DEEP DIVE: What's in a Name When You're Daimajin?

Riki Hashimoto in November 2015. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Riki Hashimoto was an actor with an incredible resume. He did everything from battling Bruce Lee in The Chinese Connection (a.k.a. Fist of Fury, 1972) to menacing Boy Scouts on a spaceship as a Virian alien in Destroy All Planets (a.k.a. Gamera vs. Viras, 1968). However, most Japanese cinema connoisseurs would argue that Mr. Hashimoto's greatest contribution to the silver screen was his iconic portrayal of Daimajin in all three 1966 films from Daiei.

In the wake of Mr. Hashimoto's 2017 passing, however, I began to notice a strange trend. Just about every English-language website began referring to the actor as Chikara Hashimoto, even going so far as to assert that Riki was a mistranslation of the actor's given name. To illustrate, let's take a look at the most glaring example.

As of the date of this blog post, Wikipedia states:

Chikara Hashimoto . . . also erroneously called Riki Hashimoto . . . was a Japanese professional baseball player and actor.

If I recall correctly, Wikizilla's intro for the actor at one time similarly called Riki an erroneous name, but that has since been corrected. The Wikizilla entry, as of this writing, asserts that the actor is "also known as" Riki Hashimoto.

I'm not exactly sure who or what the original source for the confusion was, but I do remember that Japanese Wikipedia's hiragana rendering of the actor's name was "Chikara." I'm not aware of any other sources, but naturally there could be others.

I toyed with the notion of setting the record straight about Riki Hashimoto's name several years ago but ultimately shelved the idea. That was primarily due to the fact that, most times I've tried to correct the record on certain details, I'm usually met with a shrug or a blank stare. 

Riki Hashimoto in December 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I still vividly recall all my efforts to make folks in the West aware of the fact that Toho SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano's birthday actually fell on October 9, not October 1, as it was regularly reported on social media (and Wikipedia) at the time.

Every October 1, my timeline would be flooded with well wishes and congratulations to Mr. Nakano on his birthday when in reality it was more than a week away. (I mean, I ought to know -- I went to his birthday celebrations regularly for almost 10 years!) But it just endlessly kept going on like that until I finally threw up my hands and walked away.

I hadn't thought about the Riki/Chikara issue in the last few years until reading (what else?) social media in recent days and seeing the actor referred to as Chikara again by a user who seems to take pride in his level of tokusatsu prowess. In fairness, the guy didn't say anything truly objectionable, like that Riki is an erroneous name or whatever, but it did remind me of the topic, and I figured I'd finally throw my two cents in. 

Before we get to that, though, as an aside, I have no idea what's so hard about this particular actor's name, but this isn't the first time it's been wildly misinterpreted. The editor of an Asian-oriented fan- and (later) semi-pro-zine suddenly got it in his head that the actor's last name was really "Hoshimoto," a name I must confess I've never heard in all the years I was in Japan.

I can't say for sure these days because it's been too long, but I believe this oddball falsity made it into the Destroy All Planets commentary a trio of us recorded in 2007 for Retromedia. It's quite fascinating how much the people you would assume "know everything" about the genre get wrong about their supposed area of expertise.

Enough detours. Back to the issue at hand.

From 2015 until his passing two years later, Mr. Hashimoto was represented by the talent agency below. You can see the agency's hiragana breakdown of their client's name. For those of you less versed in hiragana, it spells out "Riki." The name Chikara appears nowhere on the page.

Additionally, when I was preparing my original blog post, I reached out to Mr. Hara, who coordinated several of Mr. Hashimoto's appearances at events in Japan. I asked Mr. Hara to weigh in on the question of the actor's name. On June 14, 2021, Mr. Hara confirmed in writing that Riki was his real name and that Chikara was a stage name. 

Of course, sometimes professionals prefer to be called by their stage names when it comes to their work or career. That was certainly the case with composer Chumei Watanabe (whose real given name was Michiaki), and it continues to be true of Ultraman suit actor Bin Furuya (real name: Satoshi). So I'll add that, in my anecdotal experience, people called him Riki, not Chikara, when I was around him or others who knew him.

