T o e i a l s o r e l e a s e d s e v e r a l n o t e w o r t h y f e a t u r e s i n 1975. T h e s t u d i op roduced WOLFGUY—ENRAGE, WOLFMAN (URUFUGAI—MOERO OOKAMI

OTOKO), a s t r a n g e s c i e n c e f i c t i o n / k a r a t e a d v e n t u r e w ho s ehero has i n h e r i t e d " t h e power o f t h e w o l v e s " an d becomesi n v i n c i b l e w h e n t h e moon i s f u l l , h e r e f i g h t i n g a m u r d e r ous o r g a n i z a t i o n w hi c h l i t e r a l l y r i p s o f f i t s v i c t i m s by

means of an i n v i s i b l e " m e n t a l t i g e r " c o m m a n d e d by a g i r lw i t h E . S . P . T h e f i l m , d i r e c t e d by Kazuh iko Yamaguch i w i t ha r u n n i n g t i m e o f 86 m i n u t e s , was r e l e a s e d on May 4, 1975.

21



MHfflUMKMIuLIUKUfiFOR THE LOST CONTINENT OF MU!

{R{ DISTRIBUTED BY CINEMA SHARES INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CORP.

GIANT AGAINST GIANT... the ultimate battle!

Th e same d i re c t or was a lso res pon s i b l e fo r CAT-MONSTER OF

TEE TURKISH BATH (KAIBYO TORUKOBURO) whi ch blended the

t r a d i t i o n a l cat -monster theme, make-neko, wi t h t he e ro t i c

sur roun din gs of a massage pa rl or and whic h st ar re d porno

star Naomi T a n i as the were cat /mas seus e who gets rev eng e

on her murderous gi go lo . The f i l m was re leased January

29, 1975 and ran 81 minutes. THE BULLET TRAIN (SHINKANSEN

D A I BAKUHA), r e l e a s e d J u l y 5, was a c lever ly p l o t t e d d i

s a s t e r t h r i l l e r f rom T o e i , t he " B u l l e t T r a i n " being the

s u p e r - e x p r e s s t h a t runs between T o k y o and Hakata, K y u s h u .Th e s t or y conc ern ed a bomb th re at by a grou p demanding $5

m i l l i o n t h a t woul d pl ace 1,500 pass enge rs on board th e

"H i kar i 109" in grave danger . I f the t ra i n ' s speed is r e

duced to under 80 ki lo met er s per hou r, th e bombs woul d ex

p lode. "A c t i ons o f the bombers , the ra i l ro ad in te re s t s and

t h e p o l i c e i n v e s t i g a t o r s a r e v i v i d l y d e s c r i b e d i n p a r a l l e l

V e r y s k i l l f u l use of both the rea l t ra i n and mini at ure s

con t r i bu tes t o t he t h r i l l and exc i t em en t . D i rec to r J u n y aSat o 's d i re c t io n has surpassed mere c l eve rne ss and create d

one of t he most suc ces sf ul Jap anese f i l m s i n r ecen t yea rs .

( M i z u , V a r i e t y , J u l y 30 , 1975.) Scr een pl ay : Ryunosuke Ono,

J u n y a Sa to ; O r i g i n a l s t o r y : A re i Ka to ; Pho tography ( c o l o r )

Masahiko I imura; Sound: Kenzo I n o u e ; A r t d i r e c t i o n : S h u i -

chiro Nakamura; Editor: Osamu T a n a k a ; A s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r :

Ak i h i sa Okamoto; S t ar r i ng Ken Taka kur a , Sh i n i ch i Ch ib a,

Ke i Yamamoto, KenUtsu i , Te tsuro Tamba; Runni ng ti me : 155

min ute s. Tak akur a took best act or award at the 3-day 22nd

Asian F i lm Fest iva l he ld in P u s a n , Korea in J u n e , 1 9 7 6 . . . MECHAGODZILLA'S REVENGE,whose spec ia l e f f ec t s we re d i r ec

ted by Ter uyo sh i Nakano, fo rmer ass is ta n t d i re c t or to E i j i

T s u b u r a y a , saw re le as e March 15, 1975. A ls o b i l l e d w i t h

the feature was a 14 minute cartoon, HAJIME NINGEN—GYATO-

RUZU, d i re c t ed by E i j i Okabe. The co l or sh or t was invo lv ed

wi t h a cyborg fam i l y and a g ia n t mons ter . . .

^ / ^ T N C r ^ v ^ i Yo ic hi Ta ka ba ya sh i, who has come up

| ^ ^ / / / I n ^ thr ough expe rime nta l and undergrou nd f i l m su^£yU to ach i eve in te rna t i ona l p rominence in

1973 when his THE WATER WAS SO CLEAR was chosen f o r th e

C r i t i c s ' Week in Cannes and the n won th e Grand Pr i x at

Mannhe im, has f i l med " . . . h i s t h i r d f e a t u r e , MURDER AT AN

OLD MANSION, a bloody t a l e (wh ic h inc lude s) a b i t o f

s le u th ing to unrave l a ha r i -k ar i compuls ion on the par t

o f the ag in g, in te l l ec tu a l b r ide groom. Desp i t e some de

cent le ns i ng , and a good tw is t in a conve nt io na l s t o r y ,pi c nev er get s o f f th e ground and is hampered by st er eo

type roles and d u l l thesp. per formances. The f i n a l r e c o n

s t ru c t io n o f the murders a l lo ws fo r a det a i led b lood bath

aimed at commercial aud s. wi t h a ye n f or t h i s k ind o f v i o

l enc e . The psycho log i ca l d im ens ion , r a the r t han de tec t i ve

rh e t o r i c , i s m iss ing t o make p i c a w in ne r . " ( Ho l l . , V a r i e t y , J u l y 14, 1976.) (HONJIN SATSUJIN JIKEN)—Producer:

Y o i c h i Takabaya sh i ; O r i g i na l s t o r y : Se i sh i Yokom izo (no

v e l ) ; Screenp lay and d i re c t i o n : Yo i ch i Takabay ash i ; P ho togr aphy : Fu j io Mor i t a ; Mus ic : Nobuh iko Obaya sh i ; Ar t d i

r e c t i o n : Yosh i robu N ish i oka ; F i lm ed i n co l o r ; Running

106 minu tes ; Re leas ed: 1 9 7 6 . . . G O D Z I L L A , RODAN and MOTHRA,

a l l f r om T o h o , were re is su ed in Jap an on December 18. A l

so r e - i s s ued i n 1976 we r eTo ho ' s 4 - p a r t h o r r o r a n t h o l o g y ,

KAIDAN (19 65) , and on a t r i p l e b i l l engagement, T o e i ' sh o r r o r e f f o r t s GHOST OF CHIDORI SWAMP (1956) , GHOST STORY

OF BANCHO MANSION (1957), and GHOST OF OIWA ( 1 9 6 1 ) . . . T h e

t ren d o f sex and fan ta sy fo l low ed i n t o 1976 wi t h at le as t

two f i lm s : T o e i ' s FEMALE NINJA TECHNIQUE—TWO-FOLD GATE

(KU-NO-ICHI NINPO—KANNON HiRAKi), an er o t ic ya rn w i th a

doub le entendre t i t l e , di re ct ed by Tak ayu ki Minakawa and

re le as ed on Feb ru ar y 14, and runn ing 66 minut es in le ng th ;

and N ikk a tsu ' s 76 m inu te , b i z a r re , sad i s t i c t h r i l l e r , YA-

NEURA NO SANPOSHA (STROLLER IN THE ATTIC) , based on a no

v e l by Ranpo Edogawa upon whose wor ks wer e al so based

HORROR OF THE MALFORMED MEN (KAIDAN KIKEI NINGEN) and THE

BLIND BEAST (MOJU), both 1969 re l ea se s, and di re ct ed by

T o p : Am eri can p re - re lea se adve r t i s i n g f o r GODZILLA VS.

MEGALON. Note the "R" ra t i ng . Bot tom: Adv er t i s i ng cam

paign ev en tu al l y used which bears a s t r i k i n g resemblanceto the ad campaign for the KING KONG remake.



N o b o r u T a n a k a f o r a J u n e 12 r e l e a s e . . . O n N o v e m b e r 13 T o h or e l e a s e d THE iNUGAMis (INUGAMI KE NO ICHIZOKU), a t a l eo f w e i r d m u r d e r c a s e s , d i r e c t e d by the g i f t e d Kon I c h i k a -wa and s c o r e d by Y u j i O h n o . P r o d u c e d by H a r u k i K a d o k a w a ,t h e f i l m was b a s e d on a b e s t - s e l l i n g n o v e l by the f a m o u sJ a p a n e s e m y s t e r y a u t h o r , S e i s h i Y o k o m i z o , an d s t a r r e d K o -j i I s h i z a k i , Y o k o S h i n t a d a , Mieko T a k a m i n e , T e r * u h i k o A o ia n d R e n t a r o M i k u n i . R u n n i n g a h e f t y 145 m i n u t e s , t h e f i l mw a s i n i t i a t o r f o r t h e a b u n d a n c e o f m y s t e r y p i c t u r e s w h i c hf o l l o w e d due t o THE INUGAMIS i n c r e d i b l e s u c c e s s . . . 1 9 7 6wa s bus y f o r T o e i C o . , L t d . S h o r t s u b j e c t s : SECRET FORCE

FIVE RANGERS—ALL-RED FIERCE ATTACK (HIMITSU SENTAI GOREN JA—MAKKA NA MOSHINGEKI), a l i v e - a c t i o n , 26 m i n u t e , c o l o rf i l m d i r e c t e d b y K a t s u h i k o T a g u c h i i n w h i c h t h e R a n g e r sa r e c h a l l e n g e d by the B l a ck C r o s s O r g a n i z a t i o n , r e l e a s e dM a rc h 20; the 25 m i n u t e ROBOKON'S GREAT ADVENTURE (ROBO

KON NO DAIBOKEN), a l i v e - a c t i o n , c o l o r p i c t u r e d i r e c t e db y T o y o h i k o H a t a k e y a m a i n w h i c h t h e r o b o t h e r o R o b o k o nr e s c u e s a f r i e n d l y g i r l f r o m m a r r i a g e t o a s p a c e p i r a t e ,r e l e a s e d M a r c h 20; a l s o r e l e a s e d M a r c h 20, U .F.O. ROBOT

GURENDAISER VS. GREAT MAZINGA (U.F.O. ROBO-GURENTAIZA TAI

GURETO MAJINGA), a 27 m i n u t e , a n i m a t e d , c o l o r f i l m d i r e c t e d b y Osamu Kasai i n w h i c h f r i e n d l y r o b ot G u r e n d a i s e r

s i b l e f o r t h e M a rc h 20 r e l e a s e o f PUSS 'N' BOOTS—AROUND

THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (NAGAGUTSU WO HA IT A NEKO—HACHIJU

NICH/KAN SEKAI ISSHU), a c o l o r / s c o p e , 69 m i n u t e c a r t o o nd i r e c t e d by H i r o s h i S h i d a r a . The p r o d u c t i o n was a s e q u e lt o T o e i ' s s u c c e s s f u l 1969 f i l m , FUSS 'N' BOOTS, w i t h a d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l f r o m t h e J u l e s V e r n e n o v e l i n d i c a t e d i nt h e f i l m ' s t i t l e . . .

cTlfr)^—.7?~~7/ P r o d u c t i o n s t a r t e d i n A p r i l on a s e c o n d| \~ ! I / / / / s e r i e s o f a n im a t e d s h o r t s u n d e r the um-U ^ r y L / U b r e l l a t i t l e o f " W o r l d F a m o u s F a i r y T a l e s . "

T h i s f o l l o w s c o m p l e t i o n o f th e f i r s t 52 p r o g r a m s , e a c h

w i t h l e n g t h s o f 15 m i n u t e s , w h i c h a r e b e i n g d i s t r i b u t e do v e r s e a s t h r o u g h t h e A r t h u r D a v is O r g a n i z a t i o n . P r o d u c e r so f t h e s e r i e s , W o r l d F i l m s o f T o k y o , h a v e b u d g e t e d $8,000p e r e p i s o d e . . . T h e 11th A n n e c y I n t e r n a t i o n a l A n i m a t i o nF i l m F e s t i v a l d i s p l a y e d a f a n t a s y w o r k f r o m J a p a n . K i h i -c h i r o K a w a m o t o ' s 19 m i n u t e p u p p e t f i l m , DOJORI, " . . . r e v e a l e d e x t r a o r d i n a r y w o rk m an s hi p i n c r e a t i n g a t r a g e d y o fa t h w a r t e d w om an t u r n e d i n t o a demon t o w r e a k v e n g e a n c eon a l y i n g p i l g r i m . " ( Ge ne M o s k o w i t z ; V a r i e t y ; J u l y 6,1 9 7 7 ) . . . K I N G KONG VS. GODZI LLA wa s r e i s s u e d i n F e b r u a r yi n J a p a n t o c a s h in on the s u c c e s s o f P a r a m o u n t 1 s KING

KONG i n t h a t c o u n t r y . . . T h e T s u b u ra y a P r o d u c t i o n s / R a n k i n -

i * xP r e p r o d u c t i o np u b l i c i t yf o r NESSIE,

t h e p r o p o s e dH a m m e r / P a r a d i n e /Toho f i l mnow i n t e m p o r a r yl imbo . Ha mme rs t i l l p e r s i s t si t w i l l p r o d u c et h e p i c t u r e

w i t h e f f e c t s byT o h o .

a c e s h i s a l l y , t h e G r e a t M a z i n g a , c o n t r o l l e d by a l r e n sf r o m V e 0 ga ; and th e f o l l o w i n g f i l m s a l l r e l e a s e d J u l y 18,1976: a 31 m i n u t e , c o l o r / s c o p e a n im a t e d f i l m , GURENDAISER,

ROBOT GETTER-G, GREAT MAZINGA—BATTLE I THE BIG MONSTER •

(GURENDAISA, GETTAROBO-G, GURETO MAJINGA: KESSEN! DAIKAI-

J U ) , d i r e c t e d by M a s a y u k i T e r u k i t a , i n w h i c h " t h e 3 s t a r r i n g r o b o t s team up w i t h B o s s R o b o t , D ia n e "A " and V e n u s" A , " a l s o r o b o t s , t o d e f e a t p r e h i s t o r i c m o n s t e r D r a g o n-S a u r u s ; SECRET FORCE FIVE RANGERS—BOMB HURRICANE (HIM

ITSUSENTAI GORENJA— BAKUDAN HARIKEN), a 21 m i n u t e , l i v e -a c t i o n , ' c o l o r f i l m d i r e c t e d by M i n or u Y a m a d a . i n w h i c ht h e e v i l B l a c k C r o s s O r g a n i z a t i o n , t h r e a t e n i n g J a p a n w i t h5 s u p e r m i s s i l e s , i s d e f e a t e d by the F i v e R a n g e r s ; a 21m i n u t e , l i v e - a c t i o n , c o l o r p r e s e n t a t i o n , THE SHADOWSTAR

(ZA KAGETSUTA), d i r e c t e d b y I s s a k u U c h i d a , i n w h i c h t h es u p e r h e r o S h a d o w s t a r i s p i t t e d a g a i n s t D r . S a t a n ' s c r e a i o n s , S p i d e r M a n , Bat Man and T i g e r G i r l ; SPACE IRONMAN

KYODINE (UCHU TETSUJIN KJODAIN) , a 20 m i n u t e , c o l o r , a n i mated f i l m d i r e c t e d b y K o i c h i T a k e m o t o , i n w h i c h tw o "Cy-b a l o i d " r o b o t s b a t t l e i n v a d e r s f r o m t h e p l a n e t T a d a . . . A -p a r t f r o m T o e i ' s J u l y 18, 1976 J a p a n e s e r e i s s u e o f t h e i rALI BABA AND THE 40 (ANIMAL) THIEVES (ARIBABA TO YONJIP-

PIKJU NO TOZOKU; 1971), t h e i r a n i m a t i o n s t u d i o w as r e s p o n -

B a s s c o - p r o d u c t i o n THE LAST DINOSAUR, t e l e c a s t on AB C onF e b r u a r y 11, 1977, o b t a i n e d a r a t i n g o f 25.2% and a 41%s h a r e o f a l l t e l e v i s i o n s e t s t u r n e d on in t h a t t i m e p e r i o d , r a n k i n g t h e f i l m n u m b e r 24 for a l l m a d e - f o r - T V m o v i e s b r o a d c a s t b e t w e e n S e p t e m b e r 20, 1976 and S e p t e m b e r 4 ,

1977. T h e f i l m w a s > e l e a s e d i n J a p a n as POLAR PROBE SHIPPOLAR BORER (KYOKVTEI TANKENSEN PORA-BORA) on S e p t e m b e r1 5 , 1977. The J a p a n e s e v e r s i o n ran 105 m i n u t e s and wasd i s t r i b u t e d b y T o w a . . . A t t h e 2 3 rd A s i a n F i l m F e s t i v a lh e l d i n Ba ngk ok on Nov e mbe r 18-29, 1977, S h o c h i k u ' s VIL

LAGE OF 8 GRAVESTONES w a s h o n o r e d w i t h an a w a r d f o r " B e s tA r t D i r e c t i o n " an d T o h o ' s HOUSE f o r " B e s t S p e c i a l E f f e c t s " . . . K a z u h i k o W a t a n ab e ' s s h o r t , a n im a t e d p u p p e t f i l m

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST wa s a wa rde d a " S i l v e r T i n S o l d i e r "a t the 2nd F a i r y t a l e F e s t i v a l h e l d a t Ode ns e , De nma rk onS e p t e m b e r 13, 1 9 7 7 . . . A v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g f i l m p r og r am o c c u r r e d at the B u n g e i T h e a t r e i n T o k y o at t h e end o f 1977f e a t u r i n g a c o m p a c t f e s t i v a l o f J a p a n e s e f a n t a s y m o v i e s :

ESPY, MATANGO an d THE H-MAN ( D e c . 1 9 ) ; SUPERGIANT #1 an d

#2, MAJIN an d GAMERA ( D e c . 2 0 ) ; CATASTROPHE 1999 and SUB-

MERSION OF JAPAN ( D e c . 2 1 ) ; GAPPA, X FROM OUTER SPACE an d

VARAN ( D e c . 2 2 ) ; COKE', THE SNOW MONSTER (HALF HUMAN) an d

GENOCIDE ( D e c . 2 3 ) ; THE INVISIBLE AVENGER, SECRET OF THE

2 3



T E L E G I A N and THE HUMAN VAPOR (Dec . 24 ) ; th e f o l l o w i n g

week was dominated by a more modern do ub le -b i l l wi th THE

DEVIL'S NURSERY SONG and HOUSE...Another manga-matsur i

from T o e i premier ed sev era l f i l ms on Ap r i l 27 , 1977. The

m ain a t t r ac t i on was a ca r toon fea tu re , WORLD'S GREATEST

FABLES—THE SWAN PRINCE (SEMI MEISAKU DOWA—HAKUCHO NO

O J I ) , d i re c t ed by Taka sh i Abe. The event a lso cont a ine d

the Short s u b j e c t s GIANT IRONMAN ONE-SEVEN (DAITETSUJIN

WAN-SEBUN), d i r e c t e d by m ino ru Yam ada , a l i ve -a c t i o n sho r t

in which the t i t l e robot bat t l es a cou nte rpa r t named

B r a i n , and SUPER ELECTROMAGNETIC ROBOT COMBATTLER V-5

(CHODENJI ROBO KONBATORA "V"), an animated f i l m d i r e c t e d

by Tadao Nagahama, in whic h th e rob ot hero faces an a l ien

menace awakened on Ea rt h af t e r a slum ber of 35,000

y e a r s . . . A l s o f r om T o e i i n 1977 came t he T e r u o A n z a i / K a n j i

Amano produced HAUNTING OF THE DOG-GOD (INUGAMI NO TA-

TARI), p r e v i o u s l y t i t l e d WOMEN WITH THE EVIL SPIRIT (AKU-

REO NOYONNA), b ut r e t i t l e d t o c a p i t a l i z e on t h e p o p u l a r i t y

o f T o h o ' s THE INUGAMI'S to which i t was not re la te d at

a l l . Photographed by Han j i ro Nakazawa, th is sup ern atu ra l

t h r i l l e r was sc r i p t ed by t he f i lm 's d i r e c t o r , Shunya I t o ,

who re tu rne d to the scre en a f te r a fo ur yea r absence.

HAUNTING s t ar re d Kyoko K i sh id a, Sh in ya Owada, Jun Izu mi ,

Masami Hasegawa, Hideo Mur ota , Mizuno Su zu ki , and Aki ko

Koyama. Also fea tured were Emiko Yamauch i , M izuho Suzuko,

J u n y a Kato , Ko I t o , Kayoko Sh i r a i s h i , and Noburo Mi t an i .

A r t d i r e c t o r was Tadano r i Kawana ; ed i t o r , T a k e o T o d a .Shunsuke Kik uchi d id the sc or in g, and Ta kan or i Komatsu

eng ineered the sound. T o e i p u b l i c i t y c l a i m e d t h e f i l m

surpassed THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN and CARRIE in their ownf i e l d s . . .

^sp ̂ £=~Y^\ According to Tomoyuki T a n a k a , e x e c u t i v e

I j prod ucer fo r T o h o , the s tu d io is ready ing

u'^JU ̂ELS 3 co- pr odu ct i ons wi th as many Ameri can

f i lm m ake rs . The f i r s t venture proposed would be a remake

of the H.G . Wel ls n o ve l , The Time Machi ne, done in ass o

c i a t io n w i th George Pal whose 1961 ver s i on o f the s t or y

won an Academy Award fo r sp eci al e f f e c t s . The SF pro je ct

is to in cl ude such wonders as gi an t bees and cr ab s. Shoot

i ng w i l l be handle d in Japan wi th inv est ment co st and pr o

f i t sha r i ng on a 50/50 ba s i s . The second co -p r odu c t i on ,

desc r i bed as a ho r ro r p i ece , w i l l be made wi t h A mer ica n

prod ucer Cha rl es Youngman's Punch Pr od uc t i on s. To be

sc r i p t ed by Reuben Be r cow i t z , MORTAL w i l l c o n c e r n i t s e l f

wi th a mons ter who appea rs when Mt. F uj i er up ts and hi s

even tua l a t t ack ing o f T o k y o in a quest fo r f ood . The f i

na l p ro jec t w i l l be anot her monster en t r y , GODZILLA vs.

GARGANTUA, to be co-produce d w i th Henry G. Sa pe rs te in 's

UPA Pi c t ur es . "We were o f fe re d more than 5 pr op os a l s , "

Tanaka sa i d , "bu t we dec ided upon the t h ree l i s t e d . " . . .

NESSIE, the proposed $7 m i l l i o n fea ture about the Loch

Ness mons ter , has run in to pro duc t i on problems but is

s t i l l sl at ed t o be produc ed by Hammer Fi l ms of Eng la nd ,

Euan L l oy d ' s Pa rad ine F i lm s ( t hough w i t hou t Dav id F ro s t

as o r i g i n a l l y p l anned ) and T oho o f J a p a n . Toho i s sched

uled to f i l m the e f fe c t s wh ich a t las t r epo r t were to be

accomplished to the tune of $350,000. The sc r i p t by J o h nSt ar r , B ryan Forbes and Chr is to phe r Wiek ing was comple ted

the l a s t week of Sept ember , 1976. T he f i n a l s h o o t i n g

sc r i pt by Fo rb es , al so compl ete d, was to have gone bef or e

the cameras in May of 1978, but so f ar p ro du ct io n s t i l l

has no t begun on what a ppe ars t o be an i l l - f a t e d p r o j e c t .

Due in the f a l l of 1979 is Rank in / Bass ' la te s t J . R . R . T o l -

l i e n a d a p t i o n , FRODO—THE HOBBIT I I . Animat ion o f the fea

t u r e w i l l be hand led in Japan w i th p os t -pr odu ct ion work

to fo l lo w i n the U.S. Produced and d i re c t ed by Ar th ur

R a n k i n , J r . and Ju l es Bass , and sco red by Maury Laws wi th

l y r i c s by Ju l es Bass , t he f i l m w i l l have a screenp lay

aut hor ed by Romeo Mul le r f ro m the To l k i en books The Re

tu rn o f the King and The Hob bi t . Rankin and Bass ' anima

t i on coo rd in a to r s aga in a re T o r u Hara and Tsugunobu Kubo.

V o i c e s w i l l be pro v id ed by Orson Bean, Theodore B i ke l ,

W i l l i am Con rad , J o h n Huston, Roddy McDowel l , Theodore, and

t h e v e r s a t i l e P a u l F r e e s . . .

Below l e f t : Spect reman in a tu ss le w i th the e v i l , monkey

l i k e G o r i , nemes is o f the s tee lman in h is own te l ev i s i on

s e r i e s . T e l e c a s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l , I n c . is p r e s e n t l y s y n d i

ca t ing the show to s ta t i ons th rou ghout the U.S. Be low:

Th e superhero team known as the F i v e Rangers . L ike Spec

t reman, th is co lo r f u l g roup o f do-gooders has s t ar re d in

a number of sho rt f i lm s r el ea se d to th ea tr es as wel l as

in th e i r own t e l es er i es . Each o f the fo r ce has a d i f f e r

ent col or ed costume, helmet emblem, and helmet nume ral .

A t p resen t t he r e i s no Am er i can d i s t r i bu to r .



MY BLOOD BELONGS TO SOMEONE ELSE ( a l t . : BLOOD; ORENO CHIWA TA N I N NO CH I ) ; P r o d u ce d by Sh o ch i ku Co . , L t d . ; E x e c u t i ve p r o d u c e r : K t y o sh t H i g u ch i ; Ba se d o n a n o ve l b y Ya -s u t a k a T s u t s u i ; S c r e e n p l a y : T o s h f o S e n d a; D i r e c t o r : T o -sh io Sen d a ; Ph o t o g r a p h y : Ke i j f Ma r u ya m a ; M u s i c : H i r o s h i

T a k a d a ; A r t d i r e c t o r : S h i g e m o r i S h i g e t a ; R e c o r d i n g : KanNakamura ; Sound mi x i ng : Kou-Gy o Kowo; L i gh t i ng : Le i M i -u r a ; E d i t i n g : Y o s h i S u g i w a r a ; A s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r : H i de woO e ; Se t s : Ka t su o Ko j im a ; De co r a t i o n s : T a ke sh i M a ch id a ;Cos tumes : S h o c h i ku I s h o C o . ; P r o c e s s i n g : Toyo D e v e l o p m en t C o . ; F i g h t i n g i n s t r u c t o r : T a k a m i t s u W a t an a be ; W i t hthe coo per a t i on o f Yokohama Dreaml and; Prod uct ion ma nager :T a d a s h i S h i b a t a ; A s s i s t a n t p r o d u c t i o n m a n ag e r : J u n i c h iM in e ; S t a r r i n g : Sh o h e i Kan o ( R yo su ke ) , F r a n k i e Sa ka i ( Ro -kusuke Sawamura ) , Ets uko Nami (Fu sa ko ) , Wataru Nach i

BLOOD

m

( R a n k o ) , I c h i r o N ak ay a ( I t a m i ) , T o r u A be ( T o r a i c h i r o Y a -

m a g a ) , I s a o Ha s h im o t o ( S a m o n j i ) , Y o s h i w o A o k i ( O h a s h i ) ,K u n i y a s u At su m i ( Ad a c h i ) , Ka zu o Ka t o ( F u ku d a ) , Ta ka n o buHozumi ( F o r i ) , Ho u se i Ko ma tsu ( c h i e f o f p o l i ce ) , Ha t su oYamatan i ( I t o ) , K in Omae (Ha uda ) ; Runn ing t i me: 94 min s . ;R e l eas ed on Oct obe r 12, 1974.

Ryosuke K i n u g a w a , a g e n t l e i n d i v i d u a l , h e a r s a b o u ta t h r i v i n g new town and se ts ou t to f i n d a j o b t h e r e .E x p e c t i n g t o f i n d a p e a ce f u l e n v i r o n m e n t , h i s b e l i e f i ssh at te re d when he sees the murd er of a young man, Yamaga ,the son of t he tow n f s foun de r . K i nugawa soon f i n d s t h etown no d i f f e r e n t t h a n o t h e r n ew t o wn s , f o r g a n g s t e r s a r equ ick t o g e t a f o o t h o l d .

