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

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:

Referenced in Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Magic Begins

Colorful and entertaining; among the best of Japanese sci-fi.

I saw this film when I was a child, and never forgot it. While somewhat similar to films such as 'The Blob' and 'Caltiki, The Immortal Monster' (a Spanish/Italian/Mexican rarity), 'The H-Man' is, as others note, a sort of film noir sci-fi/mystery film. Like most Japanese sci-fi & horror films of the 1950s and 60s, there are instances of unintentional humor, over-the-top acting and a fixation on the effects of radioactivity (not surprising). I had almost given up on finding this title, when fortuitously I ran into a really nice Japanese DVD with superb color and in a widescreen format; no English dubbing, but rather subtitles in the bottom black bar. It was as if I was seeing the film for the very first time! While I have no American version to compare it to, I have no doubt that this version has footage edited from the American release. Interestingly (for me, anyway), the title in Japanese is 'Beauty and the Liquid Human', an odd but actually more accurate title. The H-Man provides some very well-done special effects, creepy atmosphere and a decent amount of suspense. Along with 'Rodan' and 'The Mysterians' (and, I guess, Godzilla), this is among the best of early Japanese sci-fi films.