Hibari Misora and "Sannin Musume" in JANKEN MUSUME
Back to Hibari Misora, the top recording star of postwar Japan, whom I first wrote about in my entry of November 15. I got my copy of the film, JANKEN MUSUME (1955) from CDJapan and I watched it. The film features "Sannin Musume," a trio consisting of Ms. Misora, Izumi Yukimura and Chiemi Eri and it's in Japanese without subtitles, so I'm not going to try to come up with a plot synopsis. It's an early color production from Japan and it's got great costumes and a host of different musical numbers. There are a total of eleven songs performed by the girls, either solo or as a trio. Hibari has four solos, including a French song performed in English, "La Vie en Rose." Izumi sings "Smile," a well-known song written by Charlie Chaplin (for his 1952 film, LIMELIGHT), in Japanese. Hibari performs a traditional dance, minus song, at the end.
The three girls do "Jankenpyon" (rock/paper/scissors) in a series of shots under the opening credits. They sing the title song while riding a roller coaster at the end.
Here are some screen grabs. Dig that beautiful color.
That's Chiemi, Izumi, and Hibari, L-R.
Hibari Misora sings "La Vie en Rose" during a fantasy musical number.
Chiemi Eri sings about "happy, happy Africa" in her stage fantasy.
Izumi Yukimura sings a Cha Cha song, with the English lines, "I find that I am even dancing while I’m walking…I do the cha cha in my sleep.”
During a vacation sequence, Izumi sings "Smile."
Hibari sings a traditional Japanese song...
...while Izumi dances.
Chiemi introduces some modern dance moves to Izumi's routine.
Hibari (in red) experiencing some mother-daughter drama.
Hibari performs a traditional dance on stage and makes her parents very happy.
The three sing the title song in the final scene as they ride a "roller coaster."
(I love the process shots that used to be common in studio movies. Why shoot on location when you can do it in a studio? Audiences back then didn't mind that it actually, y'know, looked like a MOVIE.)
This film was, according to IMDB, released in the U.S. in 1963 as SO YOUNG, SO BRIGHT. I don't know where, or how widely, it played or if it was ever actually dubbed or subtitled. If a subtitled print ever turns up, it would be worth seeing on the big screen as a rediscovered piece of Japanese pop culture history.
The film reminded me quite a bit of some of Elvis Presley's 1960s musicals. In my fantasy Hollywood studio of the past, there would be a large-scale movie starring Elvis and Hibari. (Hibari was two years younger than Elvis.) What a lost opportunity.
So if you want to see and hear what a 1950s Japanese pop music film musical looks and sounds like, you can't do any better than JANKEN MUSUME.
P.S. A guy I know with a website devoted to Asian cinema has pages of photos of Hibari. Great stuff. Here's the link:
http://brns.com/pages4/hibari1.html
The three girls do "Jankenpyon" (rock/paper/scissors) in a series of shots under the opening credits. They sing the title song while riding a roller coaster at the end.
Here are some screen grabs. Dig that beautiful color.
That's Chiemi, Izumi, and Hibari, L-R.
Hibari Misora sings "La Vie en Rose" during a fantasy musical number.
Chiemi Eri sings about "happy, happy Africa" in her stage fantasy.
Izumi Yukimura sings a Cha Cha song, with the English lines, "I find that I am even dancing while I’m walking…I do the cha cha in my sleep.”
During a vacation sequence, Izumi sings "Smile."
Hibari sings a traditional Japanese song...
...while Izumi dances.
Chiemi introduces some modern dance moves to Izumi's routine.
Hibari (in red) experiencing some mother-daughter drama.
Hibari performs a traditional dance on stage and makes her parents very happy.
The three sing the title song in the final scene as they ride a "roller coaster."
(I love the process shots that used to be common in studio movies. Why shoot on location when you can do it in a studio? Audiences back then didn't mind that it actually, y'know, looked like a MOVIE.)
This film was, according to IMDB, released in the U.S. in 1963 as SO YOUNG, SO BRIGHT. I don't know where, or how widely, it played or if it was ever actually dubbed or subtitled. If a subtitled print ever turns up, it would be worth seeing on the big screen as a rediscovered piece of Japanese pop culture history.
The film reminded me quite a bit of some of Elvis Presley's 1960s musicals. In my fantasy Hollywood studio of the past, there would be a large-scale movie starring Elvis and Hibari. (Hibari was two years younger than Elvis.) What a lost opportunity.
So if you want to see and hear what a 1950s Japanese pop music film musical looks and sounds like, you can't do any better than JANKEN MUSUME.
P.S. A guy I know with a website devoted to Asian cinema has pages of photos of Hibari. Great stuff. Here's the link:
http://brns.com/pages4/hibari1.html