Time for a fun Daimajin tidbit. In April 2015, I met Mr. Hashimoto for the first time with a small group of others at a restaurant. Mr. Hashimoto asked the gathered crowd if they knew which famous international figure was the inspiration for Daimajin's distinguished chin.

No one in our group had any idea, but, if we're talking about an international figure with a notable chin, I reasoned it must be Kirk Douglas. Mr. Hashimoto was surprised by my answer and confirmed that Daimajin's chin was indeed based on that of Kirk Douglas. He then proceeded to give me a round of applause, which naturally was pretty incredible.

I was lucky that I had just watched WrestleMania VI (1990) the year prior to that meeting. In the intro to the show, color commentator Jesse "The Body" Ventura compared himself to various Hollywood celebrities, bragging among other traits that he was endowed with Kirk Douglas' chin.

Honestly, I had never given much thought to Kirk Douglas' chin before rewatching that WrestleMania, but I remember doing a Google search shortly thereafter and finally noticing his trademark cleft. (I guess that's what you get when you watch all his movies in standard definition.) Little did I know that that piece of trivia would come in so handy just a year later.

DEEP DIVE: What Japanese Godzilla Movie Did Yoshimitsu Banno Work on After 'Smog Monster'?

Yoshimitsu Banno in April 2013. Photo by Brett Homenick.

By now, you've likely heard the old yarn about how producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was furious at director Yoshimitsu Banno after seeing Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) for the first time and angrily declared that the filmmaker had "ruined Godzilla." Of course, this apocryphal account has been debunked elsewhere on this blog, but it's a claim so blatantly false that it can be debunked even further. 

When Tomoyuki Tanaka was planning to relaunch the Godzilla series in the years following the disappointing box-office returns of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), three science-fiction authors were tapped to develop stories for the proposed film: Yoshio Aramaki, Taku Mayumura, and Ryu Mitsuse. Nowadays, these names have been included in other articles about the making of the production that would eventually become The Return of Godzilla (a.k.a. Godzilla 1985, 1984). 

With Yoshimitsu Banno in April 2013.

Usually, these write-ups point to Tomoyuki Tanaka as the one who selected the writers to pen possible Godzilla scenarios, but this seems not to be the case. So, if it wasn't producer Tanaka, then who was it?

According to the man himself, it was Yoshimitsu Banno. In 1978, Banno became head of the planning department of Toho Eizo Co., Ltd., and it was in that capacity that Banno selected the aforementioned SF authors to submit their stories. According to Banno, Tanaka rejected their treatments for budgetary reasons. 

Hiring three science-fiction writers to develop a major, SFX-laden motion picture for Toho had worked well in the past. This formula ultimately led to the creation of Mothra (1961) after science-fiction authors Shinichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta were hired by Tanaka to flesh out the story for that production. Unfortunately, in the case of The Return of Godzilla, the formula didn't produce the same results.

The information contained in this blog post comes from a conversation the author had with Mr. Banno on April 2, 2013, supported by contemporaneous notes. 

An Evening in L.A. with a Distinguished Gentleman!

Derek Partridge. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After attending the Hollywood Show, I had an appointment to meet with actor and television presenter Derek Partridge, whom I mostly know from his role as Aubrey Range in the Rankin/Bass production of The Ivory Ape (1980), directed by Tsugunobu "Tom" Kotani. Mr. Partridge also appears in the James Bond thriller Thunderball (1965) in an uncredited role as the Vulcan navigator, the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren" (1968) as Dionyd (this is the famous episode in which William Shatner kisses Nichelle Nichols), and Star Wars Rebels (2014-18) as the voice of Commander Brom Titus. 

With Derek Partridge.

We met in downtown Pasadena, which I had no idea was an area where parking was so scarce. It didn't help that there was some kind of major event going on, which made finding parking that much more difficult. Luckily, I eventually found a parking garage, so our long national nightmare finally came to an end, but I certainly wasn't expecting that level of difficulty.