Kinugawa be fr ie nd s Rok usuke Sawamura who tak es thenew-comer to a ba r . B ef or e lo ng , th re e men k i c k open thed o o r t o t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t a nd b e g in a n n o y in g t h e p r o p r i

e t r e s s a nd h e r f e m a le a s s i s t a n t , F u sa ko . A su d de n v i o l e n t change overcomes Kinug awa. Exc la i m in g someth ing un i n t e l l i g i b l e i n a d i f f e r e n t l anguage, a l though he knowson ly J apa nes e, K inugawa wages a one-man war ag a i ns t thei n t r u d e r s , t r o u n c i n g t h em a l l w i t h l i t t l e e f f o r t . K i n u gawa a p p e a r s t o be a ve r i t a b l e J e k y l l an d Hyde.

Th e ne xt day a t the bar , the ga ng st e r s , known as theOhas h i Gro up, come to ge t even wi th K inu gawa, who, r e ve rs in g h is v i o l en t image , passes ou t , and the gang abduc ts Fus ako . When he r e v i v e s , K inugawa wi th Sawamurah u r r y to Ohash i head quar te r s to res cue Fus ako , and the reKinug awa sees the man who mur der ed th e you ng son of th ec i t y ' s f o u n d e r .

S e v e r a l d a ys l a t e r , Kinugawa and Sawamura le ar n oft h e j u g g l i n g o f a cco u n t s b y some g e t - r i ch - q u i ck m e n . Sothe two sneak i n t o t h e i r o f f i c e t o o b ta i n the tamperedle dg er s , bu t a re cau ght . Once aga in K inugawa becomes v i o l e n t , a n d me n a r e t o sse d r i g h t an d l e f t u n d e r h i s h e f t yb l o w s .

Wi t h n o a c t u a l w i sh t o g e t i n vo l v e d i n t h e t o w n ' st r ou b l es , K inug awa ' s m ind is changed when Fusako isk i l l e d . When a l l the top men who are "po i so n i ng " thep lac e a re asse mble d , K inugawa exposes them and " h e l l "b r e a k s l o o s e i n a v i o l e n t , c l e a n s i n g b a t t l e a g a i n s tt h e c a n c e r o u s e l e m e n t s .

I t a m i , K i n u ga w a ' s f r i e n d , t e l l s hi m t ha t when hewas a baby, be had needed a cVmplete blood transfusion.

At t/re twe, fofert/s, j 3fy M?f/j foss, fat/ {//<?</ S/yd/e/7- \t i n J a q a u , and his, hload tad te&w ^ v a s ^ d . vxt<5>

t h e ca u se q o o d .Wi th the town q u i e t f o r t h e f i r s t t im e , K in u g a wa

d e p a r t s , i n s p i t e o f t h e u r g i n g s o f Sa wa m ur a , l e a v i n g atown where he had fought so hard to res to re peace .

25



n BELLADONNA (KANASHIMI NO BERADONNA); Co - p r o d u ce d b y N ip p on H e r a l d F i l m s , I n c . a nd M u sh i P r o d u c t i o n s , L t d . ; E x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r : K at s um i F u r u k a w a ; D i r e c t o r : E i i c h i Y a -

m a m o t o ; S c r e e n p l a y : Y o s h i y u k i F u k u d a ; S t o r y : T h e W i t c h(1862) b y J u l e s M i c h e l e t ; A r t d i r e c t o r : K u ni F u T a i ; A n i -m a t i o n d i r e c t o r : G i s a b u r o S u g i i ; M u s i c : M a s ah i k o S a t o ;L y r i c s by Yu Aku and A s ei Ko ba ya sh i; Sung by Mayumi T a -c h i b a n a ; L i v e s t i l l p h o t o g r a p h y : Da id o M o r i ya m a ; Vo i c e s :Aiko Nagayama ( J e a n n e ) , T a t s u y a N a ka d ai ( D e v i l ) , T a k a oI n o u e ( J e a n ) , M asa ya T a ka h a sh i ( C o u n t ) , Sh ig a ko Sh im e g i( C o u n t e s s ) , M as ak an e Y o n e k u r a ( P r i e s t ) , C h i n a t s u N a k a -ya m a ( n a r r a t o r ) ; F i lm e d i n Ea s t m a n co lo r a n d " An im e r o m a n -e s q u e ; " Ru n n in g t im e : 8 9 m i n s . ; Re le a se d on J une 30, 1973.

BELLADONNAJ u l e s M i c h e l e t , r e n ow n e d 1 9t h c e n t u r y F r e n c h h i s t o r i a n /

a u t h o r , m a n i f e s t e d t h e d o u bt i n h i s c o n t r o v e r s i a l b oo kTh e W i t c h ( L a S o r c i e r e ) t h a t wi t ch e s we r e wome n r e p r e s e n t i n g i n c a r n a t i o n s o f e v i l , G o d - f o r s a k e n s o u l s , v i c t i m s o ft h e a n t i - n a t u r a l i n t e r d i c t i o n s o f t h e C h u r c h . He s u p po s e dthey migh t have been the f i r s t women to st ru g gl e f o r humanf r e e d o m a g a i n s t f a t a l i t y .

I t h ad b e en t h e l o n g - ch e r i s h e d w i sh o f E i i ch i Yam am o-t o , a yo u n g Ja p a n e se a n im a t o r , t o d r a m a t i ze t h i s s t o r y .H i s d e s i r e a n d t a l e n t e n a b le d h im t o r e a l i z e h i s dr e am i na f e a t u r e - l e n g t h c a r t o o n r e p l e t e w i t h l y r i c i s m a nd s e n s u a l i t y , a s y n t h e s i s o f p i c t o r i a l d e s i g n , n o v e l s t r u c t u r ea nd g o r g e o u s c o l o r .

On h i s s t a f f w as Y o s h i y u k i Fu k u d a , c u r r e n t l y o ne o fJ a p a n ' s m o st s u c c e s s f u l p l a y w r i g h t s , as a u t h o r o f t h es c r e e n p l a y , t h e y o u n g p o p u l a r i l l u s t r a t o r , Ku n a i F u ka i , a sa r t d i r e c t o r , a n d M a sa h iko Sa t o , a b r i l l i a n t j a z z p i a n i s t ,

as the f i l m ' s m u s i c d i r e c t o r .BELLADONNA i s the t h i r d i n a s e r i e s o f c o - p r o d u c t i o n so f N ip p o n He r a l d F i lm s a nd M u sh i P r o d u c t i o n s , f o l l o w in gA THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS an d C LEOPAT R A.

I n a s m al l p o v e r t y - s t r i c k e n F r en c h f a r m v i l l a g e i nt h e Middle A g es t h e r e l i v e t w o y o u n g l o v e r s , J ean an dJ e a n n e . F o l l o w i n g t h e i r w e d d i n g , t h e y v e n t u r e t o t h e c a s t le o f the lo ca l Count to in fo rm h im o f the ma r r ia ge . Thep le a su r e o f s l e e p i n g w i t h t h e ne w b r i d e o n t h e f i r s t n i g h tb e lo n g s t o t h e Co u n t , b u t Je a n ' s o f f e r o f g o l d t o b u y t h i sp r i v i l e g e f a i l s d ue t o t h e C o u n t ' s a t t r a c t i o n f o r t h e l i s so m e b r i d e .

Th e ne xt morn ing the new ly - wed s consummate th e i r mar r i a g e , b u t e ve n t h e i r p a ss i o n i s u n a b le t o co n so l e t h el o ve r s f r o m t h e n i g h t m a r e o f t h e p r e v i o u s n i g h t . Je a n n ef e e l s t h a t i f t h i s c r u e l f a t e i s t h e w i l l of God, she w i l l

fo rs ak e even Him to ga i n peace o f m in d .Wi t h the Count and h i s so l d i e r s away due to the c on

t i n u a l o u t b r e a k o f wa r s , Je a n n e e a r n s mo n ey b y sp i n n in gy a r n a n d m o n e y - l e n d in g . He r e f f o r t s a r e so r e wa r d in g t h a tshe soon becomes the lead er in the f i e f ' s economy, mucht o t h e a l a r m o f h e r su p e r s t i t i o u s co u n t r ym e n who f e a r h e rr i s e m ig ht be d e v i l - i n s p i r e d .

Wi t h the a r r i v a l o f w i n t e r th e Count and h is men r e tu rn home. He is e nra ged to f i n d Je a n n e m o re r e s p e c t e d t h a nh i m s e l f , a n d h i s co n n i v i n g w i f e u r g e s h im t o d e c la r e Je a n n ea w i t c h . T h u s , t h e e a g e r v i l l a g e r s d e c i d e t o p e r s e c u t e h e r ,b u t sh e e sca p e s a nd f i n d s r e f u g e i n a n a r r o w va l l e y wh e r eb loo m s t h e b e a u t i f u l b e l l a d o n n a . He r e , f r e e f r o m G o d , t h eC o un t a nd t h e e v i l v i l l a g e r s , s h e l o o k s n o b l e a nd l o v e l y ,r e s c u e d f r o m s l a v e r y , b u t n o t w i t h o u t t h e D e v i l ' s h e l p .

A p lag ue spread ing t h ro ugh Europe wends i t s way to

t h e v i l l a g e . O n l y Je a n n e i s a b le t o p r o d u ce m e d i c i n e t o( c o n t i n u e d on f o l l o w i n g p a g e )

26



TH E BRIDE FROM HADES ( a l t . : MY BRIDE I S A GHOST; KAIDANBOTAN D OR O) ; P r o d u ce d b y D a i e i M o t i o n P i c t u r e C o . , L t d . ;E x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r : M a s ai c h i N a g a t a ; S c r e e n p l a y : Y o s h i k a -t a Y o d a ; D i r e c t o r : S a t s u o Y a ma m ot o ; P h o t o g r a p h y : C h i s h iM a k iu r a ; M u s i c : Se i I ke n o ; Ed i t o r : Ka n j i Su g an u m a; S t a r r i n g : K o j i r o H on go ( S h i n z a b u r o ) , M i y o k o A k a s a ( O t s u y u ) ,Mayumi Ogawa (On l in e) , M ic h ik o Otsu ka ( O y o n e ) , K o N i s h i -m ur a ( B a n z o ) , T a k a s h i S h i m ur a ( H a k u o d o ) ; A r t d i r e c t o r :Y o s h i n o b u Nish io ka ; F i lm e d i n co l o r a n d sco p e ; Re le a se dJ u n e 15, 1968; Running t ime: 89 min.

S h i n z a b u r o Ha gi wa ra , the th i rd son o f a Hatamotosa m u r a i , m e e t s O t s u y u , a co u r t e sa n , o n t h e n i g h t o f t h eB u d d h i s t s e r v i c e t o f l o a t l a n t e r n s do wn t h e r i v e r . T h ef o l l o w i n g n i g h t O t s u y u v i s i t s S h i n z a b u r o ' s h om e, a nd h ei s t o l d t ha t O t su yu was a sa m u r a i ' s d a u g h t e r , a n d t h a ther fa th er had been he ld res po ns ib le fo r someth ing he had

THE BRIDE FROM HADESnot done and had been fo rc ed to commit h a r a - k i r i . Sh e , to o ,

h ad b e en f o r ce d t o h e r p r e s e n t p o s i t i o n . T h o u g h Sh in za b u r o i s b e ing p r e ssu r e d t o m a r r y h i s l a t e b r o t h e r ' s w i f ea g a i n s t h i s w i l l , O t s u y u ' s s t o r y a r o u s e s h i s s y m p a t h y ,and they f a l l i n l o v e .

T h a t n ig h t Ba n zo , a n e i g h b o r , i s p u zz l e d t o h e a rS h i n z a b u r o t a l k i n g to someone in h is h ome ,f or no one ev erv i s i t s h im t h e r e , so Ba n zo l o o ks i n t h r o u g h t h e w in d owand is shocked to see Sh inz abu ro ho l d in g a sk e l e t on inh is a rms.

The f o l l o w i n g d a y , B an z o l e a r n s t ha t Otsuyu had comm i t t e d s u i c i d e r e c e n t l y r a t h e r t h a n t a k e t h e r i c h p a t r o nher employer had fo rc ed on he r . So Banzo in f o rm s Sh in za buro o f the who le s to ry bu t h is words f a l l o n d e a f e a r s .

Banzo a s k s H a k u o do , a f o r t u n e t e l l e r , t o s a v e h i sf r i e n d ' s l i f e . She a g r e e s a nd p e r su a d e s Sh in za b u r o n o t t ose e Ot su yu any mor e . So he re c l us es h i ms e l f in a sma l l

sh r i n e p r o t e c t e d b y se a l e d ch a r m s . Ho we v e r , Sh in za b u r ow eak ens , knowing we l l t h a t O t su yu i s no l o n g e r o f t h i swo r l d and one more embrace wou ld mean hi s de at h.

T h u s , o n t h e f o l l o w in g m o r n in g , h i s b od y i s f o u n dhand in hand wi th a sk e l e t on .

co n t i n u e d f r o m p r e ce d in g p a g e )

f i g h t t h e d i se a se u s i n g b e l l a d o n n a . T h e Co u n t , d e m a n din gto know the se cr e t , sends Jean f o r J e a n n e , o f f e r i n g h e r ahandsome re wa rd . She re fu se s un l ess she can havee v e r y t h i n g i n t h e wo r l d . T h e Co u n t , ma d w i t h r a g e , s e n tenc es her to be burned a t the s ta ke as a w i t c h . Hea r ingo f t h e e x e c u t i o n , J e a n r u n s t o Je a n n e ' s s i d e wh e r e h i sc u r s e a g a in s t t h e Co u n t r e su l t s i n a s t a b b in g d e a t h b ys e v e r a l o f t h e l o y a l C o u n t ' s g u a r d s . J e a n n e , e n v e l o p e d

in f la me s, moves herl i p s

at t h i s moment. She may havec a l l e d J e a n ' s n am e.

