Tokyo dossier 212

Lee Frederick gets off the plane in Tokyo. He's a newspaperman, there to conduct a survey. In truth, he's an intelligence officer. There's information leaking from someone through the Communists in Tokyo, and his old college room mate, Katsuhiko Haida, in involved. After getting his assignment, he goes to his hotel room to find stateless Florence Marly there. She announces she is going to be his secretary.

It's an ambitious movie in its own way, trying to offer a view of post-war Japan as more than updated Terry & The Pirates Character. Unfortunately, Frederick is not a particularly good actor, and tries to substitute emphatic delivery for emotion.

Where it succeeds is in offering a different view of Tokyo than is usually seen. A lot of footage was shot onsite by uncredited cinematographer Ichirô Hoshijima. He shows a city quite a bit different from the Tokyo seen in the Japanese movies of the time: not from afar, where the grace and symmetry of the great public works are on view, nor the carefully constructed backlots of the studios, but street views, where crowds jostle each other and the dirt, grime and decay sit right next to the proud civic monuments. It's a livelier city than the quiet alleyways of Ozu, or the jumbled offices of Kurosawa. It's not a place where actors perform for audiences, but a place where people live and work.

It's great camerawork. Unfortunately, the story is simplistic and straightforward, and even such distinguished Japanese actors as Tatsuo Saitô and good intentions can't overcome a mediocre story and a poor lead actor.

The noir "cliches come thick and fast," begins both the first review here as well as on the videobox, I was a sucker for the box description but the film never approaches being noir. It is a propaganda spy film for America fighting "Commies" in Korea, with the novelty of being entirely filmed in Japan(not a "re-creation of Japan"). Wouldn't Ike and Hawkeye Pierce be shocked to know the war was masterminded by a couple of Japanese guys in tweed jackets? The plot is basically the same as the political drama "The Ugly American," and though there is some intrigue and a femme fatalistic Marlene Dietrich impersonator, it is mainly filmed without a noir look or moody soundtrack. It has all the subtlety and nuance of the low-budget serials of the 1940's, not so odd a coincidence since the distributor (VCI) specializes in serials. While it might be entertaining given the expectation that it is a mild war-spy drama, it will only disappoint anyone looking for noir.

The acting and direction in the film is C level. It was hard to tell the obvious amateur actors in the military intel office from the supposed professional actors. But despite the horrible acting and direction, the characters were well-developed and a few were even sympathetic. The commie Jap who sees the light was one of those. This was not your usual phony commie scare movie of the fifties. This was the real McCoy, because North Korea did try to disrupt Japanese shipping from Tokyo to the war effort. And there was quite a large communist movement in Japan after Japan was returned to the Japanese; it gave some Japanese men a way to oppose American occupation of their homeland. Fortunately, making money became more important than regaining international honor in the eyes of the world, and the vast majority of Japanese rejected communism naturally. Socialism really did not appeal to the Japanese masses. Capitalism was far too attractive. The movie does not bring this out well, but the story was more interesting than the acting.

Although not classic film noir, this is an entertaining little B movie filmed in Tokyo during the Korean war. Robert Peyton ("B" version of Fred McMurray) delivers a generally adequate performance as an undercover army intelligence officer investigating a Japanese spy ring that is sabotaging US operations in Korea.

More interesting is the alluring Florence Marly ("B" version of Marlene Dietrich). The Czechoslovakian-born Marly is portrayed as an Eurasian femme fatale who speaks English with a cute Japanese accent. Of course, she is completely untrustworthy and leads Frederick into the sordid Japanese underworld on a mission to locate a college friend who has been tricked into working for the communists.

The plot twists and turns with some interesting noirish street scenes and good performances by Japanese actors. Not a great movie but worth watching for Marly's intriguing performance and the surprise ending.

This isn't actually as bad as it looks. It is really a Japanese tragedy, the main protagonist being a young idealist soldier being trained to be an infallible kamikadze suicide pilot, and just as he is to be awarded his final approval and to be sent out on his first and final mission, the war ends. He is picked up by interests who don't want the conflict to be over, and so he is involved in the Korean war on the communist side. The main asset of the film is that it is made on location, all the rich environment scenes are genuine, and the film gives a fascinating overview of Tokyo after the war in the shadow of the Korea war. The story isn't bad either, it is a bit muddled and unclear, but if you can follow the dire straits of its windings, you will understand the logic of it. Florence Marly is the asset among the actors, giving a very interesting and entertaining performance, while Lee Frederick is like a worse copy of Fred MacMurray. It's the Tokyo scenes that make the film something you shouldn't miss, if you are at all interested in Asia and especially not if you are a fan of Japanese culture.