Our first idea was to eat at a nearby Cheesecake Factory, but the wait was simply too long, so we took our business elsewhere. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant across the street and enjoyed the fare on offer. We talked about my life in Japan, while I asked Mr. Partridge about his life in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia in the 1970s, which he loved.

I asked Mr. Partridge about working with Tom Kotani on The Ivory Ape, but he didn't remember anything that he hadn't already shared in the interview linked above. Still, it was a great evening with Mr. Partridge, and I'm grateful we were finally able to meet years after the interview. I hope we can meet again soon in the future.

Fall Comes to the Hollywood Show!

With Barbara Wilson.

Saturday, September 6, saw my return to the Hollywood Show in Burbank. There were several guests I was very interested in meeting, and I didn't know exactly which ones I'd meet until I actually got there. (A lot depended on whether there were long lines, how much they were charging, etc.) I ultimately settled on four guests, and I enjoyed meeting each of them.

The first guest I met was Barbara Wilson, a veteran of 1950s and '60s horror and sci-fi films. Her credits include: Captain Fathom (1955) as Carol Barclay, The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957) as Anna Sherman, Roger Corman's Teenage Doll (1957) as Betty Herne, Blood of Dracula (1957) as Linda, Lost, Lonely and Vicious (1958) as Helen Preacher, Terror in the Midnight Sun (a.k.a. Invasion of the Animal People, 1959) as Diane Wilson, and The Flesh Eaters (1964) as Ann. 

I asked Ms. Wilson what she remembered about working with director Jack Curtis on The Flesh Eaters, in which she plays the movie's first victim of the titular creatures, but it turns out that she likely didn't work on the film at all! She has no recollection of appearing in the film, though the actress in the movie is unmistakably her. Her assistant explained that they suspect the filmmakers got their hands on some unused stock footage of Ms. Wilson and spliced it into The Flesh Eaters, which was much easier to do back in the day.

The assistant also pointed out that you can clearly see that they used a body double in a certain scene, which lends even more credence to the idea that Ms. Wilson wasn't directly involved. It was certainly fascinating to hear, but, since I haven't seen The Flesh Eaters since around 2006, I'd have to watch the film again to see for myself. I ended up selecting a still from Blood of Dracula for Ms. Wilson to sign, which I saw on Svengoolie a few months ago. 

With Cathy Moriarty.

The next guest I met was Academy Award nominee Cathy Moriarty, who was nominated for her performance as Vikki LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980). That film, of course, is an all-time classic, but I also enjoyed her turn in the John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd farce Neighbors (1981), certainly one of the most unusual comedies I've ever seen. (While it's not always as funny as it could have been, it's never a chore to watch.)

I brought my Criterion Blu-ray of Raging Bull just in case I decided to meet her, and, after seeing her prices were about what I expected, I got in line. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ms. Moriarty was quite gregarious and outgoing, which you don't always get from an actress on her level. The main memory of the conversation we had was, when I passed her the Blu-ray sleeve to get signed, she pointed to the face on the Blu-ray sleeve and joked, if I ever get him (Robert De Niro) to sign it, too, he'd probably charge more. It was great to see Ms. Moriarty enjoying herself so much at the show.

With Mary Badham.

Meeting Mary Badham, another Best Supporting Actress nominee at the Academy Awards for playing Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), was probably the afternoon's biggest surprise to me. I started off the conversation mentioning that I'd lived in Japan for a while and that To Kill a Mockingbird is known as Alabama Story there. Amazingly, Ms. Badham told me she was aware of that and that she had also spent quite a bit of time in Japan.

She went on to describe how leaving Japan caused quite a few headaches, as she couldn't simply take her furniture to a secondhand store or have a garage sale. Instead, she literally had to take a sledgehammer to an armoire (!) and leave the pieces out on the street for the garbage collectors to pick up. She also recalled having to get rid of an expensive kimono because there was nothing else she could do with it. She also reflected on visiting temples in Japan and what a spiritual experience it was for her. 