Yamamoto onBELLADONNA

For anyone weak in m ind and body, su f f e r in g a l l k indso f p r i v a t i o n s , I t h i n k ma d ne ss a nd h a l l u c i n a t i o n s m ay b eh e l a s t f l i c k e r s o f l i f e . Some c a n e v e n r e v i v e f r o m t h i s

d e p l o r a b l e s i t u a t i o n , a s S ee n i n M i c h e l e t ' s b o o k , T h eW i t c h . The Midd l e Ages o f Europ e meant fo r the Ch r i s t ia nc i v i l i z a t i o n t o h a v e r e a c h e d a s u m mi t , a n d , f o r t h e f e u d a l l o r d s , t o h a v e s e t t l e d on t h e i r f i e f s . F o r t h e s e r fwoman, how eve r , i t was the dark es t and most than k l es s e r a

n t h a t sh e was d i s c r i m in a t e d a g a i n s t e ve n b y h e r h u sb a n d .C h r i s t i a n i t y o f t h e d a y , wh i ch ha d b ecom e b e n t o n r i t u a l

ra th er t han much e ls e , cou ld no t o r wou ld no t respond toh e r c r y fo r he lp . She had on ly an im ag ina ry imp to t a l kt o - - t h e im p b e in g t h e De v i l h i m se l f . He t a u g h t h e r t h ep l e a s u r e s o f t r e a c h e r y . T he w i t c h , p o s s e s s e d b y t h e D e v i l ,was l i k e a po iso nous herb burned a t the s tak e to b r i nga b o ut m od er n c i v i l i z a t i o n . T h e f o r e g o i n g t h o u g h t i s byM ic h e le t a s h i s t o r i a n . T h e wo n d e r s o f h um an co n s c io u sn e ssand woman 's se ns ua l i t y have a lw ays imp resse d me. The p r e sen t age appears to see a c l ima x o f sc i en ce and te ch no lo g y . To me, the p r es en t has l i t t l e m o r e t h a n an e sc h a t o l o -

g i ca l se ns e . Bu t I am no t d i sa pp o i n t ed , because I am a man,no t a ro bo t , and s t i l l r e t a i n a t l e a s t a p i e c e o f ma d n e ss .So t h i n k i n g , I d e c i d e d t o d r a m a t i z e M i c h e l e t ' s T h e W i t c h .Th e a n im a t e d f i l m i s an i d e a l ve h i c l e w i t h wh i ch t o d e -sc r i be the wo r l d o f the m ind as w r i t t en in h is book . Int h i s f i l m I g a ve t h e De v i l a ce r t a i n im a ge a n d f o r m a l i z e dt h e e x p r e s s i o n s o t h a t t h e m e n t a l a c t i o n s a r e d e p i c t e d b ya n im a t i o n a n d t h e e x t e r n a l wo r l d b y s t i l l s . T h e m o ve m en to f an imated f i l m a s o p p o se d t o t h e s t a t i c q u a l i t y o f t h es t i l l s p r o v i d e e x c e l l e n t c o n t r a s t t o s ho w t h e d i f f e r e n c ei n t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e t w o w o r l d s . T h e r e f o r e , i nt h i s f i l m , c h a r a c t e r s do n o t m ov e t h e i r l i p s when theysp e a k ; c o n ve r s e l y , h o we ve r , e ve n a h a i r m o ves wh en i tcom es t o e xp r e s s i n g m e n t a l a c t i o n . I n c l u d e d i n t h e f i l ma r e t h e t e c h n i q u e s o f c o l l a g e , w a t e r c o l o r a g a i n s t a b a c k g r o u n d o f b a s i ca l l y wh i t e a nd t h e o l d Ja p a n e se p i c t u r es c r o l l s . T h i s i s my humble a t tempt to d ra mat iz e an E u r o p ea n su b je c t w i t h a Ja p a n e se h e a r t .

27



l

LEGEND OF DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS (K Y O RY U— KAICHO NOD EN SET SU ) ; A T o e i Tokyo F i l m P r o d u c t i o n ; D i r e c t o r : J u n j iK u r a t a ; E x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r : K e i i c h i H a s h i m o t o ; S c r e e n p l a y :Masaru Ig am i, Ko Matsumoto and I ch i ro O h z u ; D i r e c t o r o fp h o t o g r a p h y : S h i g e r u A k a z u k a ; L i g h t i n g : K o j i I n o u e ; A r td i r e c t o r : Y o s h i y u r u A m am o ri ; S p e c ia l e f f e c t s d i r e c t o r :F u m in o r i O h b a y a sh i ; Ed i t o r : I sam u I c h i d a ; M u s i c : Ma sa o Y a -g i ; S ou nd r e c o r d i n g : T e r u h i k o A r a k a w a ; A s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r :Kazuo Noda; S t i l l s : T a k e s h i K i m u ra ; P u b l i c i t y : T a k e s h iF i j i m o t o ; C a s t : T s u n e h i k o W a ta s e ( S e t s u S e r i z a w a ) , S h o t a r o

H ay as h i ( A k i r a T a n i k i ) , N o b i k o S a w a ( A k i k o O s a n o ) , SatokoKyoshima ( J u n k o S o n o d a ) , F u y u k i c h i Maki ( M a sa h i r a M u ku ) ,K in sh i Na ka m u r a ( H id e yu k i Sa ka i ) , H i r o sh i Na wa ( M a sa h i koM i y a w a k i ) , So T a k i z a w a ( J i r o Sh im a m o t o ) , Yusuke Tsukasa(Susumu H i r a n o ) , Go N aw at a ( H i r o s h i S u g i y a m a ) , Y u k a r i M i -y a z e n ( H i r o k o T a k a m i ) , M a s a hi r o A r i k a w a ( S e i t a r o S h i n t a k u ) ,T am i k as h i K a r az a wa ( U e m u r a ) , S a c h i o M i y a s h i r o ( K o b a y a s h i ) ;F i lme d in Toe iScop e and Eas tman Colo r ; Runn ing t i me: 93m in u t e s ; Re le a s e d a t e : Ap r i l 2 9 , 19 77 ; P r o d u c t i o n be g anon l o c a t i o n at Mount F u j i , Oc to ber 12 , 1976.

LEGEND OF DINOSAURA se r i e s o f g r e a t e a r t h q u a ke s t h r o u g h o u t t h e g l o b ecombined wi th unusua l c l i m a t i c changes t h a t r e p o r t e d l y

h e r a l d a n o t h e r i ce a g e i n d i c a t e t h e e a r t h i s s l o w l y a p p r o a c h i n g a c r i s i s . S e v e r a l e v e n t s i n J a p a n , a p a r t f r o mcrea t ing economic and p o l i t i c a l t u r m o i l , i n i t i a t e a f e a rsyndrome i n a n a l r e a d y r e s t l e s s s o c i e t y .

I t is Au gu st , 19 , summer cha ngi ng autu mnwa rd. Camp e r s a t t h e b a se o f M t . F u j i p a r t a ke o f t h e f a s t - d i sa p pea r in g summer , bu t a l re ad y Fu j i i s capped wi th unsea son -l i k e snow. Now dor man t, Mt. F u j i has a v e r y s h o r t h i s t o r y ,i t s e r u p t i o n c a u s i n g t h e f o r m a t i o n o f i t s f i v e l a k e s ,t h r e e o f wh i ch a r e su p p o se d l y co n n e c t e d u n d e r t h e va s tl a v a f i e l d o f A o k i g a h a r a .

From t h e d e p t h s o f t h e Ao k i g i h a r a F o r e s t , wh i ch e x tends f ro m the banks o f Lake S a i , one o f th e lak es su r r o u n d in g F u j i , a b a d l y b r u i se d a nd sh o cke d yo u n g g i r l e -m e r g e s , b r e a t h i n g h e r l a s t a f t e r m u t t e r i n g a f e w s t r a n g e

w o r d s . T h e i n c i d e n t f o r c e s S e t su S e r i z a w a , a g e o l o g i s two r k i n g as a n a p p r a i se r o f o r n a m e n t a l s t o n e s , i n t o a hast y i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f M t. F u j i . H i s p r o f e s s i o n a l i n t e r e s ti s p i q u e d , f o s t e r e d by h i s d e c ea s e d f a t h e r ' s t h e o r y t h a td i n o s a u r s e x i s t a r ou n d L a k e S a i . S t i l l e d b y h i b e r n a t i o n ,t h e y a r e a w a i t i n g c l i m a t i c a n d ca t a c l y sm ic ch a n g e s t of r e e t h e m . T h i s t h e o r y , s co r n e d b y t h e p u b l i c , r e s u l t e di n a n a n x i e t y t h a t e ve n t u a l l y we a ke n e d a n d k i l l e d S e t s u ' sf a t h e r .

In the f o r es t Se t su p lummets down a s lo pe knock i ngh im se l f u n co n sc io u s du e to an u n e xp e c t e d e a r t h t r e m o r . Heis re scu ed by Shohe i Muku, a man v a s t l y know ledg eab l e a -bout Fu j i and i t s env i rons and as such f i n d s S e t s u ' s f a t h e r ' s t h e o r y a b s u r d .

M ys t e r i o u s e ve n t s b e g in t o o ccu r a r o u n d t h e m o u n t a i n :b a t s a r e c o n g r e g a t i n g d u r i n g t h e d a y ; t h e p o p u la t i o n o f

t h e i n se c t wo r l d i s m u l t i p l y i n g ; a n i n o r d i n a t e i n c r e a s ein t h e wa t e r t e m p e r a t u r e o f L ake Sa i i s o ccu r r i n g . Ad d in gto the my st e r y a r e the d isap pear ance s o f a young co up lewho had been r i d i n g in a "pedal boat" on the warm lakea nd t h e d e a t h o f t h e d i ve r se n t t o l o ca t e t h e b o d ie s .

Th e n e x t da y S e t s u v i s i t s t h e F u j i W e a th e r L a b o r a t o r y . He l e a r n s o f r e c e n t ch a n g e s i n t h e e a r t h ' s c r u s ti n t h e F u j i V o l c a n i c Z o n e , w h i c h c u r i o u s l y p a r a l l e l s t h eco n d i t i o n s n e ce s sa r y f o r t h e a p p e a r a n ce o f t h e d i n o sa u r sas se t f o r t h b y h i s f a t h e r .

An i n c i d e n t . Pursu ing her work o f c o l l e c t i n g f o l k l o r e , J unko hears an o l d woman s ing a song r e t e l l i n g he rv i l l a g e ' s b e l i e f i n t h e e x i s t e n c e o f d r a g o n s . M uku i n fo rm s Junko o f t he t r u t h o f t h e " l e g e n d . " T h e " d r a g o n " i so n l y a h ug e sn a ke . Ba f f l e d b y i t a l l , sh e b i c y c l e s h o me .A lo n g t h e way sh e i s o u t p a ce d b y a r i d e r l e s s h o r s e . An i n c r e d ib l y l o u d n o i s e i s h e a rd i n t h e f o r e s t g r e e n b e f o r e

he r , then someth ing hea vy d rops wi th a thud in her pa th . a«s f l f> *

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Sh e f o c u s e s h e r ey es and is s i cke ne d by what she s e e s : t h ed e c a p i t a t e d c a r c a s s o f t h e h o r s e t h a t only moments agor a n p a s t h e r .

S e t s u i n v e s t i g a t e s t h e a r e a w h e r e J u n k o f a c e d h e rho r r o r , and the g ra ss i s f ound to be f l a t t e ne d by somel a r g e , heav y ob je c t . R e tu rn i ng t o t he hu t used by h i sf a t h e r f o r h i s r e s e a r c h , S e t s u e x a m i ne s h i s f a t h e r ' s d a t aand i s con v in ced t h a t t h e e x i s t e n c e o f d i n o s a u r s i s anu n d e n i a b l e t r u t h .

A t t h e a n n u al " d r a g o n " f e s t i v a l p e o p l e a r e e n j o y i n gthe autumn day , ob l i v i ou s t o a huge shadow pass ing i n t hel a k e n e a r b y . A t some d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e f e s t i v i t i e s , t h ew a t e r sud den ly becomes tu rb u l en t and up f ro m the d epthsa d i n o s a u r m ak es i t s t h r e a t e n i n g a p p e a r a n c e , d e v o u r i n gtw o s tu den ts be fo re i t p l unge s back i n t o i t s w a t e r y h a b i t a t . A s u r v i v o r an d a U P I r e p o r t e r w ho w i t n e s s e d t h e c a l a mi t y bea r t he new s to t he v i l l a g e o f f i c i a l s whose dub i o u s n e s s t o t h e w h o l e e v e n t b r i n g s n o r e s u l t s .

S e v e r a l hours l a te r a schoo l t eac her a t t he Lake Sa icamp ing s i t e becomes ano the r v i c t i m , w h i l e ou t on t he

BIRDSm i s t - c o v e r e d l a k e J u n k o , t h e f o l k l o r i s t , is so on to be come v i c t i m n um be r s e v e n o f t h e s u p p o s e d l y h y p o t h e t i c a ld i n o s a u r s .

Newspapers i s s u e d o n t h e f o l l o w i n g d a y a r e f i l l e dw i th se ns a t i on a l s t o r i e s o f t he Lake Sa i mon s te r . N ew smenand ph oto gr aph er s swarm arou nd the edge of t he lak e hopi ngt o c a t c h a g l i m p s e o f t h e e n em y , w h i l e a r e s e a r c h c o n f e r ence a t t e n d e d b y m an y s c i e n t i s t s l i s t e n t o S e t s u r e c i t eh i s f a t h e r ' s t h e o r y o n t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f d i n o s a u r s i n t h elake a r ea . Bu t t he mee t ing t u rns t o hea ted op po s i t i on andp r o v e s f u t i l e .

H ow ev e r , a tho rou gh sea rch o f t h e l ake i s i n s t i t u t e dt h r oug h the use o f so na r , unde rw a t e r cameras and an " i n f r a - r e d e x p l o r e r . " Th e t h r e e - d a y i n v e s t i g a t i o n p r od u ce sno th ing and i s b ro ugh t t o a c l os e .

T a n i k i , a l o c a l r e p o r t e r , b e l i e v i n g A o k i g a h a r a i s

t h e h av e n o f t h e d i s p a s s i o n a t e ; n o n s t e r , c o n v i n c e s M uk u i n t o gu id i ng h im th r oug h the f o r es t ; Muku hopes the t ou rw i l l t e r m i n a t e t h e n o n s e n s i c a l b e l i e f i n d i n o s a u r s on c ea nd f o r a l l .

