Komako Hara
Acting
Biography
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Hara made her motion picture debut in 1924 in the film Rakujitsu no yume.[1] At studios such as Tōa Kinema and Makino Talkie, she achieved fame specializing in starring roles playing vamps, dokufu (poison women), and yakuza molls in jidaigeki.[1] In the sound era, she shifted to secondary roles in films by directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Masahiro Makino, and Keigo Kimura. She appeared in over 200 films in her career.
Known For
During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.
The Life of Oharu
The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film, rakugo, kodan and on stage many times, in part because Nakayama later joined the famous 47 Ronin (Chushingura) as Horibe Yasubei. But Makino and Inagaki’s version gives no hint of this more serious future, playing up the thrills and the comedy with Bando’s bravura performance. The multiple pans of Yasubei running to the duel are an exemplar of the experimental flourishes of 1930s Japanese cinema and the final duel, performed virtually like a dance number, is a marker of Makino’s love of rhythm and one of the best sword fights in Japanese film history. The film was originally released under the title Chikemuri Takadanoba (Bloody Takadanobaba) with a length of 57 minutes, but suffered some cuts and a title change when it was re-released in 1952.
Blood Spilled at Takadanobaba
A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge his father-in-law's death and retrieve the family heirloom.
Echo of Love
No description available.
風雲金毘羅山
A captivating operetta by Masahiro Makino based on Juppensha Ikku's humorous novel "Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige" starring Chiezo Kataoka and Kyoji Sugi.
Yaji And Kita's Traveling Diary
Okichi, a woman trapped in a criminal scheme by two con men, finds her life of deception threatened when she unexpectedly falls in love with the son of a wealthy merchant.
Miss Okichi
Film about Ghost-Cat.
Monsters Catcher Oedo Seven Changes
A film based on the life of the bakuto Kunisada Chuji
Kunisada Chūji: Shinshū komoriuta
When a civil war threatens to break out, two geishas flee from their village with aristocrats. During the long journey, the socially inferior women prove to be morally superior to their betters.
Oyuki the Virgin
This is Kanjûrô Arashi's first film with Nikkatsu after his independent production company went bankrupt (many of these independent companies went bankrupt shortly after the transition to sound). As he is mostly famous for his portrait of Kurama tengu (and on the other hand, he's the definitive actor for Kurama Tengu as well), Nikkatsu made another version of Kurama tengu, co-directed by Masahiro Makino & Sadatsugu Matsuda who are both sons of Shozo Makino. Scripted by Yoshitake Hisa, a jidaigeki specialist who later scripted several Toei All-Star Jidaigeki.
Kurama Tengu
Film about Ghost-Cat.
Giant Cat Den
An important silent film survives, Kumahiko Nishina's Umon torimonocho rokuban tegara jinenji kidan (The Samurai Detective, aka The Detective Records of Umon, aka Detective Umon Diary: Exploit Number Six, 1930). Umon on his shining white horse stops a conspiracy against the Shogun. Umon was played by Kanjuro Arashi in this early film, & long after in the post-Occupation jidaigeki revival he reprised the role in Kajiro Yamamoto's Muttsuri Umon torimonocho (1955), helping to launch the renewed interest in such films.
Detective Umon's Diary, Story No. 6
No description available.