is a 1954 Japanese
science fiction film
Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
directed by
Motoyoshi Oda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed over 50 films in his career.
An English major who graduated from Waseda University in 1935, Motoyoshi Oda was accepted into the directors' program at Tokyo's P.C.L. (Photo Chemical Laboratories, a film comp ...
, with special effects and cinematography by
Eiji Tsuburaya
was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ' ...
. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1897
H.G. Wells story ''
The Invisible Man
''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in ''Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devote ...
''.
Plot
In
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
, the dead body of an invisible man is discovered, alongside a suicide note. The note reveals that there is at least one other invisible man still alive. An ex-army commander reveals that during the war, Dr. Nishizaki discovered by chance a particle that, when properly utilized, turns any object invisible. At the end of the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, a special attack corps made up of invisible men crashed on
Saipan Island
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 es ...
, and were presumed dead, however, two survived. The effects of the invisibility particle cannot be undone.
Soon, there are robberies across Tokyo from a gang calling themselves the Invisible Men. Meanwhile Nanjo, a clown who works at the
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
Kurofune befriends a young blind girl, Mariko, who lives in the same apartment. Komatsu, a newspaper reporter who witnessed the death of the invisible man, is investigating the phenomenon and spots Nanjo while visiting a robbed jewelry store. In a fake deal to gather money to cure Mariko's blindness, her grandfather is killed by the gang that has been terrorizing the town.
Soon after, Komatsu, who has been following Nanjo, finds himself alone in a room with him and discovers that Nanjo is, in fact, the other invisible man. He dresses as a clown with face makeup, gloves and so on so as to appear visible and lead a relatively normal life. Nanjo and Komatsu decide to work together to investigate and reveal the identity of the gang that is terrorizing the town and who murdered Mariko's grandfather, while also trying to save Michiyo, a singer who is stuck within the gang and cannot escape. They discover that the gang is led by the same people who own Kurofune, and in an ensuing battle and chase, Nanjo, using his invisibility to his advantage, saves Michiyo and kills Yajima, the gang boss. However, he is also fatally wounded in the fight and becomes visible again. He asks Michiyo to take good care of Mariko in his last breath.
Cast
*
Seizaburo Kawazu as Takemitsu Nanjo, the clown/Invisible Man
*
Miki Sanjo
Miki may refer to:
Places
*Miki, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
*Miki, Kagawa, a town in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
*Miki, Azerbaijan, a village in Astara Rayon, Azerbaijan
People
*Miki (given name)
*Miki (surname)
*Miki Núñez (born ...
as Michiyo, the singer
*
Minoru Takada
Minoru is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Minoru Arakawa (荒川 實, born 1946), Japanese former president of Nintendo of America
*Minoru Chiaki (千秋 実, 1917–1999), Japanese actor
*Minoru Fujita ( ...
as Yajima, the leader of the "Invisible Gang"
*
Yoshio Tsuchiya
was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. ''Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and ''Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okam ...
as Komatsu, the reporter
*
Keiko Kondo as Mariko, the blind girl
*
Kenjiro Uemura as Ken
*
Kamatari Fujiwara
was a Japanese actor.
Fujiwara worked regularly and extensively with Akira Kurosawa, and was known for both being adept at comic acting, as well as being able to take on serious roles.
Early life and career
Early life
Fujiwara was born on ...
as Mari's grandfather
*
Sonosuke Sawamura as Nomura, Deitman
*
Seijiro Onda as Chief of Police
*
Shoichi Hirose
, occasionally miscredited as Masakazu Hirose and nicknamed for his survival in the naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons, was a Japanese actor. Hirose portrayed Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah and King Kong in ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'', alon ...
as Policeman
*
Takuzo Kumagai as Otsuka
*
Shin Otomo
Shin may refer to:
Biology
* The front part of the human leg below the knee
* Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates
Names
* Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: しん), a Japanese gi ...
as Detective
*
Noriko Shigeyama
is a Japanese given name for females.
