Enoken no hôkaibô

Enomoto Ken'ichi (1904 - 1970), better known as Enoken, was one of Japan's most famous comedians. Foreign audiences know him almost solely for his annoying presence in Kurosawa's "Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi" (Those Who Step on the Tiger's Tail, 1945). In that film, his comedic antics messed with the general atmosphere, and lessened the impact of the whole. But it's unfair to judge him based on that film alone, as he was a talented comedian. He started his career on stage, and moved to film in 1934. His popularity is best characterized by the fact, that from the very start, most of his films have "Enoken" in the title.

During the late 1930's, Kurosawa was the 3rd or 2nd assistant director in many of these films, also helping with the screenplays. "Enoken no hobaibo" is one he did not participate in, but it is written by Oguni Hideo, who later became Kurosawa's most frequent writing partner. The film is a parody of the jidai-geki genre, one of many for Enoken. It is less than an hour long film, that has a cliched plotline, which is there only to give room for the star.

I don't think this is among Enoken's better vehicles, but you certainly pick up on a lot of his tricks from watching this. Much of the humor is based on making fun of the seriousness of the genre, something that 1930's Japanese cinema should have done more often. This is also a musical, and there's humor in the songs: though it's set in the past, Enoken makes his entrance with Maurice Chevalier's "Louise" playing. There's also a lot of physical humor, fights, running, and drag. The film didn't make me laugh, except a couple of times, but it does show what a dedicated performer Enoken was. Unfortunately, it also shows the laziness of the Toho studio, which hasn't put much of an effort in the film surrounding the star. The sets were re-used from other films, the cast has no memorable actors or actresses, and the film is short and disposable as a whole.