HOLLYWOOD FILMS / JAPANESE FILMS

A Little Leaflet from 90 Years Ago

A few days ago, I received the package from the bookstore specialized in vintage movie magazines. I won several issues of Kinema Junpo from 1920’s and ’30s from the online auction. Kinema Junpo is one of the oldest periodical publication on movies, dating back to 1919, and still in business. One of the issues in the package was dated March 11, 1924. It’s only 28 pages, including covers, but to me, it contains a wealth of information about the movie experience almost 90 years ago. Between its pages, I found a small sheet of paper. It is printed on both …

 
'BOBTAIL' REVIEW / JAPANESE FILMS

Undying Pearls (1928)

Hiroshi Shimizu’s UNDYING PEARLS (1928) is the story of two sisters, who live two different life styles, but want the same thing: being loved. This is another Shochiku’s “women’s picture”, full of melodramatic twists, colorful characters, and fashionable clothes. Toshie, the elder sister, fell in love with Shozo Narita, a rising entrepreneur, but her introverted nature and extreme shyness prevented her from expressing her emotions. The best she could do is to write a very polite letter to Narita, with a reserved expression like “I would like to have a conversation with you”. Reiko, the younger sister, is a “modern …

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JAPANESE FILMS

Conversion to Talkies : Case for Foreign Films

Newspaper ad for MOROCCO (1930), Note the subtitles in the image. Japanese is written vertically. One of the problems unique to Japanese cinema industry in early 1930s was demise of Benshis, interpreter/lecturer/storyteller of movies. During the silent film era, a Benshi was an essential part of movie experience. He stood right next to the screen and provided live speech to audience, explaining and coloring up the events up on the screen. He gave the background of the story, imitated conversation between characters, or supplemented anecdotes of the film. Popularity of a Benshi was an important ingredient for movie business, sometimes …