Nikkatsu Night!

Mayumi Shimizu. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Today, I attended a screening of a 35mm print of Masahisa Sunohara's Kaminari Otemba Musume (1961), produced by Nikkatsu Studios. The film is a lighthearted comedy about a young tomboy who rides a motorcycle and ultimately falls in love with another motorcyclist.

Also at the screening was Nikkatsu actress Mayumi Shimizu. Joining Nikkatsu in 1957, Shimizu-san starred in a bevy of films for the studio. She eventually married fellow Nikkatsu actor Yuji Odaka (of Gappa the Triphibian Monster fame) and is the aunt of Godzilla series actress Megumi Odaka. She even has her own tokusatsu connection, guest-starring in episode 38 of Ultraman 80 (1980-81).

When I presented her with a photo of our first meeting in February for her to sign, she pointed to me in the photo and said in English, "Handsome." Well, I'll let Shimizu-san have the final word on that.

Naturally, it was great to see her again, and the movie was a lot of fun, too. Let's do it again!

An Evening with a Nikkatsu Actress

Mayumi Shimizu. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a film screening of the Nikkatsu thriller Kill the Outsider (a.k.a. Annihilate Whomever's in the Way, 1960), which starred Keiichiro Akagi, who is often called the James Dean of Japan. Akagi was at the height of his popularity when he died in a car accident at the age of 21 in 1961. Akagi still has a dedicated fan following in Japan to this day. 

I'd never seen this film before, but it looked quite impressive in glorious 35mm. Mike Daneen (who appears in various tokusatsu movies) has a small role as a gangster who puts dynamite in a basketball (or was it a volleyball?), which sets up the climax of the movie.

In attendance for the screening was actress Mayumi Shimizu. She joined Nikkatsu in 1957 and went on to star in numerous films for the studio, often being paired with actor Koji Wada. She married fellow Nikkatsu actor Yuji Odaka (who appears in Gappa the Triphibian Monster) and is the aunt of Godzilla series actress Megumi Odaka.

Suffice it to say, I enjoyed meeting Shimizu-san. I'm particularly interested in meeting actors and actresses from the Showa era, regardless of which studios they worked for. I'm always interested in discovering new avenues.

Thank you very much, Shimizu-san!