She opened up so much about Japan that I started to feel a bit bad for the person who was waiting behind me, but I wasn't about to stop Scout from talking to me about the Land of the Rising Sun! On a much sadder note, she discussed the recent death of her friend, a Japanese artist named Toshio, who passed away earlier this year. The details of the case are rather shocking, and it's clear to me there's a lot more that needs to come out about it.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a movie I first saw in class in either December 1995 or January '96 after we finished reading the novel in my freshman-year English class. It was a story (and a movie) that just about everybody enjoyed, including myself, even though I was almost exclusively watching Japanese monster movies in those days. By the end of '96, we moved, and I ended up at a different high school, so I repeated the process of reading the book and seeing the movie in class by the end of '96 during my sophomore year. All I can say is, those are great memories from probably the best years of my life.

That's why I made it a point to meet Ms. Badham, and I'm very glad I did. When it was time for me to move on (during which I said my goodbyes in Japanese), she shook both my hands at the same time and gave me and a big, warm smile. Not going to lie, given my history of watching her in Mockingbird during a pivotal time in my life, it was a bit overwhelming. Experiences like that are exactly why I do this sort of thing.

With Luciana Paluzzi.

The last guest I met was Luciana Paluzzi, who played Fiona Volpe in the James Bond thriller Thunderball (1965) and Dr. Lisa Benson in The Green Slime (1968). I hadn't seen Ms. Paluzzi since 2012, so, when she saw me at her table, her jaw literally dropped, and then she jokingly put it back in place with her hand. From the beginning, Ms. Paluzzi insisted I wouldn't be paying for anything, which was an incredible gesture. I asked her to sign my Green Slime Blu-ray sleeve and then pose for the photos in this blog post. She also asked me how long we've known each other, which we have since 2007, though we didn't meet in person until 2009.

I talked about how things have been going since I returned to California and what might be coming up for me, as well. She also commented on how I was maturing, which is a compliment I definitely appreciate! It was also a pleasure meeting her granddaughter, who was assisting her at her table. All in all, it was a joy seeing Ms. Paluzzi again after so many years.

Well, that's about everything. I had much more fun this time around than I did at the last Hollywood Show, and I stayed within budget, too!

'Shin Godzilla' in 4K

I'm sure just looking at an advertisement for Toho Cinemas' Mega Popcorn would still give Hirona Yamazaki indigestion. Photo by Brett Homenick.

TIRED: What is a king to a god?

WIRED: What is a god to a mid-level bureaucrat?

With the recent re-release of Shin Godzilla (2016) in 4K in the U.S., I thought I might as well revisit the movie I once considered the worst of the entire series (that is, until even worse ones came along). Prior to this screening, I'd only seen the flick once, and that was on opening day in July 2016. Nine years later, would my opinion change?

I'm afraid not. During my initial viewing, I found the movie mostly aggravating and annoying. This time, I found it boring. The movie held my attention for the first 30 minutes or so, and then the endless chatting finally started to wear me out. Just before becoming bored to distraction around the one-hour mark, my mind, for reasons I cannot explain, suddenly wandered to this quote from Heat (1995): 

Overall, the thing that surprised me most was just how bad some of the CG was, especially for objects in motion. Since Godzilla is mostly static, even when he's attacking the city, the computer graphics fare much better, but I knew I was in trouble when the VFX for the tunnel collapse a few minutes in looked like they were leftovers from the '90s.

Even if the CG were up to par, though, it still wouldn't make the proceedings any less preposterous. The movie makes it clear right out of the gate that the old guard in charge of the government are a bunch of bumbling old fools who are out of their depth. In contrast, the younger generation, with less power and experience, are the ones who solve all the problems and ultimately save the day.

This outcome, of course, is telegraphed in broad strokes in the first few minutes of the movie, so the audience is left to wait for the special committee of youthful nerds, outcasts, and true believers to devise the solutions that the geezers in power lack the fortitude, or the will, to do.

