Question re 1940 Toho Musical Film Extravaganza Etc.

[Faith Bach]

Michael,

Wow, yes, what a mystery!  I am stumped by this odd usage of the  
expression "Toho Kaaraa" in the A & B examples you attached (the  
others seem to be straightforward references to Toho films in  
color).  It will take a wiser head than mine to unravel this.  For  
what it's worth I think you are right that it was a buzzword-style  
expression, probably invented by the Toho PR department, just as you  
describe;   it certainly does not seem to refer to color per se in  
this usage.  [Kaaraa (in katakana) in my largest kokugo dictionary  
lists a secondary meaning as "tokucho," characteristic or special  
quality...]

It was absolutely my pleasure to watch Songoku.  As an avid Kishii  
Akira fan, I was happy to have the chance, and I thank you again for  
the tip!

Regards
Faith
On Jun 22, 2009, at 1:26 AM, <mccaskem at georgetown.edu> wrote:

> Dear Faith Bach,
>
> Thank you very much for the information on Songoku. It was very  
> kind and very
> thoughtful of you to look into it and send your findings. I am glad  
> that you got a
> chance to see Songoku - you're very fortunate to have the resources  
> to do so. I
> am pretty much limited to films I can get in DVD form from Amazon  
> Japan, or
> from dealers willing to send material overseas.
>
> I looked in Galbraith's new book, "The Toho Studios Story," which I  
> just got,
> and it seems (155-156) that Yamamoto Kajiro remade Songoku in 1959,  
> using
> the same special effects person as in 1940, Tsuburaya Eiji. It's in  
> Agfacolor.
>
> Agfacolor tended to make everything look bluish in the 1940s, and  
> mostly in
> the 1950s as well. It was originally a German film, but US  
> Occupation outlets
> sold it in Japan after WWII. Technicolor was better, but perhaps  
> for some reason
> Yamamoto liked it, or got a special deal, or couldn't get  
> Technicolor film, even
> in 1959. I saw a rare US grade B Agfacolor movie made in the 1950s,  
> about the
> Civil War, and everything was bluish, except the Union Army  
> uniforms, which
> became super-blue, deep indigo to purple.
>
> In any case, it's clear that you indeed saw the classic 1940  
> original version,
> since the remake was in color, and the cast was different. It would  
> be wonderful
> if some entity could put that out now on a DVD, with perhaps the  
> 1959 version
> as well. It would be interesting to compare it with "The Wizard of  
> Oz."
>
> My inquiry about Toho color was based on the fact that I saw  
> "Tohokaraa 東宝カ
> ラー" mentioned in connection with Songoku, in the Toho historical  
> item
> attached, though there were only B&W stills. I didn't think  
> Japanese studios
> made color films in 1940, but as I recall part of The Wizard in Oz  
> is in B&W, so I
> wondered if the Songoku picture had a color segment stashed away in  
> it. Or
> something like the pink smoke in the otherwise B&W "High & Low,"  
> Kurosawa's
> first bit of color. Thanks very much to your special efforts,  
> though, it's now clear
> that there's no color in Songoku at all.
>
> The other alternative was that "Tohokaraa" was some kind of special  
> metaphor,
> but that seemed very odd and peculiar, or perhaps completely  
> mistaken, so I
> did not want to mention it online as a possibility.
>
> After receiving your email, I went back to the source again, and it  
> looks as if, as
> in the attachments, it was idiosyncratically used, as a sort of  
> proprietary slogan
> or buzzword, to refer to performers or performances that were stylish,
> cosmopolitan, etc. - perhaps meaning somthing like "cool" today. Like
> "TohoCool," maybe.
>
> It looks as if perhaps Toho never again used the term "Tohokaraa,"  
> the way it
> later used "Tohoscope," perhaps because of this earlier usage. It  
> seems as if
> Toho later used "Toho/Karaa" to mean "Toho films in color."
>
> I'm very impressed by your expertise, and I hope I may learn more  
> about your
> research. It sounds as if you know a great deal about 1930s and  
> 1940s films
> and performers.
>
> If you're researching 1940s and later Toho days, if you haven't  
> already seen it,
> there's a 2003 book by Takase Masahiro, 「東宝砧撮影所物 
> 語」ISBN4-924609-
> 82-X, which you might perhaps be interested in. Takase's also  
> written another
> follow-up book 「東宝監督群像―砧の青春」2006, ISBN-10:  
> 4924609927 ISBN-
> 13: 978-4924609921, which I've not yet seen.
>
> Thank you once again for your email, which I appreciate very much  
> indeed.
>
> With Very Best Wishes,
>
> Michael McCaskey
> Georgetown Univ.
> Wash. DC
>
> PS
> I realize now that I've finished writing that this is on list. If  
> the attachment does
> not come through, I can send it to you off list, if you'd like to  
> send your email
> address to me, mccaskem at georgetown.edu. Now I must go and proofread a
> book review, so I can get it sent out today.
>
>
> <孫悟空、東宝カラー、東宝／カラー、etc.doc>