Wasei Kingu Kongu (lost silent Japanese short; 1933)

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File:Waseikingkong.jpg
1933 promotional flyer (one of two).
File:King Kong Japanese.jpg
Still one of two.

Wasei Kingu Kongu (aka Japanese King Kong) was a 1933 silent Japanese short film Written by Akira Fushimi, directed by Torajira Saito and featuring Isamu Yamaguchi as the title character.

File:Full 2Wasei Kingu Kongu.jpg
1933 promotional flyer (two of two).

The film is noteworthy for possibly being the first Japanese monster movie ever made, (said title originally being thought to have been held by Toho's 1954 Gojira -aka Godzilla-) although its believed that there are no actual special effects in the film as the plot involves a man trying to earn money to woo his girlfriend by playing the King Kong character on stage[1][2].

It was distributed by Shochiku, who also handled the Japanese distribution rights of the original, although this film was possibly made without RKO's permission. The film has been lost and unseen for many years and was believed to have been one of the many movies destroyed in the 1945 American atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this day, all that remains are two small still pictures and a few flyers.



References

  1. October 21, 1933 issue of Kinema Junpo
  2. December 1934 issue of Kagaku no Nihon. Pg.85