S e t s u and Ak i k o , a youn g woman d i v e r f o r whom hesh a r e s som e a f f e c t i o n , d i v e i n t o Lake Sa i and d i sc ov e r ahuge u n d e r w a t e r c a v e w h i c h d i s y o r g e s t h e r e m a i n s o f o n eo f t he s t ud en ts . Shock o r no , t he tw o co n t i n ue t h ro ught h e c a v e , t h e c u r r e n t s p e e d i n g t he m f a s t e r a nd f a s t e r t oi t s e n d .

S tand ing i n a ho l l ow i n t o w h ich bo th have tumb led ,T a n i k i and Muku gaz e i n t e r r i f i e d a m az em e nt a t t h e g i a n tegg be fo re them . A cr ac k i ng sound ensue s and the eggb r e a k s apa r t f r om w h ic h emerges a huge b i r d , i t s l eg sg rab b ing t he two men to pa c i f y t he new -b o rn ' s r eve nousa p p e t i t e .

S o t s u and Ak i ko en te r t he underg rou nd ca ve rn t h a t l i e sa b o ve w a t e r l e v e l an d f i n d t h e b r u t a l l y m a u l e d b o d i e s o fT a n i k i and Muku.

Mean w h i l e , on t he banks o f t h e S a i , TV cameras and re po r t e r s a re aw a i t i ng t he news s t o r y o f a l i f e t i m e . A b o v et h e m , unn o t i ced by mos t , a s t r an ge au r o ra appears and i l l u m i n a t e d c l o u d s b e g i n c o v e r i n g t h e s k y . B r e a k i n g t h r o u g hthe cover swoops a g l i d i n g p t e r o d a c t y l , w h os e d i v e i n t ot h e s t u n n e d s p e c t a t o r s s p e l l s a m u l t i t u d e o f d e a t h s .

S e t s u a nd A k i k o , f i n a l l y r e a c h i n g g r o u nd l e v e l , e n coun te r t he d read d inosaur and run p e l l - m e l l back i n t othe mouth of the c a v e . T h e i r f a t e a p p e a r s s e a l e d u n t i l t h ep t e r o d a c t y l m a ke s a v i c i o u s a t t a c k o n t h e l a n d - b o u n d b e hemoth . T h e i r d e a t h s t r u g g l e i s e v e n t u a l l y c ea s e d b ybou lde r s c rum b l i n g f r om the cave ro o f on to t he m is p lac edmi sc re an ts , and the g round sw a l l o w s them bo th up .

M o l t e n l a v a b e g i n s b o i l i n g u p f r o m t h e e a r t h ' s b o w e l s ,i t s v i v i d n e s s b e i n g r e f l e c t e d o n t h e c l o u d s a b o v e . S e t s uand Ak i ko a re s tun ne d , gaz ing a t t h i s h e l l o n e a r t h .

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WEIRD TRIP (KAIDAN R Y O K O ) ; Produced by Shoch iku Company,L t d . ; E x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r : K i y o s h i S h i m a z u ; S c r e e n p l a y :Kazuo F u n a b a s h i ; D i r e c t o r : S h o j i S e g a wa ; P h o t o g r a p h y :Ke i j i M a r u ya m a ; A r t d i r e c t o r : M asao Ku m a g i ; M u s i c : S e i -t a r o O h m o r i ; S t a r r i n g : F r a n k i e S a k a i ( S h i n p e i O h w a d a ) ,Tomoe Hi i ro (Umeko and Sa to e) , Kensaku M o r i t a ( D a i s u k eS a k a g u c h i ) , Yumiko Nogawa (Yumi Okamura) , Akane Kawasak i( C h i z u ) , C a s e y T am am in e ( c o n d u c t o r ) , N o r i h e i Mik i ( S h o -

sa ku Sa ka g u c h i ) ; Ru n n in g t im e : 9 1 m i n . ; F i lm e d i n co l o rand scope; Re leased J u n e 10, 1972.

Sh in p e i Oh wa da a r r i ve s a t T a i j i , Wakayam a Pr e f e c t u r eas t h e ne w s t a t i o n m a s t e r . T h e s t a t i o n ' s s t a f f i n c l u d e sShosaku Sa k a g u c h i , who was Sh in p e i ' s se n io r ye a r s a g o ,D a i s u k e , his son, and Kohda and Sugiyama.

Shosaku l e a d s Sh in p e i t o a n o l d h o u se , i n a c t u a l i t ya n u n n e r y , a n d sa ys t h a t Shinpe i can peep i n t o the wo-

WEIRD TRIPm e n ' s bat hro om. Sh in pe i has not been wi th a woman sin ce

h is w i f e , Umeko, d ie d two ye ar s be fo re , and so he isq u i t e f r u s t r a t e d . As h e p e e r s t h r o u g h t h e w in d o w Um e ko ' sg h o s t a p p e a r s , a n d , s ym p a t h i z i n g w i t h h i s p r o b le m , t e l l sh im to s le ep wi th o th er women i f i t i s on l y f o r f un .

Sh in pe i happens to meet Chi zu Okamu ra, a you ng womand i v e r a nd D a i s u k e ' s g i r l f r i e n d . S he i n v i t e s S h i n p e i t o ar e s t a u r a n t o p e r a t e d b y Yumi O k a mu r a , C h i z u ' s e l d e r s i s t e r , and he becomes fa sc in a t ed by t h i s wo m a n ' s b e a u t y .In the back room Shosaku s e c r e t l y look s on , je a l ou s o fY u m i ' s f r i e n d l i n e s s , f o r sh e i s t o b e h i s f u t u r e b r i d e .

Shosaku sends Tamami , a young mass euse, to Sh in pe i ' shouse and seduce him. When Sh in pe i and Tamami ar e aboutto make l o v e , he sees Umeko and is una ble t o p er fo rm .

Yumi ask s Shi np ei to go to Kawayu Sp a, and he get se x c i t e d w i t h a n t i c i p a t i o n . B u t w he n h e r e a c h e s a n i n n ,t h e i r i n t e n d e d r e n d e zvo u s , h e i s d i sa p p o in t e d t o se eC h i z u b e s i d e Y um i . An d l a t e r , Daisuke comes as we l l ,

hav i ng been sen t by h i s fa t he r to keep a wa tc h f u l eyeon Yumi and Sh in pe i , bu t he on ly succeeds in send i ng theco u p le a wa y .

I t b e g in s t o r a i n wh i l e Sh in p e i a n d Yumi seek aba thhous e where the two can ba the a l on e , so th ey takesh e l t e r i n a n e m pt y t h e a t r e fa m ou s f o r i t s g h o s t p l a y s .A group of men and women gambl ing i n a d r es s i ng room o ft h e t h e a t r e n o t i ce Sh in p e i a n d Yumi a n d d i sg u i se t h e m se l ve sas gho sts and monst e rs to scare the two away. S h i np e i ' sdream of having Yumi i s s h a t t e r e d .

One d a y a n e n g in e e r o f a f r e i g h t t r a i n r e p o r t s h i shav i ng seen a s t ra ng e woman in a nea rby tu nn e l . The myst e r y i n te re s t s Sh i npe i and Shosaku who examine the tu nn e l an d se e a g h o s t l y f i g u r e wh i ch f r i g h t e n s t h e m o u t o ft h e d a r k e ne d c o r r i d o r . M e a n w h i l e , D a i s u k e , a t t h e s t a t i o n ,sees a su s p i c i o u s man we a r i n g a m o n s t e r ' s m a sk , ch a se s

a f te r h im and ev en tu a l ly b re aks the mask wi th a bamboos w o r d , g e t t i n g a gl an ce of the man' s face be fo re the mane s c a p e s . I t i s l a t e r l e a r n e d t h a t some 100,000 yen hasbeen s t o l e n f r o m t h e s a f e .

A t a Bon F e s t i v a l d a n ce , Sh in p e i sp o t s t h e " t u n n e l "lady among the dancers, and Daisuke sees the "masked"man. Sh in pe i , Shosaku and Da is uke fo l l ow them to a smal ltemp le i n the n un ner y wher e th ey come upon a gro up ofgambl ers and the "m ys te ry " peo p l e , a l l o f whom are captu red by Da isuke and a po l iceman.

When Shinpei returns to the dance, he sees Umeko andsp e a ks t o h e r . Bu t h e r r e a c t i o n i s s t r a n g e l y d i f f e r e n t .

Yumi comes fo rw ar d and in t ro du ce s th e woman wi th her asS a t o e , h e r c l o se f r i e n d . Um eko ' s g h o s t sa ys t o S h i n p e i ,"She l o o k s l i k e me. I f you mar ry he r , I can r es t inp e a c e . " An d t h e im ag e d i s a p p e a r s . Sh in p e i i s g r e a t l yp leased and j o i n s t h e d a n c in g w i t h Sa t o e .

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TH E LAST DINOSAUR (SAIGO NO KYOR U ) ; A n A r t h u r R a n k i n J r . /

J u l e s Ba ss F i l m ; P r o d u ce d b y A r t h u r Ra n k in J r , a nd Ju l e sB a s s ; A s s o c i a t e p r o d u c e r : B e nn i K o r z e n ; D i r e c t e d b y A l e xG r a s s h o f f ; S c r e e n p l a y : W i l l i a m Th om as O v e r g a r d ; M u s i c :Maury Laws : T i t l e so ng ( " T h e L a s t D i n o s a u r " ) su n g b y Na n c y Wilson , Mus ic by Maury Law s , L y r i c s b y J u l e s B a s s , A r r a n g e d a nd co n d u c t e d b y Be r n a r d Ho f f e r ; Co - p r o d u c t i o n p e rs o nn el f r o m T s u b u r a y a P r o d u c t i o n C o . , L t d . — E x e c u t i v e pr od u c e r : N o bo r u T s u b u r a y a ; D i r e c t o r : T s u g un o b u " T o m " K o t a niM u s ic a r r a n g e d a nd co n d u c t e d b y Ke n H i r o se ; Ph o t o g r a p h y :M a s a j i U e d a ; L i g h t i n g : M a s a ak i Y o ne y a m a ; A r t d i r e c t o r : Kaz u h i k o F u j i w a r a ; R e c o r di n g : Y u j i H i y o s h i ; E d i t o r s : T a t s u j

THE LAST DINOSAUR

1

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Na ka sh i zu a nd M in o r u Ko o zo n o ; As s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r : Sh o h e iT o j y o ; P r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r : M i n o r u K u r i t a ; S t i l l p h o t o g r a p h e r : I sa o Ka t su m u r a ; Sp e c i a l e f f e c t s : Ka zuo Sag awa ( D i r e c t o r ) , M i c h i h i s a M i y a s h i g e an d M i n o r u N ak an o ( O p t i c a lw o r k ) , Sadao Sato (Cameraman) , Yasuo K i t a z a w a ( L i g h t i n g ) ,T e t s u z o O sa wa ( A r t d i r e c t o r ) , M o r i a k i U e ma ts u ( S p e c i a le f f e c t s p e c i a l i s t ) , Y o s h i y u k i Y o s hi m ur a ( A s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r ) , K a z uo O h a sh i ( P r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r ) ; P r o d u c t i o n c o o r d i n a t o r : K i y o t a ka " J im m y" O kub o a nd Ka zu m i Ka sa i ; S t a r r i n g Richard Boone (Masten T h r u s t ) , Steven Keats (ChuckW ade) , L u t h e r R a c k l e y ( B u n t a ) , J o a n V a n A r k ( F r a n k i eBa n ks ) ; Co lo r t e l e ca s t F r i d a y , F e b r u a r y 1 1 , 1977 o n ABCT e le v i s i o n Ne t wo r k i n 2 h o u r t i m e s l o t ; I n t e r n a t i o n a lt h e a t r i c a l d i s t r i b u t i o n : C ine ma I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o r p o r a t i o n .

M a s t e n T h r u s t h as h ad i t a l l : m o n e y , p o we r , wo m e n . . .t h e w o r k s . Now p u s h i n g 60 , he l i v e s f o r o n e t h i n g . . . h u n t

ing . Mounted heads and horns march a round h is t rophy roomin g r e a t h e r d s , an d i t see ms t h e r e i s n o t h i n g l e f t t oh un t, u n t i l . . .

One o f T h r u s t ' s o i l d r i l l i n g teams pro b in g under thePo la r Ca p b r e a ks t h r o u g h i n t o a poc ke t o f suspended t i me .H e r e , i n a m i n u t e p r e h i s t o r i c w o r l d , a r e r e m n an t s o f aJ u r a s s i c p e r i o d a nd t h e l a r g e s t p r e d a t o r e v e r t o s t a l k t h ee a r t h , t h e T y r a n n o s a u r u s R e x . . . t h e l a s t d i n o s a u r o f h i st i m e . . . a s i s M as t en T h r u s t , t h e r u t h l e s s b i g ga me h u n t e r ,r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e l a s t o f h i s b r e e d .

A s e l e c t h u n t i n g p a r t y i s c h o s e n . A N o be l p r i z e - w i n n ing s c i e n t i s t , a f am ou s f e m a l e p h o t o g r a p h e r , a p a l e o n t o l o g i s t a n d a M a sa i t r a c ke r a r e l e d b y T h r u s t ba ck into t imev i a t h e P o l a r B o r e r , a r o c k e t - l i k e v e h i c l e u s i n g l a s e r st o b u r r o w i n t o t h e e a r t h ' s c r u s t . B u t t h e h u n t p r o v e s t ob e a d i s a s t e r a s w e ap o ns a r e d e s t r o y e d , t h e s c i e n t i s t k i l

led by th e Rex and means o f r e t u rn a pp ar en t l y l o s t . T h eg r o u p i s t r a p p e d i n a n i g h t m a r e o f s u r v i v a l a g a i n s t t h ee le m e n t s a n d a v i c i o u s t r i b e o f e a r l y men r e l e n t l e s s l yp u r s u i n g t h e d i s t r a u g h t e x p l o r e r s .

A h an dm ad e c r o ss b o w i s u se d t o d e f e a t t h e p r e h i s t o r i ch um an s wh i l e T h r u s t l e a d s t h e p a r t y t o f o o d an d s h e l t e r ,t h r i v i n g a s h e d o e s i n t h e e n v i r o n m e n t . Bu t h i s o b se s s io nt o k i l l t h e l a s t d i n o s a u r o u t d i s t a n c e s h i s t h o u g h t s f o rr e t u r n t o t h e m o d er n w o r l d , t h u s h i s co m p a n io n s f i n d am e th o d o f e sca p e t o t h e i r h o m e wo r l d , l e a v i n g M a s t e n a l o n ew i t h h i s c r u d e , h a n d b u i l t ca t apu l t w a i t i ng f o r t h e b e a s th e h as l o n g e d t o d e s t r o y .

P u r p o r t e d t o b e a m od el a n i m a t i o n e f f e c t s f e a t u r e(con t inued on page 34)

Bot tom : J oan Van Ar k and Rich ard Boone watc h Stev en Keatsmak ing a c ros sbow in t h e i r at tempt to hunt down th e l a s td i n o s a u r .

•

31



TH E POSSESSED ( a l t . , TH E W I T C H ; Y O B A ) ; Produced by NagataPr o d u c t i o n s a n d Da ie i M o t i o n P i c t u r e Co mp a ny , L t d . ; D i s t r i b u t e d b y S h o c h i k u C o . , L t d . ; E x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r : M as a i c h i N a g a t a ; C o - p r o d u c e r : Y a s u y o s h i T o k um a ; D i r e c t o r :

T a d a s h i I m a i ; P l a n n in g : M asum i Ka n a m a ru ; S t o r y : Ryu n o su -ke Aku t a g a wa ( b a se d o n h i s s h o r t s t o r y w r i t t e n i n 1918) ;S c r e e n p l a y : Yoko M i zu k i ; Ph o t o g r a p h y : Ka zu o M iya g a wa ;M u s i c : R i i ch i r o Ma n ab e : Ru n n in g t im e : 9 6 m in u t e s ; Re leased October 16 , 1976; F i lmed in Fu j i Co lo r and scope;S t a r r i n g : M a ch i ko Kyo ( O s h im a ) , Ka zu ko I n a n o ( Sa wa ) ,S h i n j i r o E b a r a ( S h i n z o , O s h i m a ' s h u s b a n d ) , R e n t a r o M i k u n i( U n r y u ) , K i y o s h i Kodama ( I h a r a ) , T a n i e K i t a b a y a s h i ( m i d w i f e ) , Mik i J i n b o ( O t o s h i ) , T a r o S h i g a k i ( S h i n z o , O t o s h i ' sf i a n c e ) .

I t i s th e wedd ing ceremony o f Osh im a, the on l y daug ht e r o f e x t r e m e l y w e a l t h y p a r e n t s , a nd S h i n z o , t h e y ou n gb o y m a r r y i n g i n t o O s h i m a ' s f a m i l y . O s h i m a ' s c o u s i n , S aw a ,who was r a i s e d w i t h h e r f r o m ch i l d h o o d a s t h o u g h t h e yw ere s i s t e r s , b e a r s a d ee p j e a l o u s y t o w a r d h er p s u e d o -s i s t e r , a nd so o n O sh im a ' s we d d in g n i g h t , Sa wa , l o ck e d i nh e r be d r o o m , ch a n t s t h e wo r d s o f a m ys t e r i o u s p r a ye r . I nt h e b r i d a l room , as Sh in zo f i nd s he is una b le to consumm a te t h e m a r r i a g e , n e i t h e r o f t h e n e w ly - m a r r i e d s a r e a -ware o f the s t ra ng e eyes o f ha t red t h a t are g leami ng in thedarkness o f the room.

S h i n z o beg ins to abuse Osh ima, c l a i m i ng t ha t she isno t no rma l , and beg i ns an a f f a i r w i th Sawa, who has beenf l i r t i n g w i t h h im . I n d e s p e r a t i o n , O sh i ma v i s i t s a d o c t o rwho t e l l s h e r t h a t t h e r e i s n o t h i n g p h y s i c a l l y w r on g w i t hhe r . She tu rn s then to a man ca l l ed U n r y u , a n a s ce t i c d e v o t e e , who ad v i se s her to d iv or ce Sh i nzo because he isu n de r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f e v i l s p i r i t s .

I t i s the f a l l of 1923, and the Grea t Kanto Ear th q u a k e d e s t r o y s T o k y o . I n t h i s one n igh t Osh ima loses eve r y t h i n g : p a r e n t s , home a nd b u s i n e s s . Sh e m e e t s a m a n ,I h a r a , a s sh e wa n d e r s a i m l e s s l y am on g t h e r u i n s . He l e t sher l i ve in the b ranch o f f i ce o f h is company u n t i l t h i n g scan work the mse l ves ou t . T h i s c o n t i n u e s u n t i l I h a r a ,t h o u g h m a r r i e d , f a l l s i n love wi th Osh ima. Bu t each t imet h e y mak e l o v e , f e a r f u l - l o o k i n g s p i r i t s a p p e ar o v e r t he mas though c o n t r o l l i n g t h e l o v e - m a k i n g t o g r e a t e r p a s s i o n a t e h e i g h t s .

Two m o nt h s l a t e r , I h a r a ' s d a u g h t e r d i e s s u d d e n l y , a ndat the same t i m e " i t i s l e a r n e d t h a t O sh im a i s p r e g n a n t .Sh e s l o w l y r e a l i z e s t h a t t he s p i r i t o f I h a r a ' s d a u g h t e ris haunt ing her and t ak i ng ov er the sou l o f her unbornc h i l d . O shim a d e c id e s t o h ave a n a b o r t i o n , a n d wh i l e t h e

m id w i f e ' s t r e a t m e n t b e g in s , s t r a n g e e ye s g l e a m i n t h ed a r kn e ss b e h in d t h e m . B i za r r e e ve n t s b e g in t o o ccu r a s t h em id w i f e r u b s O sh im a ' s b a ck w i t h a Bu d d h i s t r o s a r y , a n dt h e s k i n t o u c h ed b y t h e r e l i g i o u s o b j e c t i n s t a n t l y t u r n ss l i m y . O sh im a f a i n t s . T h e i ma ge o f I h a r a ' s d a u g h t e r ' sf a ce r i se s u p a n d s l o w l y f a d e s a wa y .

T e n y e a r s p a s s . T h e r e ar e rumor s of a famous kimonomaker of Asaku sa whose kimonos can make th e wea re r appearto be be a ut i fu l . I t i s Osh ima. And Sawa has come to v i s i the r . Ne ver ma r r ie d and un lu ck y wi th men, Sawa is now l i v i n g w i t h h e r i l l e g i t i m a t e d a u g h t e r , O t o s h i , w ho i s e n gaged to a we al th y man al so named S hi n zo . Sawa has comef o r a k imo n o f o r h e r d a u g h t e r , b u t O sh im a d e c l i n e s . An g e r e d , Sa wa , o n e n i g h t , s t e a l s a r o sa r y f r o m O sh im a , ap o we r f u l r o sa r y , sh e h a s l e a r n e d . An d t h a t n igh t Osh imat u r n s i n t o a n a g e d w i t c h .

A few weeks pas s . Oto sh i le av es home and d i sa pp ea rs ,(con t inued on page 34)

THE POSSESSED

32



mm of JMBARRV S H L A C T E R

F i l m i n g t h e t o t a l d e s t r u c t i o n o f J a p a n w a s n ' t e a s y ,nd t h e t e l e v i s i o n n e t w o r k t ha t d id i t found i t s t i l lo u l d n ' t g e t a l l t h e n a t i o n ' s v i e w e r s o n t h e e d ge s o f t h e i re a t s t o wa t ch .

Ac t u a l l y t h e d e s t r u c t i o n we n t o n f o r m o nt h s u n t i l aV news announ cer appeare d wi th t ea rs s t r ea k i ng down bo thheeks and composed himself long enough to t e l l a f e a r f u la t i o n , " F e l l o w c o u n tr y m e n, s a y o n a r a . . . "

Th e p i c t u r e on the tube jumped as the s t ud io washumped asund er by a pow er f u l e ar th qua ke and the TVc r e e n m o m e n t a r i l y we n t b l a n k .

When t h e p i c t u r e r e t u r n e d , a t a b l e a u o f d e s t r u c t i o nnd hor ro r was l a i d b e f o r e t h e v i e w e r s ' e y e s . One by one,ach o f T o k y o ' s l a n d m a r ks , f r o m g ia n t s kysc r a p e r s t o m a m

m ot h t r a n sm i t t i n g t o we r s , t u m b le d d o wn , co v e r i n g t h e

t r e e t s w i t h r u b b l e a nd s n u f f i n g ou t t h e l i v e s o f m i l l i o n sf t h e p e o p le i n t h e Ja p a n e se ca p i t a l o f 11 m i l l i o n .

Wha t o c cu r r e d n e x t o n p r im e t im e Sun d a y n i g h t t e l e i s i o n wa s a n i m p o s s i b l e a c t t o f o l l o w — o r e v e n r e p e a t .h e J a p a n e se i s l a n d s , r a v a g e d b y e a r t h q u a k e an d f i r e , s l o w y s l i p p e d b e n e a t h t h e wa t e r an d se t t l e d p e r m a n e n t l y o n t h eo t t o m o f t h e Pa c i f i c Ocean.

An d t h e t e l e v i s i o n s e r i e s c a l l e d T H E SUBMERSION OFAPAN came to an end . I t had not been a big su cc es s.

The n e t w o r k , o n e o f f i v e i n J a p a n , h a d b e l e i v e d t h a tad news wou ld be good bu s i ne ss . Two ye ar s ago , Jap an 'so ve l i s t s and mov iemamakers tu rne d to themes o f doom, andoun d an eag er mar ket among the na t i o n' s 110 m i l l i o n p e o l e , a l r e a d y m e la n ch o l y o ve r a n e co n om ic d o wn t u r n .

SUBMERSION s ta r ted ou t w i th 18 per cen t o f the Sundayven ing aud ience . By the t ime Japan had become sunken prop

r t y , how eve r , on l y 13 per cen t rem ain ed .I f t h e s h o w ' s p o p u l a r i t y w a s n ' t a l l t h a t T o k y o B r o a d a s t in g S ys tem had hoped f o r , one rea son mig h t have beenh e a c t i n g . T h e s t o r y o f t h e e v e r - e r o d i n g a r c h i p e l a g o s e l om got away f rom melodrama. Bu t the sp ec ia l e f fe c t s w ereo m e t h i n g e l s e .

I t t o o k t wo d a ys ' sh o o t i n g f o r two m in u t e s o f su i t a b l yh o c k i n g f o o t a g e , s a i d o f f i c i a l s a t Tokyo B r o a d c a s t i n g .

Each i n s t a l l m e n t was p r e ce d e d a nd f o l l o w e d b y a sp e c a l a n n ou n ce me n t i n f o r m in g v i e we r s t h e y we r e wa t ch in g ac t i o n a l a c c o u n t — n o t n e w s r ee l f i l m — b e c a u s e t h e d e s t r u c o n l o o ke d c h i l l i n g l y a u t h e n t i c a t t i m e s .

I n o n e e p i so d e , p o we r f u l t r e m o r s s t r u ck t h e p i c t u esque o l d c i t y o f Kamakura and i t s g ia n t s t a t ue o f Buddhahook and t rem bled b e f o re be ing sw a l lo wed up by the ea r t h .he c i t y ' s t e r r i f i e d r e s i d e n t s t r i e d t o e s ca p e b y b o at o n l yo b e ca l l e d b a ck— t o o l a t e —w i t h n ews o f an a p p r o a ch in g

d a l w a v e .K y o t o , spar ed by Amer ican fo r ce s dur i ng Wor ld War I I

e ca u se o f i t s r i c h c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e , l o s t ea c h o f i t samous temples and ca s t le s down gap ing chasms be fo re ano the rd a l wa ve t u r n e d t h e a n c ie n t c i t y i n t o a va s t wa t e r yr a v e .

O s a k a ' s e i g h t - s t o r y c a s t l e f a r e d s om ew ha t b e t t e r i n au b s e q u e n t e p i s o d e . A f t e r t ha t i n d u s t r i a l c i t y was d am ag edy a s e r i e s o f e a r t h q u a k e s , y e t a n o t h e r t i d a l wave rushedoward the mammoth cas t le , l i f t e d i t up , and ge n t ly f l o a t d i t away.

The s t o r y ha s t h e Un i t e d Na t i o n s o r g a n i z e a m a ss i vev a c u a t i o n t ha t makes Dunk i rk look l i k e a Boy Scout canoer i p and manages to sav e mi l l io ns when Ja pa n ' s f i n a l doomecomes app are n t . T he po pu l a t i on is d i v i de d up and g i ve nh e l t e r i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , t h e S o v i e t U n i o n , Ca n a da ,

u s t r a l i a a n d e l se wh e r e . Bu t o u r h e r o a n d h e r o i n e , ao u n g n u r se a n d r e s e a r ch a s s i s t a n t a t a se i sm o lo g i ca l

a g e n c y , a r e l e f t abandoned a t a Ch r i s t ia n chur ch on thel a s t s l i v e r o f J a p a n s t i l l a b o ve wa t e r . As t h e i r h a nd sc l a s p f o r t h e l a s t t i m e , t h e s e r i e s e n d s . . . p e r h a p s q u e n c h ing once and fo r a l l Ja pa n ' s tw o- ye ar long doom bomb.

TH E SUBMERSION OF JAPAN TV se r i es was adapted f roma p o p u l a r s c i e n c e f i c t i o n novel of the same name. Thebook sold more than 3.5 m i l l i o n co p ie s a nd a f e a t u r e -l e n g t h f i l m s o o n f o l l o w e d .

Th e m o v ie u l t i m a t e l y b ecam e t h e b i g g e s t e a r n i n g J a p a nese f i l m of 1974. I t h elp ed spawn a ho st of book s, anA f t e r t h e Ap o ca l yp s e m a g a z in e a n d a n o t h e r d oom m o v ie , t h i sone about the end o f th e wo r l d .

B u t a f t e r t h e t w o - y e a r m e di a b l i t z , t h e J a p a n e s eseem to have lo s t i n t e re s t in the theme. And SUBMERSIONl o s t t h e T V r a t i n g s b a t t l e t o a h i s t o r i c a l d ra ma o f se x ,

v i o l e n c e a nd c o u r t i n t r i g u e i n 1 7 t h - c e n t u r y J a p a n .( R e p r i n t e d f r o m a n A s s o c i a t e d P r e s s s t o r y t ha t a p

peared i n the To le do Blade on Sunday June 8 , 1975.)

