The H-Man
| The H-Man | |
|---|---|
 Japanese movie poster for The H-Man (1958) |
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| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka |
| Written by | Takeshi Kimura Hideo Unagami (story) |
| Starring | Yumi Shirakawa Kenji Sahara Akihiko Hirata Koreya Senda Makoto Sato Yoshifumi Tajima Eitaro Ozawa Yoshio Tsuchiya |
| Music by | Masaru Satō |
| Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi |
| Editing by | Kazuji Taira |
| Distributed by | Toho Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  June 24, 1958 May 28, 1959 |
| Running time | 87 min. 79 min. (USA) |
| Language | Japanese English |
The H-Man, known in Japan as Beauty and Liquid Men (美女と液体人間 Bijo to Ekitainingen), is a tokusatsu film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1958. The film was made by Toho's legendary Godzilla directing/special effects/producing team of Ishirō Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Tomoyuki Tanaka, and is considered part of Toho's "mutant trilogy," along with The Human Vapor and The Secret of the Telegian.
This, with films like The Human Vapor, and Matango, was one of Honda and Tsuburaya's forays into science fiction without kaiju or giant monsters. Instead, the story focuses on mobsters, nightclub singers, and radioactive, liquid creatures that live in Tokyo's sewers, which were the results of a nuclear explosion.
Akira Ifukube, the usual composer for the Toho tokusatsu films, did not score this movie. Rather, the more jazz-influenced Masaru Satō was assigned the job, as much of the film takes place in and around a nightclub.
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[edit] U.S. release
The film was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States in 1959. A New York Herald Tribune film critic at the time called it, "A good-natured poke at atom-bomb tests... The picture is plainly making a case against the use of nuclear bombs. At the same time, there is a great deal of lively entertainment in the story involving police, dope smugglers, scientists and some very pretty Japanese girls."
[edit] Cast
- Masada (Assistant professor at Joutou University) - Kenji Sahara
- Chikako Arai (Singer of a cabaret Homura) - Yumi Shirakawa
- Tominaga (Detective) - Akihiko Hirata
- Miyashita (Mayor of Criminal Investigation Department) - Eitarou Ozawa
- Dr. Maki - Korenari Senda
- Uchida - Makoto Satou
- Misaki (Lover of Chikako) - Hisaya Itou
- Hanae - Machiko Kitagawa
- Aunt (Manager of an apartment) - Toshiko Nakano
- Taguchi (Detective) - Yoshio Tsuchiya
- Seki (Detective) - Tadao Nakamaru
- Ogawa (Detective) - Kamayuki Tsubono
- Mineko - Naomi Shiraishi
- Kishi - Kou Misaki
- Sakata(Detective) - Yoshihumi Tajima
- Kin - Tetsu Nakamura
- Munetyan (Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Haruya Katou
- Daityan (Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Senkichi Oomura
- Tyousuke (Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Haruo Nakajima
- Mattyan(Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Shigeo Katou
- Yasukichi (Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Yasuhiro Shigenobu
- Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru - Katsumi Tezuka
- Emii (Dancer) - Ayumi Sonoda
- Metropolitan Police Department executive officer A - Kan Hayashi
- Metropolitan Police Department executive officer B - Mitsuo Tsuda
- Metropolitan Police Department executive officer C - Akio Kusama
- Kusuda (Director at Criminal Investigation Department) - Minosuke Yamada
- Nishiyama - Jun Fujio
- Saeki - Ren Yamamoto
- Hotta (Crew of Daini-Ryuujin-Maru) - Akira Sera
- Man of a dating couple - Yousuke Natsuki
- Woman of a dating couple - Keiko Ieda
- Aunt of a room next to Chikako - Matsue Ono
- Resident of an apartment of Chikako - Mitsuo Matsumoto
- Old policeman - Keij Sakakida
- Shimazaki - Nadao Kirino
- Taxi driver - Yutaka Sada
- Hamano - Shin Ootomo
- Yakuza of Hanada-Gumi - Yutaka Nakayama
- Old policeman - Yutaka Oka
- Head of a worker - Syouichi Hirose
[edit] DVD release
Columbia TriStar (Sony)
- Released: August 18, 2009
- Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic (2.35:1) Widescreen
- Special features: Audio commentary by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski for Mothra and Battle in Outer Space
- Sound: Japanese, English
- Region 1
- Note: Contains both original Japanese and English versions of the film; Only available as a triple feature with Battle in Outer Space and Mothra.
[edit] References
- Miller, D.A. (2009). "The H-Man vs. Liquid Human". Film Quarterly (Winter 2009-10): 14–18. ISSN 0015-1386.
- Parish, James Robert and Michael R. Pitts (1977). The Great Science Fiction Pictures. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1029-8.
[edit] External links
- "美女と液体人間 (Bijo to Ekitainingen)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1958/ch002570.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- The H-Man at the Internet Movie Database
- The H-Man at AllRovi