Possible writings
* 徳子, "benevolence child"
* 法子, "method, law child"
* 則子, "rule child"
* 紀子, "chronicle child"
* 教子, "teach child"
* 範子, "pattern child"
* 典子, "rule, precedent, c ...
as Nightclub Dancer
*
Haruo Suzuki
Haruo (written: 春雄, 春生, 春男, 春夫, 晴生, 晴男, 晴夫, 暎夫, 治夫 or 治夫) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese chemist
*, Japanese film director
*, Jap ...
as Men at Nightclub
*
Akira Sera
Akira may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Akira'' (franchise), a Japanese cyberpunk franchise
** ''Akira'' (manga), a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo
** ''Akira'' (1988 film), an anime film adaptation of the manga
** ''Akira'' (vide ...
as Man at street stand
*
Yutaka Oka
Yutaka is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Yutaka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*豊, "bountiful"
*裕, "affluence"
*穣, "fertile"
*温, "warmth"
The name can also be written in hiragana ゆた ...
as Announcer
*
Yasuhisa Tsutsumi
Yasuhisa is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Yasuhisa can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples:
*康久, "healthy, long time"
*康尚, "healthy, still"
*康寿, "healthy, long life" ...
as Jewelry Shop Manager
*
Jiro Kumagai
Jiro is the registered name used by Sun Microsystems for an extension to Java and Jini.
Jiro as an industry initiative, along with an EMC initiative called "Wide Sky" were catalysts in the late nineties for a common interface to storage devices, ...
as Otsuka
*
Minoru Ito as Man in car (traffic accident)
*
Keiko Mori Keiko may refer to:
*Keiko (given name), a feminine Japanese given name
*Emperor Keiko
*Keiko (orca), a performing killer whale best known for the film ''Free Willy''
** "Keiko" (song), a single by Lucerito dedicated to Keiko the orca
*Keiko (music ...
as Woman in car (traffic accident)
*
Haruo Nakajima
was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra ...
as Invisible Man Akita
Production
Filming
''Tomei Ningen'' was shot in black-and-white at
academy ratio
The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio of a frame of 35 mm film when used with 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History and Theory of Film and Media''. Rev. ...
. The
special effects
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
were directed by
Eiji Tsuburaya
was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ' ...
. David Kalat noted that Tsuburaya's special effects were "clever but sparingly used." ''Tomei Ningen'' was a primary influence on Toho's Mutant Series, a trilogy of science-fiction films produced from 1958 to 1960 (''
The H-Man
is a Japanese science fiction thriller film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects directed by Eiji Tsuburaya.
Plot
On a rainy night in the outskirts of Tokyo, a drug smuggler, Misaki, is killed while trying to escape in a getaway ...
'', ''
The Secret of the Telegian
() is a 1960 tokusatsu science fiction- horror and mystery film. Produced by Toho Company, Ltd., the film was directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Herts-Lion International Corp. acquired the western hemisphere rig ...
'' and ''
The Human Vapor
is a 1960 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film is the story of a librarian (Yoshio Tsuchiya), his love for a dancer and his ability to change into a gaseous form.
Plot
Whil ...
'').
Special effects
The scene where Nanjo scrubs off his clown makeup, revealing his invisibility was achieved with Kawazu gradually covering his face with black greasepaint; when combined with a separately photographed background, the dark shades became see-through, and the actor seemed to wipe away his very being.
For scenes where Nanjo throws things or moves the around, piano wire was used to simulate the invisible man holding these objects.
Release
''Tomei Ningen'' was released in Japan by
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...
on December 29, 1954. Any release of the film in the United States is undetermined. No evidence exists that it was ever dubbed in English.
Daiei Film
Daiei Film Co. Ltd. ( Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing ...
produced two similar films featuring invisibility, ''
The Invisible Man Appears'' in 1949, and ''
The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly'' in 1957.
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invisible Avenger, The
Films directed by Motoyoshi Oda
1954 films
Japanese black-and-white films
Films based on The Invisible Man
Films set in Tokyo
Toho films
Japanese science fiction films
1950s science fiction films
1950s Japanese films