The H-Man

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The H-Man

Theatrical poster for The H-Man (1958)
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
Flag of the United States Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) Flag of Japan June 24, 1958
Flag of the United States May 28, 1959
Running time 87 min.
79 min. (USA)
Language Japanese
English
IMDb profile

The H-Man (美女と液体人間 Bijo to Ekitainingen [Beauty and the Liquid Man]?), 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.

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.

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, Satō's music is a good fit for the film.

Contents

[edit] U.S. release

Lobby card to the 1959 US release of The H-Man
Lobby card to the 1959 US release of The H-Man

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 Sirakawa
  • 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] References

  • 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

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