SHINTOHO POST!

I do apologize for the caps lock, but I have been wanting to make this post since before I started this blog. We finally (I mean, not "finally", this didn't just happen, but I only just found out about it) have confirmation of movies that Akihiko Hirata worked on as an assistant director while he was at Shintoho. I am almost certain he wouldn't have been credited for this work since he was only part-time. There's probably even more movies that he worked on, but these are the only two I've ever heard of.

It's very exciting! For me at least, maybe for you too, I don't know.

So the source I got this from was a blog post that had abnormally detailed information about Hirata's background before he became an actor. The blog is run by a person who tracks down and visits the graves of figures from the Showa era; this in itself is interesting as until just now I did not actually know where Hirata's grave is (at Zennoji Temple) nor did I think anyone else did - they didn't on the BBS board, at least, but that was a good 20+ years ago. There are no citations, but Lynching was corroborated in the Kinejun interview I translated (though I didn't realize it at the time since the translation - which I have since fixed - was very poor) so I have to assume Youth Decameron is legit as well. Here are the movies:

Lynching [1949] dir. Nobuo Nakagawa

A yakuza film which marked the first collaboration between Nobuo Nakagawa and huge star Kanjūrō Arashi. The film does exist and the rights are currently held by Kokusai Broadcasting; it is also housed in the National Film Archive collection. It does not presently seem to have any physical media release, but I have contacted someone about obtaining a copy. A heavily edited 64-minute version was re-released in 1958 under the title Escape from Lawless Town.

(Edit: I obtained and watched this wonderful movie and I talk about it at length here. Also find a link to the full movie on archive.org within that post.)

Youth Decameron [1950] dir. Gorō Kadono

I can barely find anything out about this at all. The most detailed information I've seen comes from a Twitter user who obtained a pamphlet and trailer for this film. Apparently some of the staff and cast was unknown until this person was able to track down the correct credits. The rights are also owned by Kokusai, but the film doesn't appear to be in the National Film Archive. It seems to be a musical (probably obvious from the poster) with Kyōko Kagawa as the lead. A heavily edited 47-minute version was re-released under the title Laugh-Out-Loud Fun. 

This means I get to make two brand new tags: "1940s" and "assistant director"! I will add to these if I find out more. Oh God, I really have a "1940s" tag on this blog now, we're in deep...