Saturday, June 2, 2012

Sloooowly I Turned, Step By Step, Inch By Inch...

The day's highlight of Boobpedian eroticism was the release of a few new pics from Tamaki Yasuoka's new DVD, WZA-04. I share one with my readership of Tamaki-san in a sultry mood, with expressionistic lighting, at left. Rather film noir-ish, actually...

I submitted the following to IMDb today:
1979-11-23 Porn Documentary: Afternoon Climax (ポルノドキュメント 昼下りの絶頂 - Porn document: Hirusagari no zecchô) (Genji Nakamura; Watanabe Pro / Nikkatsu
1979-09-08 Scandal: Pleasure Skin (スキャンダル 悦楽の肌 - Scandal: Kairaku no hada) (Banmei Takahashi; Den'ei / Nikkatsu
1979-08-14 Shojo o Hagu (処女を剥ぐ) [Seinen Gunzô] dir: Seiji Izumi (Seiji Izumi (I) Seinen Gunzô / Million Films
1979-10-02 Toruko gômon: Monzetsu (トルコ拷問 悶絶) [Seinen Gunzô] dir: Kô Hayasaka; Seinen Gunzô / Million Films
1979-08 Uraban jokôsei (裏バン女高生) Shintoho Company dir: Kaoru Umezawa
1979-06-02 Watashi wa osowaretai! (私は襲われたい!(Kinya Ogawa; Den'ei / Nikkatsu)
1979-08-04 Widow's Boarding House: Fuck and Escape (未亡人下宿 のり逃げ - Mibôjin geshuku: Norinige) (Shinya Yamamoto ; Taiheiyô Eiga / Nikkatsu)
1979-02-03 Yobai: Dote sagashi (夜這い どてさがし) (Minoru Inao; Taiheiyô Eiga / Nikkatsu / Shishi Productions)
1978-02-04 Dirty Beautician (好色美容師 - Kôshoku biyoshi) [Watanabe Pro - Watanabe Pro ] (Genji Nakamura; Watanabe Pro / Nikkatsu)
1978-04-15 Office Lady's Perverted Sisters: Upper Lips Lower Lips (OL痴女姉妹 上唇下唇 - OL chijo shimai: Uwa-kuchibiru shita-kuchibiru) (Genji Nakamura; Watanabe Pro / Nikkatsu).

And the following went live at IMDb today:
Ranjuku joshi-daisei (Genji Nakamura, 1979)
Semi document: Nise fujin-ka-i (Banmei Takahashi, 1979)
16-sai no koukishin: Onna ni shite! (Kaoru Umezawa, 1978)
Zetsurin Toruko mansion: Mitsugi (Kô Hayasaka, 1979)
Ganbare chikan: Yubi zeme (Shinya Yamamoto, 1978)
Osasuri hentai musume (Nakamura, 1978)
Hatsujô apaato: Rangyou shûdan (Minoru Inao, 1978)
Jokôsei maruhi seihanzai (Umezawa, 1979)
Kinbaku joshi gakusei (Takahashi, 1978).

My evening entertainment consisted of the surprisingly enjoyable Niagara Falls (1941), starring Slim Summerville and Zasu Pitts. This was the second film in the "streamliner" format Hal Roach was experimenting with at the time. At 43 minutes, it's either a long short film (as IMDb has it), or short feature. I was surprised to like it because, stylistically, it falls into the "screwball" comedy genre, which I have never cared for. (Note my scathing review of My Man Godfrey a few weeks ago.) And, true, I found the real "screwball" element-- the young couple played by Marjorie Woodworth and Tom Brown-- to be the least enjoyable part of the film. But Summerville & Pitts (especially Summerville) make up for it when they are on screen. Among other top-flight Roach personnel not listed in the credits, I noticed one of Laurel and Hardy's best supporting players, Charley Hall. I note, approvingly, that IMDB does list Hall, as "uncredited". Oh My God! "Truth"! "Original Research"! Bah. If any of those crackpots at Wikipedia knew anything about how a real encyclopedia is written, they wouldn't be at Wikipedia...

As you can see at left, Slim Summerville sure was a funny-looking old fart. Long nose, pouty face, sad eyes... According to his obit, good old Edgar Kennedy discovered him, and, like many of the best supporting comedic actors of his time-- Kennedy included-- he started out as a Keystone Kop. This film dates from the time he was being paired with Zasu Pitts, and they make a nice couple. Summerville's given fourth billing in the poster above, but he is by far the main reason this film is enjoyable.

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