Attending a Screening of the Toho Actioner 'Espy' in 35mm!

Signage for Espy at the Laputa Asagaya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier tonight (Monday, March 6), I took in a screening of Toho's Espy (1974), a fun sci-fi/action flick that doesn't get the attention it deserves, in 35mm. The screening took place at the Laputa Asagaya as part of its Science Fiction Film Festival program. The theater was quite packed, which I wasn't expecting. I guess more people were interested in the film than I thought. Unfortunately, though, this is the last film in the festival's lineup.

The print wasn't exactly in great shape, but the theater alerted patrons to that ahead of time by posting a notice in the lobby to a bulletin board. As expected, it was quite faded and contained its share of jumps and splices. I noticed that many of the splices happened during Kaoru Yumi's racier scenes, which I can't imagine could be a coincidence.  

This is the same print I saw around 2015. It opens with the Toho logo taken from a print of The Last Days of Planet Earth (1974) before quickly cutting back to Espy. Naturally, I have no idea what happened to the print to result in that situation, but it certainly is interesting.

I've always enjoyed the film, and I had a lot of fun watching it again. One of my favorite parts was seeing the German Shepherd Cheetah (at least that's his name in the dubbed version) sit next to Shigeo Kato, who is playing a security guard. It was also great seeing the late Steven Greene on the big screen, playing the prime minister of Baltonia, whom I was privileged to interview about two years ago.

I'd say there's a (very slim) chance that I might attend another screening by Friday, which is when the festival officially ends. I guess we'll see how it goes. If I go again, I'll be sure to post about it here. Otherwise, I can't say enough good things about the Laputa Asagaya's Science Fiction Film Festival, and it certainly is depressing to see it end. I wish it could have gone on all year!