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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>On the subject of early colour films, I see that the
upcoming 'Cinema Ritrovato' at Bologna has a series, <EM><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Il colore più grande della vita</FONT></EM>, in which
Shin Heike Monogatari, 1955 is to be shown. There still doesn't seem to be
a specific date for the films on the website</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://www.cinetecadibologna.it/cinemaritrovato2009/ev/Programma">http://www.cinetecadibologna.it/cinemaritrovato2009/ev/Programma</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Roger</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>From: "Mark Roberts" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:mroberts37@mail-central.com"><FONT
face=Arial>mroberts37@mail-central.com</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 7:00 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Subject: Re: Question re 1940 Toho Musical Film
Extravaganza Etc.</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial>Michael,<BR><BR>I've
always heard of Kinoshita's "Carmen kokyo ni kaeru" (1951) <BR>described
as the first color film in Japan.<BR><BR>"Carmen" was filmed using a Fujicolor
reversal film made available in <BR>1950. The film speed was quite slow
(El. 10), and this may have been <BR>part of the rationale for shooting
most of the scenes as exteriors <BR>(lots of natural light). My
recollection of the color quality is that <BR>it looked super-saturated,
especially the reds, though the copy I saw <BR>was likely from a recent
restoration, and who knows what was tweaked <BR>in the process.<BR><BR>At
the time, I'm guessing that the color quality of the Fujicolor <BR>process
was not entirely satisfactory to the studios, and this was the <BR>reason
that Eastmancolor and Agfacolor were used during the 1950s. <BR>E.g.
Daiei's first color film, "Jigokumon" (1953), was filmed in
<BR>Eastmancolor. Toho's first color film was apparently "Hana no naka no
<BR>musumetachi" (1953), although it seems there were some experiments at
<BR>Toho dating back to 1946.<BR><BR>I would imagine that processes such as
Fujicolor, Eastmancolor, and <BR>Agfacolor were all chosen over
Technicolor for reasons of cost. <BR>Originally, Technicolor required a
more elaborate set of optics with a <BR>beam-splitter, and a special
dye-transfer process for developing and <BR>producing prints. The cameras
were quite expensive and at the <BR>beginning the American studios had to
rent them. The Technicolor <BR>camera was obsolesced in the early 1950s
with the introduction of a <BR>"Monopak" single-strip color film, but it
was still very expensive and <BR>it seems the film still needed to be
processed by a Technicolor lab. <BR>The apparent advantage of Eastmancolor
was that it was single-strip <BR>and did not involve a proprietary
developing process.<BR><BR>While 1951 is generally cited as the date of the
earliest color film <BR>in Japan, I see that the JMDB lists two films from
1949 that included <BR>some color segments:<BR><BR>新妻会議<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1949/by000080.htm"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1949/by000080.htm</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face=Arial>虹男<BR></FONT><A href="http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1949/by000950.htm"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1949/by000950.htm</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face=Arial>And here's a short film from 1948 about boxing that was filmed in
color:<BR><BR>ねずみの拳闘<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1948/bx000780.htm"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1948/bx000780.htm</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face=Arial>For more details, you might look at an article by Hisashi
Okajima <BR>called "Color Film Restoration in Japan: Some Examples"
(Journal of <BR>FIlm Preservation, FIAF, 10/2003), that includes more
history on the <BR>origins of color processes in the Japanese
cinema.<BR><BR>Best regards,<BR><BR>M. Roberts<BR><BR><BR><BR>On Jun 22, 2009,
at 1:26 AM, <</FONT><A href="mailto:mccaskem@georgetown.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>mccaskem@georgetown.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>> <</FONT><A
href="mailto:mccaskem@georgetown.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>mccaskem@georgetown.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial> <BR> >
wrote:<BR><BR>> Dear Faith Bach,<BR>><BR>> Thank you very much for the
information on Songoku. It was very kind <BR>> and very<BR>>
thoughtful of you to look into it and send your findings. I am glad
<BR>> that you got a<BR>> chance to see Songoku - you're very fortunate to
have the resources <BR>> to do so. I<BR>> am pretty much limited to
films I can get in DVD form from Amazon <BR>> Japan, or<BR>> from
dealers willing to send material overseas.<BR>><BR>> I looked in
Galbraith's new book, "The Toho Studios Story," which I <BR>> just
got,<BR>> and it seems (155-156) that Yamamoto Kajiro remade Songoku in
1959, <BR>> using<BR>> the same special effects person as in 1940,
Tsuburaya Eiji. It's in <BR>> Agfacolor.<BR>><BR>> Agfacolor
tended to make everything look bluish in the 1940s, and <BR>> mostly
in<BR>> the 1950s as well. It was originally a German film, but US
<BR>> Occupation outlets<BR>> sold it in Japan after WWII. Technicolor was
better, but perhaps for <BR>> some reason<BR>> Yamamoto liked it, or
got a special deal, or couldn't get <BR>> Technicolor film,
even<BR>> in 1959. I saw a rare US grade B Agfacolor movie made in the
1950s, <BR>> about the<BR>> Civil War, and everything was bluish,
except the Union Army <BR>> uniforms, which<BR>> became super-blue,
deep indigo to purple.<BR>><BR>> In any case, it's clear that you indeed
saw the classic 1940 <BR>> original version,<BR>> since the remake
was in color, and the cast was different. It would <BR>> be
wonderful<BR>> if some entity could put that out now on a DVD, with perhaps
the <BR>> 1959 version<BR>> as well. It would be interesting to
compare it with "The Wizard of <BR>> Oz."<BR>><BR>> My inquiry
about Toho color was based on the fact that I saw <BR>> "Tohokaraa
東宝カ<BR>> ラー" mentioned in connection with Songoku, in the Toho
historical <BR>> item<BR>> attached, though there were only B&W
stills. I didn't think Japanese <BR>> studios<BR>> made color films
in 1940, but as I recall part of The Wizard in Oz <BR>> is in B&W,
so I<BR>> wondered if the Songoku picture had a color segment stashed away
in <BR>> it. Or<BR>> something like the pink smoke in the otherwise
B&W "High & Low," <BR>> Kurosawa's<BR>> first bit of color.
Thanks very much to your special efforts, <BR>> though, it's now
clear<BR>> that there's no color in Songoku at all.<BR>><BR>> The other
alternative was that "Tohokaraa" was some kind of special <BR>>
metaphor,<BR>> but that seemed very odd and peculiar, or perhaps
completely <BR>> mistaken, so I<BR>> did not want to mention it
online as a possibility.<BR>><BR>> After receiving your email, I went back
to the source again, and it <BR>> looks as if, as<BR>> in the
attachments, it was idiosyncratically used, as a sort of <BR>>
proprietary slogan<BR>> or buzzword, to refer to performers or performances
that were stylish,<BR>> cosmopolitan, etc. - perhaps meaning somthing like
"cool" today. Like<BR>> "TohoCool," maybe.<BR>><BR>> It looks as if
perhaps Toho never again used the term "Tohokaraa," <BR>> the way
it<BR>> later used "Tohoscope," perhaps because of this earlier usage.
It <BR>> seems as if<BR>> Toho later used "Toho/Karaa" to mean "Toho
films in color."<BR>><BR>> I'm very impressed by your expertise, and I
hope I may learn more <BR>> about your<BR>> research. It sounds as
if you know a great deal about 1930s and <BR>> 1940s films<BR>> and
performers.<BR>><BR>> If you're researching 1940s and later Toho days, if
you haven't <BR>> already seen it,<BR>> there's a 2003 book by
Takase Masahiro, 「東宝砧撮影所物 <BR>> 語」ISBN4-924609-<BR>> 82-X, which you might
perhaps be interested in. Takase's also <BR>> written another<BR>>
follow-up book 「東宝監督群像―砧の青春」2006, ISBN-10: <BR>> 4924609927
ISBN-<BR>> 13: 978-4924609921, which I've not yet seen.<BR>><BR>> Thank
you once again for your email, which I appreciate very much <BR>>
indeed.<BR>><BR>> With Very Best Wishes,<BR>><BR>> Michael
McCaskey<BR>> Georgetown Univ.<BR>> Wash. DC<BR>><BR>> PS<BR>> I
realize now that I've finished writing that this is on list. If <BR>>
the attachment does<BR>> not come through, I can send it to you off list, if
you'd like to <BR>> send your email<BR>> address to me, </FONT><A
href="mailto:mccaskem@georgetown.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>mccaskem@georgetown.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>. Now I must go
and proofread a<BR>> book review, so I can get it sent out
today.<BR>><BR>><BR>>
<孫悟空、東宝カラー、東宝／カラー、etc.doc><BR></FONT></BODY></HTML>