Itami debut film discovered

[Aaron Gerow]

The news services  reported that Itami Juzo's "first" film as a 
director was recently discovered. Apparently, while Itami was still 
acting under the name Itami Ichizo, he made a film called Gomudeppo in 
1962 with some friends. It is probably a short work, but was shown at a 
small theater in Shinjuku in 1963 and then shown in a double bill with 
Suna no utsuwa at Sogetsu in 1964. It has not been seen since then. 
Editors from Shinchosha apparently found the work in Itami's cottage as 
they were researching a book on him. It will be shown in a special 
event on December 27 at Sogetsu. The following has some details in 
Japanese:

http://shinchosha.co.jp/gomudeppou/

Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu