They always said the movies are a gamble...

[Roger Macy]

Aaron's posting reminds me that, as an extra on the 'Ronin' DVD of 'The Quiet Duel', there's a newsreel of 1949, showing the Daiei baseball stars visiting the Daiei studios (and watching 'Quiet Duel' being shot), clearly intended to puff both of their products.
Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aaron Gerow" <aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 3:33 PM
Subject: Re: They always said the movies are a gamble...


> 
> On Oct 16, 2008, at 9:49 AM, Kirsten Cather wrote:
> 
>> Somewhat along these lines, I was curious if anyone could tell me  
>> about or point me to
>> a good source on the less shady diversification of the film  
>> industry in the 1970s. I was
>> reading somewhere about the Toho Flyers (I think?), which I gather  
>> was a baseball team,
>> and about studios getting into the bowling business, but couldn't  
>> find much more about
>> it. Any information or references would be much appreciated.
> 
> 
> These are actually different phenomena from different periods. Since  
> movies were the kings of entertainment in the 1950s, many of the  
> major studios owned their own professional baseball teams at that  
> time. They are thus a manifestation of the industry's riches. Here  
> are some of them:
> 
> Toei Flyers (now the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters)
> Shochiku Robins (one of the ancestors of the Yokohama Bay Stars)
> Daiei Unions (one of the ancestors of Chiba Lotte Marines)
> 
> Toho didn't have its own baseball team, but I think that's because  
> its parent company, Hankyu, already did (the Hankyu Braves).
> 
> The phenomenon of bowling alleys happens later around 1970 when the  
> industry is in decline and needs to find ways to reuse the land on  
> which unprofitable theaters sat.
> 
> For a lot of basic information, you can just consult the company  
> histories of these studios. Especially the recent ones (like  
> Chronicle Toei or the Shochiku 110 nenshi) do a decent job of  
> covering their non-film businesses.
> 
> 
> Aaron Gerow
> Assistant Professor
> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
> 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
> site: www.aarongerow.com
> 
> 
> 
>
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