Below: A t e c h n i c i a n h e l p s t h e " d e s t r u c t i o n " o f J a pa n al o n gf o r t h e t e l e v i s e d v e r s i o n o f t h e e p oc h a l c a t a s t r o p h e . T h ef l a m e s a r e b u r n i n g g l u e ; t h e sm o ke , t i t a n i u m ch lo r i d e .



WANTED: J F F J #1-#10. Pa y f a i r pr i c e . B R idg w ay , R .R . 1 ,B a n c r o f t , M i c h i g a n 48414.

WANTED: J a p a n e s e F a n t a s y F i l m J o u r n a l i s s u e #1 t h r o u g h#4 , # 8 . P r e f e r e n c e w i l l be g i ve n to i ssue s i n bes t c on d i t i o n on a f i r s t come, f i r s t s e r v e d b a s i s . A l s o i n t e r e s ted i n any o th e r ma t e r i a l i n c l u d i n g b o o k s , m a g a z i n e s ,p o s t e r s , m o d e l s , s t i l l s , e t c . o n J a p a n e s e s c i e n c e f i c t i o nf i l m s , e s p e c i a l l y T o h o ' s , d e a l i n g w i t h g i a n t m o n s t e r sa n d / o r a l i e n s w i t h s u p e r i o r t e c h n o l o g y g e t t i n g i n v o l v e dw i th Ea r t h . C on tac t James Sma l lw o od , 335 H eege S t re e t ,S t . L o u i s , M i s s o u r i 63122.

FOR SALE: Monsters of the Movies # l - # 8 , an nua l , $20 f o rs e t ; Monster Wor ld Tno n-W arr en) V o l . 1 , No. 2 , $2; Monst er F ant as y V o l . 1 , No. 1 , $3; Th e Monst er T imes #l-#48( #41 m iss ing ) , $100 fo r se t ; Mons te r Wor ld (War ren ) #7and #10, $3@, #4, $4; Spacemen (c ov er s deta che d) J a n . '63and Sep t . ' 64 , $3@; Amer ica n C ine mato grap her Ja n . '76(making of THE HI NDENBERG) , $5; Famous Mo ns te rs 1966 Y e a r bo ok , $10, 1967 Yea rb oo k, $12, #29, #30, #31, $12@, #32,$10, #33, $9.50 , #34, $7.50 , #40, #42, #43, #45, $7@, #48,#51, #53, $6@, #58, $5 , #80, $4.50, #84, $4, $85, $10,#87, #89, #95 , #97, #98, #99 , $4@, #100, $5, #102 , $4,#103, #104, #105, #106, #107, #108, #111, $3@, #112,$ 2 . 5 0 , #115, #120, #123, $2§ , #116, #117, #118, #121,#122, #124, #125, #128, $1.75@; The Ar ge nt in e Sci enc eF i c t i o n R e v i e w ( f i l m f a n z i n e ) # 4 , $ 1 ; F a n t a s t i c F a n z i n e#12, $3; Suncon program book , $3; Amateur Pro du ce r ' s

Magaz ine ( f i lmma k ing fa nz in e ) Vo l . 1 , N o . 1 t h rou gh Vo l .4 , N o . 2 , $10 f o r s e t ; X a na d u ( S t e v e F r i t z a r t z i n e ) , $ 2 ;E rb -dom (B ur r ou gh ' s f a nz in e ) #51 , #52 , #53 , #55 th rough#62, $1.50@ or $10 fo r s e t ; Al ph a Dra co ni s 1976 pro gra mbook, $2. T h e r e i s on ly one u n i t each o f t he above l i s t edi t e ms . P lease i nc lud e $1 pos tage and hand l i ng pe r o r de ri n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , $2 f o r a l l o t h e r c o u n t r i e s . Makechecks or money or de rs pay abl e to Greg Shoemake r , 3235C o l l i n g w o o d B l v d . , T o l e d o , O h i o 43610, U SA. O rd e r n ow ! ! !

FILM CUPSCOLOR 35MM FILM CLIP SETS FOR SALEThese c l ips can be mounted on slidesor blown uo to f u l l co lo r s t i l l s .A good variety of scenes in each setis guaran teed. Pr ic e incl udes postage.

ATRAG0N (55 cl ips) - $2.25DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (55 cl ips) - $2.25GHIDRAH (50 clips) - $2GODZILLA VS. THE THING (50 clips) - $2KING KONG ESCAPES (85 cl ips) - $3.50LATITUDE ZERO (70 cl ips) - $2.75YOG (70 cl ips) - $2.75

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set order to:John Lo f f i nk428 Citrus RoadMelbourne, FL 32935

( T H E L A S T DINOSAUR, cont inued f rom page 31)f r o m p r o d u c e r s A r t h u r R a n k i n , J r . a nd J u l e s B a s s , t h et ea m c r e d i t e d w i t h p r e v i o u s t e l e - s p e c i a l s u s i n g p u p p e ta n i m a t i on e f f e c t s f r o m J a p an e s e s t u d i o s , e s p e c i a l l y T o e isuch as THE L I T T L E DRUMMER BOY, SM0KEY THE BEAR, THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES, RUDOLPH TH E RED-NOSED REINDEER an dmany o t he r s , t he f i l m i n s t e a d u s e s t h e m a n - i n - s u i t e f f e cp o p u l a r i z e d b y Toho t o p o r t r a y t h e t y r a n n o s a u r u s r e x , t rc e r a t o p s a nd s e v e r a l o t h e r p r e h i s t o r i c b e a s t s . T h i s t imet h e e f f e c t s a r e t h e c r e a t i o n o f T s u b u r a y a P r o d u c t i o n s ,

now headed by E i j i ' s second so n , N oburo Ts ub ur ay a , w hoa p p e a rs p r e t t y d e l i g h t e d t o h a v e h ad t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t owork on THE LAST DINOSAUR f o r Am e ri c an t e l e v i s i o n . " W e ' vr eached the t op o f Mon t -B lanc ( t he ABC te le v i s i o n ne t w o r k ) , " he sa id , " now w e ' d l i k e t o c l i m b t h e E v e r e s t( I r w i n A l l e n d i s a s t e r f i l m s ) . "

T h e c r e a t o r o f DINOSAUR i s c a r t o o n i s t W i l l i a m T ho ma sO v e r g a r d , who has been the a r t i s t f o r t he "S teve R oper "comic s t r i p si nc e 1952, and who made hi s i n i t i a l f o r a yi n t o f i l m w i th TH E LAST DINOSAUR. O v e r g a r d f e e l s s c r e e n -w r i t i n g i s m e r e l y a n e x t e n s i o n o f c a r t o o n i n g .

"A ca r t oo ni s t has to have the mind of a came ra, seet h i n g s f r om d i f f e r e n t a n g l e s , d i f f e r e n t p e r s p e c t i v e s .Each cu t i s s imp ly ano t he r pan e l . I en j oy w r i t i n g immensl y because i t a l lo ws me to escap e the mold of th e comics t r i p and s t r e t c h my ima g in a t i on by dea l i n g w i t h t hemes

Roper would nev er tou ch upon. And i t keeps me f ro m f e e l i ng I ' v e t u r n e d s t a l e . "

O v e r g a r d f i r s t c o n c e i v e d T H E LAST DINOSAUR t w o y e a r sago as a s to ry about a .modern hun te r who t r a v e l s back i nt ime to t r ac k down the l a s t o f t he t y rannosaurs , bu t ABChad plans to do an updated KING KONG and the p ro je c t w ass h e l v e d . When D ino D eL au re n t i i s snagged the r i g h t s t o t heg ian t ape f i r s t , t h e n e t w o r k j e a l o u s l y f e l t i t too neededa mons ter and asked Over ga rd to come up w i th ano the r co nce p t . H e d i d , bas ing h i s new sc r een p la y on h i s e a r l i e rs c e n a r i o .

A t f i r s t ABC f ro wne d on Ove rga rd w r i t i n g t h e s c r e e np l a y . " I f y o u d o n ' t h a v e s e v e r a l c r e d i t s , " h e e x p l a i n s ," t h e y s t a r t r u n n i n g s c a r e d . B u t t h e p r o d u c e r , A r t h u r Rank i n , i n s i s t e d t h a t I no t on l y do t he sc en ar io , bu t a l s ob e a v a i l a b l e f o r r e w r i t i n g i n J a p a n f o r f o u r w e e k s , w h e r e

most of the f i l m w a s s h o t . "( P a r t s o f t h e p r e c e d i n g r e p r i n t e d f r o m a n a r t i c l e

by Joh n S ta n l ey i n t he San F ra nc i sc o Examine r and C h ro n i c l e , Sunday , Feb rua ry 6 , 197T)

(THE POSSESSED, co nt i nu ed f ro m page 32)Sawa a nd S h i n z o e v e n t u a l l y l o c a t e h e r , bu t O t o s h i ' s b o dyhas been taken over by the s p i r i t of Oshima. Sawa thenat t empt s to s ta b Oshima as she tak es bod i l y fo rm , but thekn i f e my s t e r i o us l y t u rn s and s tabs Saw a. Sc reami ng , sher u n s t o t h e r i v e r a nd t h r o w s h e r s e l f i n . T h e w i t c h , O s h i ma , f o l l ow s Saw a i n t o t h e r i v e r a s O t o s h i r e c o v e r s f r o mthe sp e l l . Sh in zo ho lds O tosh i back as she a t t emp ts t orush a f t e r he r mo the r .

Th e next morn ing Sawa's body is found f l o a t i n g i n

the r i v e r , but th e body of Oshima appea rs to be l o s tf o r e v e r .

34



C o h e r e n t f e a r s an d f a n t a s i e s o f ma ss d e s t r u c t i o n a r efound i n a l l cu l t u r es . One need on l y s tudy G r e e k , Germanico r J a p a n e s e m y t h o l o g y , f o r i n s t a n c e , t o c o n c l u d e t h i s .These p r i m e v a l f e a r s , m u l t i p l i e d m i l l i o n - f o l d by modernte chn o l ogy , have y i e l de d new mon s te r s , new my t h i c a l demonsto t ake the p lace o f t he dev i l s o f o ld . These new c r e a tu re s of deat h and dar kne ss swarm not the un cha r te d o-c e a n s , b u t t h e u n c h a r t e d s u bc o n s c i o u s o f m o de rn c i v i l i z a t i o n . O u r m o de r n- d ay c y c l o p s , t e l e v i s i o n , e x p l o i t s o u re v e r y d a y f e a r s o f p o s s i b l e c h e m i c a l , b i o l o g i c a l o r a t om i ce x t i n c t i o n . T h e m o n s t e r s o f t h e Greek s a r e s t i l l w i t h u s ,b ut i n d i f f e r e n t a nd d i v e r s i f i e d f o r m s .

A case in po i n t are the many monster f i l m s a p p e a r i n gt h r o u g h o u t t h e i n d u s t r i a l i z e d c e n t e r s o f t h e w o r l d d u r i n gthe immediate a f t er ma th o f the Second Wor ld War , and thep o s t - i n d u s t r i a l , s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n s w h i c h e v o l v e d f r o mt h i s c o n f l i c t .

A l t h o u g h o u r i n i t i a l f ea r o f nuc lea r w ar has l essene d t o d a y (w e h a v e d i f f e r e n t f e a r s p r e s e n t l y , e . g . , t h e e n e r g y c r i s i s , a s t h i s i s be i n g w r i t t e n ) , o ne m us t r e c a l lt he i n te nse pa rano ia o f t he t imes and the op po r t un i t y f o rAm e r i ca n s t u d i o s t o e x p l o i t t h e s e f e a r s . T he r e s u l t s w e r e ,p r e d i c t a b l y , h o r r o r f i l m s such as THEM, THE BEAST FROM20,000 FATHOMS, TH E AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and so f o r t h .A l l wer e mons ters somehow unle ashe d by tech no lo gy .

But a unique and v e r y re ve al in g phenomenon was tooccu r i n J a p a n . A fo rm a l r ea dy i n t a c t i n Amer i can thea t r es w as t r a nsp or t ed t o a cou n t r y r avaged by t he f i r s tatomi c bombs. Ing ra i ne d fea rs of nuc le ar weapon ry and massd e s t r u c t i o n , s t r o n g e r t h an t h e A m e r ic a n c o u n t e r p a r t s ,p lag ued the Japa nese th ea t r es f or more than a decad e: thec i t i e s a s y e t t o be c o m p l e t e l y r e b u i l t , t h e p h y s i c a l r e

s idue o f bomb ing and des t r uc t i on s t i l l apparen t t o t hecommon thea t regoer .

G O D Z I L L A , KING OF THE MONSTERS (G O JIRA i n J apan ) wasthe s t a r t i n g p o i n t , t h e f i r s t a t tempt by a major Japaneses t u d i o ( T o h o ) t o e x p l o i t p u b l i c f e a r s i n t h e b ox o f f i c e .The f i l m h as r e v e a l i n g q u a l i t i e s w he n s e e n t o d a y , q u a l i t i e s l a c k i n g i n l a t e r e f f o r t s by d i r e c t o r I s h i r o H on daa nd s p e c i a l e f f e c t s m a n, E i j i T s u b u r a y a . The mood of po st war J apan i s s ta r k l y se t upon the v i ew er , pe rhaps i ng r e a t e r d e t a i l t h a n o t h e r n o n - f a n t a s y f i l m s t o d a t e . T h i smight be GODZILLA'S s o l e v a l u e t o c i n e m a t i c h i s t o r y , o t h e r t h a n m e re s p e c t a c l e .

T h e f i l m , s i m i l a r i n p l o t , bu t no t s t y le , t o t hemany i n t e r n a t i o n a l f i l m mons te r s r oaming the ea r t h l an ds ,i n v o l v e s a p r eh i s to r i c c a r n i vo re somehow pu t t o s le ep fo rm i l l i o n s o f y e a r s , awakened by an ato mic t e s t in the Pac i f i c i s l a n d s n e a r J a p a n .

