Up first is Ghost Story of Yotsuya which has ridiculously expensive DVDs on Amazon, one seller wants $288 for a copy. You can find it cheaper in another country. With the advent of multi-region DVD players we can be satisfied with a Greek DVD of this 1959 Japanese film. It adapts the 1825 Kabuki play Yotsuya Kaidan. That play borrows elements from a couple of real life murders and adds a vengeful ghost. The play has been adapted to film about 30 times.
The two illustrations came up when I Googled the name of the movie. I liked them. Here's the poster for the movie.
The movie is directed by Nobuo Nakagawa and this is the third of his movies we've watched in a row. That doesn't happen too often, we normally jump around and see different things each week. The IMDb says this is the best adaptation of the story. I sure think it's a nice looking film with plenty of interesting shots.
Iemon is a Rōnin without a position. He wants to marry Iwa but her father says no and calls him a fool. Angry Iemon kills the father and his pal. Spured on by his evil pal Naosuke Iemon tells Iwa that some other guys killed her father. They plot revenge, get married and have a child. His ambition leads them down a path that ends with a need to be rid of poor Iwa. Her ghost comes back for some revenge. I didn't find it too slow but there's a good bit of melodrama and the haunting takes a good long while to get going. It sure reminds us that women were pretty powerless in fuedal Japan. You can see it on Youtube, I've added a link in the title. Here's a scenic waterfall from the movie.
The Belles Of St Trinian's is the first of 5 films by writer/director Frank Launder and co-writer Sidney Gilliat. They worked on a lot of interesting films together including Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, Carol Reed's Night Train To Munich, and Green For Danger which Gilliat directed. I had seen the first 3 of their St Trinian's films last year. Netflix had them but they didn't have the 4th or 5th film. I finally broke down and bought the British DVD set of the first 4 films. They are region 2 but with a bit of DVD FAB I have a playable copy to look at. Launder co-wrote a 5th film, The Wildcats Of St Trinian's but it gets pretty poor reviews and the DVD is over 20 bucks. I haven't decided to buy it and I'm not sure I want to.
The Belles Of St Trinian's came out in 1954 and Alastair Sims plays both Headmistress Millicent Fritton and her brother Clarence. He wants to get his daughter back into St Trinian's. She'd been kicked out for burning down the uninsured St Trinian's Sport Pavilion the year before. Miss Fritton is reluctant, she doesn't trust her brother or his careless daughter, but Clarence blackmails Miss Fritton to get his way. He wants his daughter to get chummy with the daughter of an Arabian Sultan who has a horse in a big race. Clarence is backing another horse and he wants some inside info so he win big. Some of the girls of the Fourth Form go with Fatima to see the Sultan's horse run. They decide to back him and the Headmistress finds out. Miss Fritton comes to the conclusion she might be able to get the school out of debt with a bit of a flutter on the race. Flash Harry puts her last £400 on the race.
Clarence's daughter and the Sixth Form steal the Sultan's horse to help him win his bet on the other horse. The girls of the Fourth Form kick their asses and take the Sultan's horse back. It barely gets to the track in time to run the race and save the school.
There's plenty of mayhem and violence with a nice dash of comedy to sweeten it up. Those girls are great and I don't say that just because I'm scared of them. Alastair Sims is pretty entertaining as the droll Miss Fritton. The police and the local officials, who all fear the school, try to keep out of the school's sphere of destruction by offering up a sacrifice of an inept Police Woman. She's not up the the challenge and it scars her for life. It all gave me a laugh. Now that I have nice copies of the series I'm going to try to watch them every once in a while. You need a laugh now and again.
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