The fogie politicians are mostly hapless stereotypes, not actual human beings, who can't help but make a mess of everything they touch. The youngsters, on the other hand, are obnoxiously earnest, making few, if any, mistakes as the story unfolds, and they accurately predict outcomes and problem-solve novel issues in ways so ingenious and flawless that it'd make Criswell suspect fraud.

A lot of the discourse on this movie hinges on whether the story, and its portrayal of the Japanese government, is "nationalistic." I never got that impression from it, though that wouldn't stop nationalists from trying to coopt its message as their own. I don't think Shin Godzilla has much of a message at all beyond "status quo bad," but I guess it's more fun to pretend otherwise.

What seems to be GKIDS' poster for the Shin Godzilla 4K re-release, focusing on Kamata-kun's attack on Shinagawa. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The hyperrealistic portrayal of government bureaucracy juxtaposed with the bonkers depiction of Godzilla in all his gloopy forms leads to some unintentional ridiculousness. When Kamata-kun (I guess we're stuck with that name, so...) first appears, in all its derpy glory, none of the characters -- not one -- comments on the insanity of being attacked by a raging Muppet from the bottom of the sea. Instead, characters marvel at the biological superiority of the thing, even though it can't take three steps without spilling its blood everywhere. 

Later on, after Godzilla takes his final form, the characters can't stop cooing about how Godzilla is a god incarnate. I mean, my guy is asleep for much of his screen time; you'd think a living, breathing deity could stay awake longer than most narcoleptics could. In one of those rare moments when he is awake, he's simply standing around doing nothing and does so long enough for the prime minister to abort the attack on him out of fear that civilians might be killed, politely waiting for his cue to begin attacking again.   

Shin Godzilla in November 2016 at the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. Photo by Brett Homenick.

One of the reasons An American Werewolf in London (1981) is called a comedy -- and why it endures as a bona fide classic -- is because writer-director John Landis knew that, in real-world situations, people would make jokes and crack wise when faced with illogical or impossible scenarios, such as transforming into a werewolf.

I mean, sure, you'd have your crazies and weirdos who would want to worship the beast as their shrugging savior or whatever, but I tend to think highly-educated government officials would not be among them. People grounded in reality would react a lot more like David Naughton and Griffin Dunne did and less like power-fantasy-obsessed oddballs wanting to start a cult.

As for the characters, there's nothing to say. They are just bureaucrats, and that's it. Shortly after I posted my negative review of the movie in 2016, one guy argued that the movie actually did have fascinating, complex characters and cited the one played by the picture of Kihachi Okamoto as an example. If only Okamoto hadn't died more than 10 years before he was cast in the film, I'm sure he would have basked in the critical praise of his performance. 

Photo by Brett Homenick.

The inclusion of the character of Kayoco Ann Patterson is truly baffling, as it betrays a complete lack of understanding of American politics on the part of the filmmakers. The idea that a leather jacket-sporting party girl could get elected president -- in her 40s, no less -- as easily as it's suggested in the movie is downright laughable and discrediting to the narrative. 

Speaking of, I'm reminded of an interview I recently read with a published author on the Godzilla series, who made it a point in the Q&A to share his memory of watching Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) in the early '90s and how stupid he found a particular scene involving the ability of the earthbound characters to hear the roars of the space monsters on a radio receiver. Apparently, this scene, which in all years I've watched it never made me think twice, was so hilarious that he loves recounting how much he laughed at it to anyone who will listen.

Given that this guy was proud of himself to the point of absurdity that a children's monster movie couldn't outsmart him, I can't help but wonder what kind of hysterics the suggestion of U.S. President Kayoco Ann Patterson sent our heroic scholar into. I know which is sillier, but do our fandom sacred cows?

Teruyoshi Nakano with Shin Godzilla in December 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

OK, enough about the movie. I do have a couple of random odds and ends to share, so let's get to them.

