This American-Japanese
double-billed film, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, could not get
any more “B.” From the start of filming to it being put "in the can" took about two months. The acting is okay but any innovative
dialogue was left in a manila folder, perhaps File 207. The bland
dialogue may be an effort to suggest the film was “shot as it
happened” using the everyday people involved. I am being kind.
Except for some actual military personnel, it is simply a cast of
unknown actors in a speculative story filmed entirely in Tokyo, a
Hollywood first. It is an innovative take on the Korean War,
suggesting Communist spies were working from Japan to sabotage
American operations. Certainly not a preposterous premise. Despite
the film’s average packaging, the pacing is good and the Tokyo
settings add realism and mystery. Albert Glasser’s rousing opening
score certainly gets your attention. The eighty-four-minute movie was
not a success with mixed reviews from critics and ticket buyers
alike.
The story is told with
voice-overs by a U.S. Government Agent, the sometimes billed, Robert
Peyton. His voice and mannerisms seem too intimate for the big screen
and better suited for television where one can get small but
perceived big. The bulk of the movie is told in flashback after a
briefcase bomb explodes near his chins. Since he is telling the
story, we know he survives the blast but we do not know what miracle
befell him. The climax does have a logical, eye-opening resolution. Officially, he was not a body double for Fred MacMurray but one might disagree, below.
After checking in at the
front desk, Peyton finds Francis Marly, a mature Euro-tart making
herself at home in his room. Perhaps the funniest thing in the movie
is that she talks seductively in the third person. Being a debonair
geek, he is attracted to her fits of flirts. We are never sure if she
can tell the truth. They become an odd team even though he
suspects her of being a Communist sympathizer.
Peyton came to Japan to
find an old college classmate, Katsuhiko Haida, who is suspected of
joining the Communists. Haida’s father tells Peyton of his son’s
backstory in a World War II Kamikaze 101 class where they use scale
models for practice. One student is slapped by the tough instructor
for timidly and repeatedly not zooming his plane in the right area of
a carrier model, thanks to an improper grip on the model. No successful Kamikaze
101 student gets a typical diploma. They get
funeral rites. But the war comes to an end and Haida is crushed that
he will never be able to go on frequent Kamikaze missions. He is despondent and vulnerable to Communist
propaganda.
The girlfriend of Haida
is played by the exceptionally cute, Reiko Otani. She is abducted by
the Commies, then dumped on the road without so much as an apology.
While in the critical care unit, Haida secretly visits and they
express their undying love for each other. Never use any form of the
word “dying” in her presence at this point. Haida has an epiphany
and is no longer on the dark red side, using all
his kamikaze skills to defeat Nakamura. For Peyton, it is File
213.
Note: The film provides the moviegoer with good exposure to
mid-century Japanese culture. If the film has any assets, it would be
this. Many of these scenes carry no dialogue as we follow Peyton
through the streets and bars of Tokyo. This in itself saved a ton of
production money. There is a scene in a sleazy Japanese-only bar
where rowdy, drunk tattooed men are doing what they would not do
unless in a crowd. There is a fully clothed female dancer, after a
fashion, on a table. When Peyton and Marly enter in search of Haida,
the place becomes dead silent. Like two Jews entering a Nazi bar. The
U.S. Military Police tell them that the bar is off limits and
suggest, for their own safety, they leave.
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