Cinema Year Book of Japan 1938 (1938)
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APPENDICES
MOTION-PICTURE CHRONOLOGY-1937
JANUARY
The Utaemon Production was dissolved, and Utaemon Ichikawa entered by himself the Jidai-gel^i section of the Shinko Kinema.
Sessue I-Iayakawa left for France to take part in a MiloFilm production, Toshnvara, a cinematization of a story by Maurice Dekobra, co-starring with P. Richard-Wilm and Michiko Tanaka.
Arrangements were completed for Mr. Haruo Rondo’s trip abroad, in his capacity of General Secretary of the International Cinema Association, in order to represent Japan at the Venice Cinema Exposition and Paris International Cinema Conference.
The Shochiku Kinema Kabushiki Kaisha and the Shochiku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha were annexed into a new Shochiku KabuShiki Kaisha.
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Important films released during January:
(domestic)
Hana\ago no Uta (Song of the Flower-Basket, Shochiku)
Hanayome Karuta (The Bride’s Game of Cards, Shochiku)
Koichi T anbei (Nikkatsu)
Jonin Axshii (Pity of Being Women, P.C.L.)
(imported)
San Francisco (M.G.M.)
Swing Time (RKO)
The Beloved Vagabond (Toeplitz Production)
Club de Femmes (S.E.L.F., France)
FEBRUARY
Plans were completed for the establishment of a cinema company under the Government auspices of Manchoukuo, with a capital of 5,000,000 yen; production to commence in April.
The world premiere of T he AJeu; Earth, a German-Japanese joint production under Dr. Arnold Fanck, was held on February 3, at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo. The occasion was graced by the presence of several Princes and Princesses of the blood.
The Cultural Films Department of Shochiku (Ofuna) opened anew a Cinema Advice Bureau to answer all inquiries and requests of film-producers in general.
Minoru Takada, who had dissolved his own production company, joined the Gendaige\\ staff of the T6ho (P.C.L.). Joji Oka also entered the P.C.L., having resigned from the Nikkatsu.
The Japan Motion Picture Directors Association held a pre-view of Sobo (These People), a Nikkatsu production directed by Hisatora Kumagai, which was followed by a discussion of the production plans, the artistic quality, etc., of the work.
* *
* *
Important films released during February :
(domestic)
K 6)6 no Tsu\i (The Moon Over the Ruins, Shochiku)
Shu\ujo wa T^ani o Wasureta h.a (What Did the Ladies Forget?, Shochiku)
Sobo (These People, Nikkatsu)
Kinno Ina\a Samurai (Loyal Country Samurai, Shinko) Sengo\u Gunto Den (An Epic of Civil War Robbers, P.C.L.) Atarashx\i Tsuchi (The New Earth, distributed by the Dr. Fanck Production)
(imported)
Anthony Adverse (W.N.)
A Tale of Two Cities (M.G.M.)
Episode (Tobis-Sascha)
MARCH
Prospectus and scheme were decided upon for the Manchoukuo Cinema Association, an organization for the control of Manchurian motion-pictures.
Setsuko Hara, actress, Hisatora Kumagai, director, Mr. Nagamasa Kawakita, President of the Towa Shoji, and Mrs. Kawakita left for Europe, Miss Hara being scheduled to address the audience at the premiere of The 7\[ew Earth in Berlin on March 26.
After careful considerations, Kojd no T su\i (The Moon Over the Ruins) (Shochiku Gendai-ge\i ) was selected by the International Cinema Association as the exhibition piece at the 1937 Internationa! Grand Exposition of Paris and the Cinema Exposition of Venice. It was decided to re-edit the film at the Cinema Association before exportation.
The rivalry between the “Four-Company Combine” (Shochiku, Nikkatsu, Shinko, Daito) and the Toho became so severe that the Combine issued a notification to the theatres belonging to their system to refuse the inclusion of Toho productions in their bills.
The Makina Talkie was dissolved on account of financial difficulties.
* *
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Important films released during March :
(domestic)
Mori no Ishimatsu (Nikkatsu)
Karayu\i-san (P.C.L.)
(imported)
Gay Desperado (U.A.)
The Iron Duke (G.B.)
The Plainsman (Paramount)
La Kermesse Hdro'fque (Tobis)
Charge of the Light Brigade (W.N.)
Gold Diggers of 1937 (W.N.)
Tarzan Escapes (M.G.M.)
Winterset (RKO)
APRIL
The Japan Motion Picture Directors Association sponsored a gathering to commemorate its first anniversary, featuring movies and lectures. Awards were given to the following:
Kenji Mizoguchi, director of Gion no Kyodai (Sisters of Gion), as the outstanding production of the year.
Isuzu Yamada, Shinko actress ; Isamu Kosugi, Nikkatsu actor; Reikichi Kawamura, Shochiku actor — 1936 Awards for superior acting.
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