In December 2014, I had an end-of-the-year party hosted by my work with all my co-workers, even the ones I rarely ever saw. One of those co-workers was Tom Dolan, who'd been cast in small parts in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) as G-Force member John Conner and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) as the dastardly gang leader McKay.

I was excited to meet him due to his connection with the Heisei Godzilla series, but I had no idea he was months away from getting cast as Graham Cussley, the American diplomat whose face we never see, who reminds Kayoco Ann Patterson of her ambition to become U.S. president in her 40s. 

With Tom Dolan in December 2014.

This was the only time I met and spoke with Tom, and I didn't really get a chance until we were leaving the party. We took the photo in this blog post in the subway while waiting for the train. We have communicated via email since then, but it's been years since I've heard from him. Hope he's doing well and living the dream.

With Teruyoshi Nakano in December 2016.

In June 2015, I was given the iggy by a Westerner who had appeared in tokusatsu productions that two talent agencies were casting the international roles for Shin Godzilla and gave me their information in case I wanted to audition. Naturally, I couldn't pass up such an opportunity, so I applied with both. I don't remember what happened with the one of the agencies -- either they never got back to me, or we had a brief communication that went nowhere.

But the other one was interested, and I was called in to get some promo shots done and fill out some paperwork. I put on a dress shirt and tie, went into the agency, got my pictures taken, completed the forms, and talked with the gentleman who, as I recall, was in charge of the business. I made it clear I was mostly interested in Shin Godzilla, though I would be happy to consider other work, too. I remember he said I might be a good candidate for a scientist role in the movie (not sure which -- he never specified), but that's about it.

Shigeo Kato in June 2016, standing near the location where Shin Godzilla comes ashore in Kamakura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Back then, I worked six days a week at my real job, so, realistically, I knew getting cast was essentially a pipe dream, but you're not going to get anywhere if you don't try. Besides, I like to think that Hideaki Anno personally rejected my head shot.

I still could have been in Shin Godzilla, though. If I recall correctly, the crowd scene in Kamata (where we first see Kamata-kun) was filmed in early September, and, since they needed lots and lots of extras, anyone was welcome to show up. As mentioned above, I was working six days a week, and 2015 was an incredibly busy year for me -- in the best way possible. It was my favorite year in Japan because of all the cool stuff I was doing. If I'm not mistaken, filming took place on a Sunday morning, which was my one day off for the week. I also happened not to have anything scheduled that day -- a rarity for 2015. I mean, it's a lock I'd head over to Kamata and appear in a Godzilla movie, right?

Wrong. I missed sleeping in and wanted to do just that. Besides, I figured, if it was meant to be, I'd get cast in a proper role in the movie. As slim as it was, there was still a chance of that, I thought, so I chose sleep over Shin Godzilla.

DEEP DIVE: Why Did Godzilla Series Screenwriter Kaoru Mabuchi Sour on Toho Kaiju Films?

The only known photo of Kaoru Mabuchi.

Kaoru Mabuchi (1911-1987) was one of Toho's most important and prolific screenwriters during the Showa era, and he remains one of its most enigmatic figures. Under the pen name Takeshi Kimura, Mabuchi wrote or co-wrote a number of Toho's best and most successful tokusatsu productions, including Rodan (1956), The Mysterians (1957), The H-Man (1958), The Human Vapor (1960), The Last War (1961), Gorath (1962), and Matango (1963).

Under his given name, Mabuchi wrote or co-wrote a number of entertaining kaiju films, such as Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), The War of the Gargantuas (1966), King Kong Escapes (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968), and Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971).

The reason Mabuchi stopped writing under his pen name and began writing scripts under his real name (while seeming to lose his motivation for the genre) has remained a mystery for decades, but perhaps we have an answer. Let's explore.

Yoshimitsu Banno in July 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

According to Yoshimitsu Banno, who co-wrote the screenplay for Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster with the celebrated Toho scriptwriter, Mabuchi revealed the reason to him. As the story goes, during the production of Matango, director Ishiro Honda cut the film's pre-title sequence in accordance with producer Tomoyuki Tanaka's wishes, despite Mabuchi's protests to keep it intact. Mabuchi argued the sequence was too important to cut, but his pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears. After getting overruled, Mabuchi gave up, and he never wrote another pure science-fiction movie for the studio.

