|
Varan The Unbelievable
is a 1958 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it stars Kōzō Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, and Koreya Senda, with Haruo Nakajima as Varan. In the film, a reporter's investigation into two mysterious deaths in Japan's mountains leads to the discovery of a giant lake monster, wrecking its way towards civilization. In 1957, Toho was approached by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) to co-produce a new ''kaiju'' film for television. It was intended to be a three-part film, each 30 minutes with fade-in/outs for commercial breaks. However, AB-PT collapsed during production and Toho altered the film's status from a television film to a theatrical feature. As a result, the crew faced difficulties and filming lasted 28 days. The film was theatrically released in Japan on October 14, 1958. A heavily localized version, with new footage starring Myron Healey in the lead, was releas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, with his films having a significant influence on the film industry. Despite directing many Drama (film and television), drama, War film, war, Documentary film, documentary, and Comedy film, comedy films, Honda is best remembered for directing and co-creating the ''kaiju'' genre with special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, ''Aoi Shinju, The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshio Tsuchiya
was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. '' Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and '' Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okamoto's '' Kill!''. He had a long-standing interest in UFOs and wrote several books on the subject. He preferred starring in science fiction films, usually as aliens, or people possessed by them, in such films as '' Battle in Outer Space'', '' Monster Zero'', and '' Destroy All Monsters''. Biography Tsuchiya was born in Kofu, Yamanashi in 1927. His film debut was in the 1952 Shintoho film ''Murder Suspect'' (殺人容疑者). During the auditions for Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', Tsuchiya was watching, and was picked by Kurosawa although he originally had no intention of auditioning himself. ''Seven Samurai'' was filmed during the same time as ''Godzilla'', and Tsuchiya would frequently leave the set of ''Seven Samurai'' to see '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burakumin
The are a social grouping of Japanese people descended from members of the feudal class associated with , mainly those with occupations related to death such as executioners, gravediggers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and tanners. Burakumin are physically indistinguishable from other Japanese but have historically been regarded as a socially distinct group. When identified, they are often subject to discrimination and prejudice. , there were an estimated 3 million ''burakumin'' living in the country, mostly in western Japan. During Japan's feudal era, these occupations acquired a hereditary status of oppression, and later became a formal class within the class system of the Edo period (1603–1868). The stratum immediately below merchants comprised the '' hinin'' (literally "non-persons"), and below them the ''eta'' ("great filth"), who were together known as the ''senmin'' ("base people"). They were subject to various legal restrictions, such as being forced to live i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occupation Of Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the American military with support from the British Commonwealth and under the supervision of the Far Eastern Commission, involved a total of nearly one million Allied soldiers. The occupation was overseen by the US General Douglas MacArthur, who was appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers by the US president Harry S. Truman; MacArthur was succeeded as supreme commander by General Matthew Ridgway in 1951. Unlike in the occupations of Germany and Austria, the Soviet Union had little to no influence in Japan, declining to participate because it did not want to place Soviet troops under MacArthur's direct command. This foreign presence marks the only time in the history of Japan that it has been occupied by a foreign power. Howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaurus!
