Release date: July 2nd 1957 (first film), August 25th 1957 (second film)
Director: Ishirō Honda
Studio: Toho
Cast: Yoshio Kosugi, Chiyoko Shimakura, Chikage Ogi, Fumiko Honma, Takashi Ito, Tomonosuke Yamada, Rieko Sanjo, Michiko Tsuyama, Akihiko Hirata, Kunio Otsuka, Sen Wada, Hiroshi Koizumi (second film only), et al
Availability: No known streaming or home media release. Infrequent screenings.
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Actually, no, I'm not done looking at obscure Ishirō Honda films, thanks for asking. Happy Honda-days.
Like A Rainbow Stays in My Heart, this is a duology, and this post will cover both films. The second one, subtitled The Woman I Called Big Sister [お姉さんと呼んだ人 / Onesan to yonda hito], was not released concurrently with the first but came out a over a month after it. So a theater-goer in 1957 could have seen A Tea-Picker's Song of Goodbye on July 2nd, gone to see both parts of A Rainbow Stays in My Heart a week later, but had to wait over a month for the second part of A Tea-Picker's Song of Goodbye to come out.
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| massive 3.3mb image for your delectation |
From what I can gather, these are largely a vehicle for enka singer Chiyoko Shimakura, who plays the lead in the first film but not the second. Both films were shot simultaneously, but the second is more of a companion piece than a direct sequel, and follows a different character from the first film. A synopsis of both can be found on Kinenote, but really, there's not a ton to summarize, it doesn't seem terribly deep. Hirata is in both films, and plays the elder brother of the character who is present in the first film but becomes the protagonist in the second. All the information I can find about his character is that he has arranged a marriage for his sister and doesn't like that she wants to date somebody else instead. The lead actress in the second film, Chikage Ogi, was a Takarazuka actor for a while and later became a politician.
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| from part II |
Shimakura also recorded a song for the soundtrack, which was released as a single on Columbia Records, with Kikue Hanamura and Masao Kato singing "Chakkiri Hayashi" as the B-side. This isn't currently for sale, but one sold online four years ago for ¥1400 (like $10). You can listen to it here.
Some links to further material:
- This Chiyoko Shimakura fanblog has some images from the movie, but god knows how this person got those pictures since this has no official or unofficial release.
- Sheet music for the above-mentioned song, if you want to pay ¥220 for it. (Less than $2.)
- IMDb has some more images that look to me like photos of a television screen, which leads me to believe this has been aired on TV at some point.
- More pictures from part I.
- More pictures from part II.
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