Bijo to Ekitainingen (1958)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura (writer)
Hideo Unagami (story)

Release Date:

28 May 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Horror

Tagline:

You'll Be Gripped By Unholy Horror When You Realize What H Really Means!

Plot:

When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question...

Plot Keywords:

Blob | Gangster

Cast

Yumi Shirakawa	...	Chikako Arai, singer in the nightclub
Kenji Sahara	...	Dr. Masada
Akihiko Hirata	...	Inspector Tominaga
Koreya Senda	...	Dr. Maki
Makoto Satô	...	Uchida, gangstar
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Detective Sakata
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Inspector Miyashita
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Detective Taguchi
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	Detective Ogawa
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Detective Seki
Nadao Kirino	...	Shimazaki, the waiter-thug
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryutaro Amami	...	Detective
Ichirô Chiba	...	GSDF Officer
Paul Frees	...	Various Voices (voice)
Jun Fujiro	...	Nishiyama, the dissolved gangstar
Kan Hayashi	...	Police Officer
Kazuo Higata	...	A drinker in the nightclub
Yoshiko Ieda	...	Woman
Hisaya Ito	...	Misaki, the dissolved gangster
Haruya Kato	...	Mattchan
Shigeo Kato	...	Matsu-chan
Akira Kichoji	...	A drinker in the nightclub
Machiko Kitagawa	...	Hanae, the neighbor of Chikako
Jiro Kumagai	...	GSDF Officer
Akio Kusama	...	Police Officer
Mitsuo Matsumoto	...	Neighbor in Chikako's apartment house
Ko Mishima	...	Kishi, gangster in nightclub
Haruo Nakajima	...	Second dissolved sailor
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Mr. Chin, gangster
Yutaka Nakamura	...	An-chan
Toshiko Nakano	...	Mrs. Okami, apartment manager
Yosuke Natsuki	...	Man, witness on rainy day
Yutaka Oka	...	Search party leader (GSDF)
Senkichi Omura	...	First Dissolved Sailor (Let me try on the pants!)
Matsue Ono	...	Madam, neighbor of Saeki's house
Shin Otomo	...	Hamano, nightclub gangster
Yutaka Sada	...	Taxi driver
Keiji Sakakida	...	Old policeman
Koichi Sato	...	Gangstar in nightclub
Mitsuru Sato
Akira Sera	...	Horita
Naomi Shiraishi	...	Mineko, Dr.Maki's assistant
Ayumi Sonoda	...	Emi, the dissolved dancer
Masaaki Tachibana	...	Nightclub manager
Katsumi Tezuka	...	Captain of fishing boat
Shiro Tsuchiya	...	Police Officer
Mitzuo Tsuda	...	Police Officer
Soji Ubukata	...	Police Officer
Akira Yamada	...	Policeman Wakasugi
Minosuke Yamada	...	Chief of Inspectors Kusuda
Ren Yamamoto	...	Saeki, gangstar

Directed by
Ishirô Honda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takeshi Kimura		writer
Hideo Unagami		story

Produced by
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô

Cinematography by
Hajime Koizumi

Film Editing by
Kazuji Taira

Production Design by
Takeo Kita

Production Management
Teruo Maki	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Murata	....	assistant director
Yoshio Nakamura	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Choshichiro Mikami	....	sound
Masanobu Miyazaki	....	sound

Special Effects by
Hidesaburo Araki	....	special effects
Teisho Arikawa	....	special effects photogrphy
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	director of special effects
Akira Wanatabe	....	special effects art director

Visual Effects by
Kuichiro Kishida	....	special effects lighting
Hiroshi Mukoyama	....	optical printing

Camera and Electrical Department
Tsuruzo Nishikawa	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Columbia Films S.A.B. (1959) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Beauty and the Liquidman (International: English title) (literal title)
The H-Man (USA)

Runtime:

87 min | USA:79 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #19231)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Yumi Shirakawa's singing voice (for the two songs in the film) is provided by noted Japanese jazz starlet Martha Miyake.

Quotes:

Dr. Maki: [voice-over] If man perishes from the face of the Earth, due to the effects of hydrogen bombing, it is possible that the next ruler of our planet may be The H-Man.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Mazâ (1989) (VG)

Soundtrack:

The Magic Begins

Good Stuff!

THE H-MAN is a fine, and most rare, blend of film noir and 1950s Japanese science fiction. The film is filled with startling visuals from start to finish. It grabs your attention and rarely lets up. Favorite scenes involve the events inside the derelict ghost ship and all the scenes in the nightclub which abound with the right atmosphere. Stylistic and often startling visually, this is a lot of fun to watch and get into. It does require one to suspend their disbelief quite a bit though.