''Dinosaurus!'' is a 1960 science fiction film directed by Irvin Yeaworth and produced by Jack H. Harris. Plot The film is about an American engineering team led by Bart (Ward Ramsey) building a harbor on a Caribbean island when they accidentally uncover two dinosaurs that have been frozen in suspended animation for millions of years. They are a ''Brontosaurus'' and a ''Tyrannosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex''. That night, during a storm, the beasts are struck by lightning and come back to life. The islanders have no idea that the dinosaurs are alive because of the storm and are now roaming the island. Also awakened is a caveman (Gregg Martell), whom initially is unknown to the islanders as he was buried some distance away. The ''Tyrannosaurus'' hunts across the island, attacking a beach guard and trolley cart. The caveman meanwhile stumbles into, and is bewildered by, a modern house. There he meets and befriends an island boy with a love of dinosaurs, Julio. The caveman introduces J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gorgo (film)
''Gorgo'' is a 1961 British science fiction monster film directed by Eugène Lourié and starring Bill Travers and William Sylvester. When an undersea volcano sends tremors throughout the Atlantic, a prehistoric creature is unleashed from under the sea. The crew of a salvage vessel capture the gigantic amphibious sea creature and take it to London for public exhibition. It results in the creature's much larger mother invading London in search of her offspring, causing catastrophic destruction across the city. Plot Captain Joe Ryan is salvaging for treasure off the coast of Ireland when a volcano erupts, nearly sinking his ship. Ryan and his First Officer and friend, Sam Slade, take the ship to Nara Island for repairs. Before the harbourmaster, Mr McCartin, arrives to assist them, the crew meet Sean, an orphan, who assists McCartin: he invites them to see his collection of ancient Viking relics. Ryan finds himself intrigued by a relic bearing the image of a creature that Sean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in Los Angeles, to cover the film industry, motion-picture industry. ''Variety'' website features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, plus a credits database, production charts and film calendar. History Founding ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville, with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. He subsequently decided to start his own publication that, he said, would "not be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father-in-law, he launched ''Variety'' as publisher and editor. In additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Silent Star
''Der schweigende Stern'' or ''Milcząca Gwiazda'', literal English translation ''The Silent Star'', is a 1960 East German/ Polish color science fiction film based on the 1951 science fiction novel ''The Astronauts'' by Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem. It was directed by Kurt Maetzig, and stars Günther Simon, Julius Ongewe and Yoko Tani. The film was first released by Progress Film in East Germany, running 93 min.An entry about ''Der schweigende Stern'' and DEFA film database (retrieved 27 October 2018) Variously dubbed and cut versions were also released in English under other titles: ''First Spaceship on Venus'', ''Planet of the Dead'', and ''Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply''. After finding an ancient, long-buried |
The Amazing Colossal Man
''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (also known as ''The Colossal Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction film from American International Pictures. Produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, it stars Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, and Larry Thor. It is an uncredited adaptation of Homer Eon Flint's 1928 short science fiction novel ''The Nth Man''. AIP theatrically released it as a double feature with '' Cat Girl''. The film's storyline concerns U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning who survives a plutonium explosion and grows 8 to 10 feet a day, ultimately reaching 60 feet tall, but loses his mind in the process. During the 1960s, American International Television syndicated the film to television. It and its sequel, '' War of the Colossal Beast'' (1958), were mocked on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. Plot At a military site in Desert Rock, Nevada, a test explosion of the first atomic plutonium bomb does not detonate as expected. When an unidentifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla Raids Again
is a 1955 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the second film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and a sequel to ''Godzilla'' (1954). The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive Godzilla's return, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus. Executive producer Iwao Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to immediately commence production on a second ''Godzilla'' film, fearing to lose the momentum of the first film's success. Oda was chosen to direct the film as Ishirō Honda was busy directing '' Lovetide''. ''Godzilla Raids Again'' was released theatrically in Japan on April 24, 1955. A re-edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on May 21, 1959, by Warner Bros. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla (1954 Film)
is a 1954 Japanese epic film, epic ''kaiju'' film directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho, it is the first film in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Sachio Sakai, Fuyuki Murakami, Keiji Sakakida, Toyoaki Suzuki, Tsuruko Mano, Kin Sugai, Takeo Oikawa, Kan Hayashi, Seijiro Onda, and Toranosuke Ogawa with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, Japan's authorities deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, whose attacks trigger fears of nuclear holocaust in post-occupation Japan, post-war Japan. ''Godzilla'' entered production after a Japanese-Indonesian co-production collapsed. Tsuburaya originally proposed a giant octopus before the filmmakers decided on a dinosaur-inspired creature. ''Godzilla'' pioneered a form of special effects called suitmation in which a stunt performer wear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla, King Of The Monsters!
is a 1956 ''kaiju'' film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, or "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla''. The film was a Cinema of Japan, Japanese-Cinema of the United States, American co-production, with the original footage produced by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd., and the new footage produced by Jewell Enterprises. The film stars Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, an American reporter covers a giant reptilian monster's attack on Japan. In 1955, Edmund Goldman acquired the 1954 film from Toho and enlisted the aid of Paul Schreibman, Harold Ross, Richard Kay (producer), Richard Kay, and Joseph E. Levine to produce a revised version for American audiences. This version Dubbing (filmmaking), dubbed most of the Japanese dialogue into English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