T o u n t r a i n e d W e s t e r n eyes t h e f i l m may at f i r s t a p pear as a r o u t i n e mons te r mov i e . Ye t , t he re i s some qua l i t y t ha t s e t s t h i s f i l m a s i d e f r o m o t h e r c r e a t u r e f i l m s ,both Amer ican and J a p a n e s e , o f i t s k i n d .

T h e r e i s a b i z a r r e , h e a v i l y s t y l i z e d , b l a c k a nd w h i t e ,b l e ak p h o t o g r a p h y , t y p i c a l l y and i n t e n t i o n a l l y J a p a n e s e - -the sea and land scap e ar e photo graphe d a lmos t as i f th eya r e f r om an anc ien t w oo dcu t t i ng : t he i n i t i a l appearanceo f t h e d i n o s a u r i c m o n s t e r , " G o d z i l l a , " a s c a l l e d b y s u p e r s t i t i o u s i s l a n d e r s o f f t h e c o a s t o f J a p a n , f i l med as i fsome n ig h tm ar i sh c rea tu re f r om the da rkness o f t he my tho l o g i c a l t a l l - t a l e s o f f euda l t im es . T h u s , t h r o u g h p h o t o g r a p h y , t he aud ience exper iences a g loominess and mys te r yc h a r a c t e r s i t i c o f t h e " k a b u k i " ( t h e m o st i m p o r t a n t t h e a t r i c a l a r t o f Japan o r i g i n a t i n g i n t h e 1 6t h c e n t u r y , c om b i n i n g s t r o n g e l e m e n t s o f s t y l i z a t i o n , m u s ic an d d a n c e ) .Th e v i e w e r i s u n c e r t a i n w h e t h e r t h i s dinosaur is a mere

f i g m e n t o f s u p e r s t i t i o u s n a t i v e s o r w h e t h e r t h i s mons te rr e a l l y e x i s t s .

35



" G o d z i l l a i s . . .the f e a r s o f . . .

modern and a n c i e n tJ a p a n . . . "

An A m e r i c a n c o r r e s p o n d e n t i n J a p a n , Raymond Bur r ,a r r i v e s a f t e r s e v e r a l m y s t e r i o u s s i n k i n g s o f t a n k e r s o f ft h e c o a s t . W h i l e i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h e t a l l - t a l e s of the nat i v e s i n a r a d i o a c t i v e v i l l a g e s u p p o s e d l y a t t a c k e d b y" G o d z i l l a " t h e p r e v i o u s n i g h t , t h e g a r g a n t u a n b e a s t a p p e a r s b r i e f l y .

Upon t h i s a p p e a r a n c e t h e m y t h i c a l e l e m e n t s a r e r e a d i l y a p p a r e n t — t h e s o un d o f f o o t s t e p s , k a b u k i - s t y l e d ru mb e a t s , r h y t h m i c , as i f t o s y m b o l i z e t h e e a r t h - s h a k i n gpow er o f t h i s d ragon f r om the sea . C on s t an t l y w e hearth i s a lmos t naus ea t i ng bea t i ng p r i o r t o t he appearanceo f e ac h s e q u e nc e i n v o l v i n g d e a t h a nd d e s t r u c t i o n , a n d i nt h e a b s e n c e o f t h e s e " f o o t s t e p s " a s i m i l a r l o w - k e y e d p i a no n o t e , a l m o s t f r i g h t e n i n g i n i t s P o e - l i k e p o u n d i n g , i s

h e a r d . T hes e s i g h t - s o u n d e l e m e n t s , e v en i f o v e r l o o k e d ,a dd a c e r t a i n a i r o f s t r a n g e n e s s l a c k i n g i n t h e l a t e rf i lm s o f Honda and T s u b u r a y a .

G o dz i l l a i s t hen the f e a r s o f bo th modern and anc ie n tJ a p a n - - t h e s u b c o n s c i ou s r a c i a l t r a i t s , i n e s c a p a b l y h e r e d i t a r y , a s d e s c r i b e d b y N i e t z s c h e , f o u n d i n a l l g e n e r a t i o n s o f a r a c e , n o m a t t e r h ow g e o g r a p h i c a l l y d i v e r s e o rhow s e p a r a t e i n t i m e . G o d z i l l a i s t h e f e a r o f t h e s e a -f e a r w h os e r o o t s s t e m f r o m t h e e n d l e s s s t r u g g l e s o f s a i l o r s c e n t u r i e s a go i n t i n y s h i p s v o y a g i n g t o i s l a n d s f a ra wa y ; f ea r o f ea r thquakes and t i d a l waves wh ic h has notfa de d ; o f t yphoo ns w h ic h have sunk many a sh ip , i nc lu d in gthe i r on g ia n t s o f Wor ld War I I . G o d z i l l a , as i f some da rkm y t h s u p p o s e d l y l o s t t h o u s a n d s o f y e a r s a g o , r i s e s f r o mh is r e s t i n g p lace to haun t , i n f a c t t o t e s t , man ' s capac i t y t o s u r v i v e i n a m i c r o c o s m o f c i t i e s a nd t e c h n o l o g y .

Ja p a n e se f a i t h i n t h e m i l i t a r y , s o s h a t t e r e d d u r i n gW o r l d W ar I I , i s l o w . Mo de rn a i r c r a f t , b a t a l l i ons o f t a nk s ,b a t t l e s h i p s a nd d e s t r o y e r s c o n s t a n t l y p ou nd t h e r a d i o a c t i v e r e p t i l i a n t o no a v a i l . W ar s o f a g g r e s s i o n ha v e p r e v i o u s l y been popu l a r i n Japanese ps yc ho lo gy . Tha t t he A r my an d Navy wi th advance d equipmen t cannot s to p a beas tf r om the an c i en t pas t imp l i es t h a t s i m p l e - m i n d e d a c t i o nw i l l n o t d e t e r t h e e v i l o f a d a r k , m y s t e r i o u s an d h o s t i l eN a t u r e .

T h i s mood , t y p i ca l o f t he immed ia te pos t -w a r pe r i o d ,i s f u r t h e r e v i d e n c e d b y t h e m a r t i a l m u s i c , w a r s h i p s o ft he sea d ropp ing dep th - cha rge s and tanks pound ing sh e l la f t e r s h e l l w i t h no e f f e c t .

Th e pow er o f t he c i t y i t s e l f , t h e v e r y ve ins andb l o o d o f m o de r n c i v i l i z a t i o n , i s h e l p l e s s to s t o p t h em o n s t e r . E l e c t r i c i t y , s y mb ol o f m od er n l i g h t a n d e n e r g y ,i s used to shock t he r e p t i l i an beas t f r om l i f e . When th i sf a i l s , G o d z i l l a d e s t r o y s t h e m e t r o p o l i s i n w h a t a p p e a rsto be a r e c r ea t i on o f t he f i r e -b omb ra id s o f 1945. A i r

r a id s i r e ns sound i n an a lmos t exa c t s i mu l a t i on o f Wor ldWar I I , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n t h a t t he enemy i s a f i r e -b r e a t h i n g g i a n t i n t e n t u po n l a y i n g w a s t e t o t h e s t r u c t u re s o f c i v i l i z a t i o n .

I n a s imu l t an eous sequence a young s c ie n t i s t , somew ha t d i s f i g u r e d a nd d i s i l l u s i o n e d d u r i n g W o r l d War I I ,d e v e l o p s a r e v o l u t i o n a r y n ew W e ap o n. T h i s weapo n, as i ti s r e v e a l e d , i s t h e o n l y m e th o d i n e x i s t e n c e a b l e t o d e s t r o y t h e m o n s t e r .

B ut t h e s c i e n t i s t , a f r a i d t h a t the weapon may f a l lin to th e wrong hands i f us ed , i n i t i a l l y r e f u s e s . A s m i l

l i o n s o f c i v i l i a n s a r e c r e m a t e d , a s t h e t e l e v i s i o n c a me r a s broad cas t t h e dea th and de s t r u c t i o n i n w ha t seems tob e a s y m b o l i c r e m i n d e r o f H i r o s h i m a , t h e y o u n g s c i e n t i s t ,f i n a l l y y i e l d i n g t o e m o t i o n , a g r e e s , b u t o n o n l y o n e c o n d i t i o n — t h a t h e b e t h e s o l e u s e r o f t h e " o x y g e n - d e s t r o y e r "a g a i n s t t h e G o d z i l l a d i n o s a u r . D e s t r o y i n g t h e y e a r s o fr e s e a r c h da ta , he tak es th e so l e model and w i th an accompl ic e desce nds f rom a sh ip to un l eas h the weapon on thes l e e p i n g , u n de r se a r e p t i l i a n .

T h i s s e q u e n c e , s u p p o s e d l y t h e a n t i - c l i m a x , i s , I b e l i e v e , t he mos t im pre ss i ve o f t he f i l m . I t i s H onda ' sm a s t e r p i e c e . I n no o t h e r f i l m by Honda have I found sucha u n i q u e s y n t h e s i s o f s o u n d , o f o b s c u r e u n d e r w a t e r i m a g e so f s m o o t h l y f l o a t i n g mus ic . A t i t s bes t , t h i s sequenceapproaches an a lmost b a l l e t - l i k e be au t y , an e th e re a l andn e v e r - a g a i n dup l i c a te d f r a gme n t . H onda , w hen unmar red by

t h e n e c e s s i t y t o c r e a t e f i l m s s o l e l y f o r c h i l d r e n a nd A -m e r i c a n a u d i e n c e s , d e m o n s t r a t e s t h a t he is capa ble ofc i n e ma t i c a r t i s t r y c l o s e l y a p pr o ac h in g t h a t of the puren a r r a t i v e s t y l e s o f b o t h J a c k A r n o l d a nd A k i r a K u r o s a w a .

Th e t w o d i v e r s d e s c e n d , f l o a t i n g i n a scene w i t h t heg r a c e f u l n e s s u s u a l l y r e s e r v e d f o r t h e k a b uk i t h e a t r e . T h em u s i c , h a u n t i n g l y a p p r o p r i a t e , a l m o s t m ak es o n e f o r g e tt h a t a g i a n t d i n o s a u r w i t h G o d - l i k e c a p a b i l i t i e s a w a i t sb e l o w . T h e s c i e n t i s t , p l a n t i n g t h e c y l i n d r i c a l w ea po n o nt h e o c ea n f l o o r , a c t i v a t e s t h e o x y g e n - d e s t r o y e r . R a t h e rthan re ve a l h i s sec r e t t o t he w o r l d , he cu t s h i s umb i l i ca lc o r d , k i l l i n g h i m s e l f l i k e t he kamikaze o f o l d .

Th e dea th o f t he mons te r and the pa ra l l e l dea th o ft h e d i s i l l u s i o n e d y o u ng s c i e n t i s t m ar k t h e e nd o f a n e r ai n J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y : t h e f i n a l t e r m i n a t i o n o f d a r k , d e s t r u c t i v e a nd c o r r u p t i n g f e a r s i n a d e f e a t e d c o u n t r y ; t h e

a r i s e o f i n s e c u r i t y o v e r w ea p on s c a p a b l e o f m as s d e s t r u c t i o n ( a dd t o t h i s t h e u n c e r t a i n t y p e r v a d i n g J a p a n e s e r e fu sa l t o posses s nu cl ea r bombs to d a y ) ; and the end to thep o s t - w a r e r a i t s e l f .

Al th ou gh oth er f i l ms were to be made by Honda in th e' F i f t i e s , f i l m s o f n o t a bl e w o r t h ( e . g . , T HE MYSTERIANS i n1957) , t he H on da /T subu raya team w ou ld nev e r aga in ma tchGODZILLA i n t e r m s o f i t s m oo d y s t y l i s m s , i t s r e v e a l i n gv i su a l summat ion o f pos t -w ar f e e l i n gs and i t s un iquenessas a f i l m c o m m o d i t y i n w o r l d w i d e m o v i e t h e a t r e s . T o h o ,c a s h i n g i n o n i t s g r e a t e s t f i n a n c i a l s u c c e s s , h a ck e d o u tdozens o f m o n s t e r f i l m s a s d i d i t s A m e r i c a n c o m p e t i t o r s .Bu t as usua l , t he f i r s t e f f o r t , u nh am pe re d b y c l i c h e s ,f r e s h a nd a s y e t f r e e o f n e c e s s i t i e s t o m e r e l y " s e l l " a ta p r e d i c t a b l e m a r k e t , i s t h e b e s t . T h e r e can never be a-n o t h e r GODZILLA.

Th e c o u n t r y i s t o be r e p a i r e d , w e a r e t o l d in thef i n a l sequence , and l i f e sha l l go on .H i s t o r i a n s i n t e r e s t e d i n t h i s d a rk e r a o f r e c o v e r y

m i g h t f i n d t h e f i l m o f e x t r e m e w o r t h . I f s t r i p p e d o f a l lr i d i c u l o u s n e s s , t h e f i l m would m ir ro r the f rame of mindo f a pos t -w ar J a p a n . I t has been sa id t h a t f i l m s r e f l e c tt he t imes , and t h a t o f t e n t h e i r o n l y i n t r i n s i c f u t u r ew o r t h l i e s w i t h t h i s f a c t . I t c o u l d n o t b e s t r e s s e d m o r e .

Th e c y c l e o f d e s t r u c t i o n b y f i r e a n d i c e , b y A -b om bsand my t ho l og i ca l d ragon f l a me , by co l d i gno r anc e and da rk ,d i s i l l u s i o n e d r e l u c t a n c e . . . t h i s c y c l e now c o m p le t e , t h es e l f - d e t e r m i n e d s p i r i t o f t he de f ea t ed i s r e v i v e d .

I n t he e y e s of the defeated, war has a lways been someG o d z i l l a , some e v i l , d a r k d e v i l r i s i n g m y t h i c a l l y , a l m os tm a g i c a l l y g i f t e d w i t h i r r a t i o n a l d e s t r u c t i v e p o w e r, h a u n t ing tec hn ol og ic a l man who has somehow co nv in ce d h im se l ft h a t h e i s c i v i l i z e d a nd s u p e r i o r t o m e re a n - ^ = = * 9 " j r = ^ ^i m a l i s t i c v i o l e n c e a nd s w i f t , u n p r e d i c t a b l e ( ( jj d e a t h . V - S ^ l l \L<^y

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