Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu: Henge no maki (1938)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Sôya Kumagai

Writer:

Daijô Aoyama (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 1938 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot Keywords:

Period Piece | Giant Animal | King Kong | Giant | Lost Film

Cast

Ryutaro Hibiki	...	Izunokami Matsudaira
Reizaburo Ichikawa	...	Tobabei
Ginbei Inoue	...	Sanshiro Môri
Do Jitsukawa	...	Boy at rice shop
Keisuke Matsudaira	...	Clerk at charcoal shop
Eizaburo Matsumoto	...	Son'nojo Go
Reiko Mishima	...	Chinami
Shojiro Ogata	...	Kuroami, hunchback
Fuminori Ohashi	...	The ape (as Ryunosuke Kabayama)
Shotaro Shiba	...	Tetsusaburo Higashi
Shin Taga	...	Shinjûro Nakazawa
Noboru Takashima	...	Jo Kawasaki
Keinosuke Yashiro	...	Kin'nosuke Segawa
Kikutaro Yoshii	...	Clerk at soy source shop

Also Known As:

King Kong (Japan) (short title)
King Kong Appears in Edo (literal English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Company:

Zensho Kinema

Movie Connections:

Followed by Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu: Ôgon no maki (1938)

Still extant?

Sadly recorded as a lost film, it seems highly unlikely that a print of Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu still exists even in Japan.

A Japanese version of the RKO classic, it would be especially interesting to see due to the fact Fuminori Ohashi worked on the special effects. He also produced effects for the Godzilla movies, the 60s Toho versions of King Kong (such as Godzilla vs. King Kong) and worked on the original Planet of the Apes.

Considering giant monster movies are one Japan's most famous movie exports - and despite their ephemeral nature, were (and still are) highly entertaining, varied and influential - it's very sad that their earliest ancestor can no longer be seen trampling across the land in all his monotone splendor.