Banno's own experience with the screenwriter was likely even more volatile than what Honda encountered. In spite of Mabuchi's mercurial personality, however, the two managed to hammer out a screenplay for Smog Monster that not only satisfied Banno but still entertains audiences around the world more than 50 years later. Based on Banno's descriptions of events, here's how the process went.

Just before the end of Expo '70, producer Tanaka showed Banno a copy of Mabuchi's first draft of Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. Banno was shocked at the lack of quality of the script, labeling it "terrible" and "not interesting at all." 

Nakasendo station Magome-juku (located in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture) in June 2013, which is where Banno completely rewrote Mabuchi's first draft. It proved the perfect location to find inspiration for a story featuring hallucinating hippies. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Completely unsatisfied with Mabuchi's efforts, Banno decided to rewrite the screenplay from scratch. After the conclusion of Expo '70, Banno traveled along Nakasendo via Nagoya by car, stopping at Magome-juku in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, to overhaul the script in a hotel by himself. 

Following that rewrite, with the approval of producer Tanaka, Banno and Mabuchi stayed at a cheap, remote hotel in Nagano Prefecture for a week to revise the script together. It was during this time that Banno and Mabuchi had a conversation that revealed Mabuchi's lack of enthusiasm and motivation. According to Banno, the conversation went like this:

“Why did you write such a boring story?”

“I was cutting corners.”

“What do you mean by that?”

After the two started speaking honestly and directly, Mabuchi explained, "I've worked on several projects with new directors, but they all failed. I figured this one would fail, too, so I just wrote it off lightly."

 

Yoshimitsu Banno signs a Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) DVD sleeve in August 2012. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Banno saw this project as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so cutting corners wasn't an option for him. Banno spoke to Mabuchi about his determination to make Smog Monster a success, after which Mabuchi became properly motivated to work on it. It was no easy task, however, as Banno recalled that it took "heated debates and thorough discussions" to make it so. Banno continues:

Once that happened, Mr. Mabuchi proved to be highly logical, meticulous, and careful in his writing, which was both reliable and engaging. 

But the writing process moved slowly. Banno provides this example to illustrate:

For the scene in which the main character, [Dr. Toru] Yano, is attacked by Hedorah underwater, I had diving experience, so I continued writing quickly. When Mabuchi saw this, he angrily shouted, "If you're going to write it alone, I'm going home!" [I replied,] "Please wait!"

Banno was able to calm Mabuchi down, and the pair successfully completed the screenplay.

Yoshimitsu Banno with a copy of The Man Who Made Godzilla Fly in November 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

The information in this blog post about Mabuchi's involvement with Matango comes from a conversation Banno and I had together, supported by contemporaneous notes. The material regarding Banno's working relationship with Mabuchi comes from both English- and Japanese-language drafts of what ultimately became Banno's memoir, The Man Who Made Godzilla Fly,* which was sent to me by Banno via email in November 2012 for my feedback and editing assistance. 

* According to Banno, the title of his memoir was derived from the title of the interview Damon Foster and I conducted in July 2005 with Banno when it appeared in a Godzilla-oriented fanzine the same year.

Secrets of Hong Kong Dubbing Revealed on Vantage Point Interviews!

Darren Pleavin. Photo © Darren Pleavin.

New content is now available on Vantage Point Interviews -- namely, my interview with Omni Productions voice actor Darren Pleavin, who discusses dubbing in Hong Kong during the 1990s and beyond, especially on Godzilla movies. Give it a click today!

A Lovely Afternoon in the Company of an Even Lovelier Actress!

Faith Clift with a DVD of The Nightmare Never Ends (1980). Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

On Friday, July 18, I was finally able to meet Faith Clift, an actress who appears in a couple of my favorite genre movies. I interviewed Ms. Clift for Vantage Point Interviews back in 2020 and got to hear her memories of working with several notable film personalities over the years, and it was quite fascinating. 

Ms. Clift stars as Claire Hansen in the feature film The Nightmare Never Ends (1980), which got severely edited down and appears in a truncated form in the anthology horror flick Night Train to Terror (1985). She also appears in a small role in the cult classic Horror Express (1972).

Faith Clift with a Blu-ray of Night Train to Terror (1985). Photo by Brett Homenick.

I first saw The Nightmare Never Ends in the fall of 2008 on one of the Mill Creek sets of 50 public domain movies. I went into it completely blind but was intrigued by the film, as it was more about ideas than horror. I later saw Night Train to Terror in August 2009 right after moving into a new apartment and was surprised to see the former flick recycled into the new one, with loads of new claymation effects thrown in for good measure. Both movies are enjoyable but for completely different reasons.

I picked Ms. Clift up at her home and, since she almost literally now lives in the neighborhood in which I grew up, I drove her by my childhood home to show her my old house. After that, we had a nice lunch and then went walking around a local street fair. We sat down after walking around for a while and talked about just about every imaginable topic. It was a great afternoon!

Afterward, I asked her to sign my Nightmare Never Ends DVD and Night Train to Terror Blu-ray, which are pictured above. Since she'd never seen either of these releases, she took some extra time looking at the covers she was signing. Then we took our obligatory photos.

And that's a wrap! I really look forward to visiting Faith Clift again in the future!

Nikkatsu Actress Masako Izumi Passes Away at 77

Masako Izumi in February 2015. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Nikkatsu starlet Masako Izumi passed away on July 9 at 1:03 p.m. at her home after a battle with an undisclosed form of cancer. She was 77.

Ms. Izumi, who was born on July 31, 1947, began her acting career in 1958 and quickly became a star when she signed with Nikkatsu Studios in the early 1960s. At Nikkatsu, she starred in such films as Toshio Masuda's tragic World War II drama Monument to the Girls' Corps (1968), Seijun Suzuki's Tattooed Life (1965), and Kirio Urayama's Each Day I Cry (1963).

Masako Izumi holds a poster for her film The Bride Is 15 Years Old (1964) in February 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I was fortunate enough to meet Ms. Izumi multiple times at various events between 2015 and 2023. You can tell by the photos accompanying this blog post that she was always fun to spend time with. Unlike many Japanese actresses who attain a certainly level of fame, she was about as easygoing and unpretentious as it gets. 

Masako Izumi under a poster for her film Thank You for the Tears (1965) in January 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

A very interesting story that Ms. Izumi once shared is that she was offered a part in the movie Sanjuro (1962) personally by Akira Kurosawa. However, she had just signed with Nikkatsu Studios at the time, so she couldn't join Kurosawa's production. The part she was offered ended up going to Toho actress Reiko Dan.

With Masako Izumi in June 2023.

Another fun story is that Ms. Izumi watched some of the monster scenes in Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967) being filmed at Nikkatsu. It was her first time to see the production side of tokusatsu in person, so it left quite an impression on her.

With Masako Izumi in January 2016.

Aside from being a prolific Nikkatsu Studios actress during the 1960s, she turned her attention to becoming an adventurer in the 1980s, attempting to become the first woman to visit the North Pole on foot and sled in 1985.

Masako Izumi poses with a poster for Toshio Masuda's Monument to the Girls' Corps (1968) in June 2023. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Unfortunately, she was not able to complete her attempt, and another woman, Ann Bancroft (not the actress with the similar name), became the first in 1986. Undaunted, Ms. Izumi became only the second woman to travel to the North Pole in 1989.

Masako Izumi in January 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

According to NHK, Ms. Izumi fell in May of this year and was hospitalized in Tokyo. While recovering at home, her health suddenly declined, and she passed away. 

Ms. Izumi leaves behind an acting legacy few Japanese actresses of the Showa era can match. May she rest in peace.