Half Human
Encyclopedia
Half Human, originally released in Japan as , is a tokusatsu
film
produced and released by Toho Film Productions Ltd.
in 1955. The film was made by Toho's legendary Godzilla
production team of Ishirō Honda
, Eiji Tsuburaya
, and Tomoyuki Tanaka
. This was director Honda's second assignment in the kaiju
(or monster) genre, after the original Godzilla
(1954). According to Wikipedia Japan, the movie has been removed from circulation due to the original screenplay describing the inhabitants of the remote village similar to the Ainu people
as being deformed from generations of inbreeding
. However, no such reference is made in the film's dialogue, but for this reason broadcasters and media publishing companies have refrained from showing it.
-like creature in the Japanese Alps
by a group of hikers. When a travelling circus crew attempts to capture the monster, they accidentally kill the monster's offspring instead. This enrages the larger snowman who kills the circus men, destroys a native village, and kidnaps the lead female. The hikers, along with the sole survivor of the native village, track the monster to its cave. The native girl saves the female hiker by attacking the snowman. The girl and the monster fall to their deaths inside a volcanic pit.
(In point of fact, the original Japanese version has one scientist confirming that (instead of inbreeding) the Smowman population has been decimated over the years because the creatures were feeding on a mushroom that contained a slow-acting poison!)[based on a personal viewing of a Japanese-language print of JUJIN YUKI OTOKO.]
It is assumed that the film was shown in its entirety in the United States, in the Japanese language at Japanese-American ("Chinatown") theaters on the West Coast, as were most other films produced in that country. This release may or may not have included English subtitles. The film itself received no wider release but principal sequences involving the basic plot structure were used to create an American hybrid entitled Half Human.
and featuring Morris Ankrum
and two lesser-known American actors, and the entire soundtrack was replaced with American stock music cues, sound-effects, and voice-over narration by Carradine replacing all dialogue in the Japanese scenes.
Toho's costume for the snowman's son was even imported by the new film's makers and used in a scene where the creature has supposedly just been autopsied by Ankrum and is seen lying on an operating table. Including the extensive American footage, this version runs only 63 minutes in total.
The U.S. edition of this film is the only version that was officially made available for home video. When Half Human was originally released by Rhino VHS in North America, it was in black and white. That video edition is extremely rare, and almost impossible to find because it has long since been out of print. Now the only way to see the film is in the restored color version, which was released in 1995 by Haunted Hollywood Home Video. Laserdisc releases of the U.S. cut are highly sought after by Japanese collectors and routinely command premium prices on Japanese auction sites.
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
produced and released by Toho Film Productions Ltd.
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
in 1955. The film was made by Toho's legendary Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
production team of Ishirō Honda
Ishiro Honda
Ishirō Honda , sometimes miscredited in foreign releases as "Inoshiro Honda", was a Japanese film director...
, Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya
was the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series...
, and Tomoyuki Tanaka
Tomoyuki Tanaka
----Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, most famous for creating the Godzilla series. He was born in Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan on April 26, 1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997. He died of a stroke at the age of 86....
. This was director Honda's second assignment in the kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
(or monster) genre, after the original Godzilla
Godzilla (1954 film)
is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
(1954). According to Wikipedia Japan, the movie has been removed from circulation due to the original screenplay describing the inhabitants of the remote village similar to the Ainu people
Ainu people
The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
as being deformed from generations of inbreeding
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...
. However, no such reference is made in the film's dialogue, but for this reason broadcasters and media publishing companies have refrained from showing it.
Plot
The original Japanese story concerns the discovery of a large prehistoric YetiYeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
-like creature in the Japanese Alps
Japanese Alps
The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan that bisect the main island of Honshū. The name was coined by William Gowland, the "Father of Japanese Archaeology," and later popularized by Reverend Walter Weston , an English missionary for whom a memorial plaque is located at Kamikochi, a tourist...
by a group of hikers. When a travelling circus crew attempts to capture the monster, they accidentally kill the monster's offspring instead. This enrages the larger snowman who kills the circus men, destroys a native village, and kidnaps the lead female. The hikers, along with the sole survivor of the native village, track the monster to its cave. The native girl saves the female hiker by attacking the snowman. The girl and the monster fall to their deaths inside a volcanic pit.
(In point of fact, the original Japanese version has one scientist confirming that (instead of inbreeding) the Smowman population has been decimated over the years because the creatures were feeding on a mushroom that contained a slow-acting poison!)[based on a personal viewing of a Japanese-language print of JUJIN YUKI OTOKO.]
English version
Half Human
The 1958 nationwide U.S. release of this film took sequences of Jujin Yuki Otoko and added extensive new scenes starring John CarradineJohn Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
and featuring Morris Ankrum
Morris Ankrum
Morris Ankrum was an American radio, television and film character actor.-Early life:Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of...
and two lesser-known American actors, and the entire soundtrack was replaced with American stock music cues, sound-effects, and voice-over narration by Carradine replacing all dialogue in the Japanese scenes.
Toho's costume for the snowman's son was even imported by the new film's makers and used in a scene where the creature has supposedly just been autopsied by Ankrum and is seen lying on an operating table. Including the extensive American footage, this version runs only 63 minutes in total.
Availability
All original Japanese prints have been banned since the 1960s for any public display, by Toho itself for the reason explained above. However, a print with a time code at the top of the frame has been in circulation on the gray market and on the Internet. While there is much speculation as to the source of this print (such as a screener for a potential home video release at some point, as suggested by a title card after the film discussing the copyright restrictions of "this videogram"), its origin remains unclear.The U.S. edition of this film is the only version that was officially made available for home video. When Half Human was originally released by Rhino VHS in North America, it was in black and white. That video edition is extremely rare, and almost impossible to find because it has long since been out of print. Now the only way to see the film is in the restored color version, which was released in 1995 by Haunted Hollywood Home Video. Laserdisc releases of the U.S. cut are highly sought after by Japanese collectors and routinely command premium prices on Japanese auction sites.
Cast
- Takeshi Iijima - Akira TakaradaAkira Takaradais a Japanese film actor who is most known in the west for his roles in the Godzilla film series.-Overview:Takarada was born in Japan-occupied Korea, and lived for a time in Harbin, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway...
- Chika - Akemi NegishiAkemi Negishiwas a Japanese actress.-Film career:Tokyo-born Akemi Negishi came to the attention of international audiences when she starred in the US/Japanese co-production Anatahan, her debut film. Josef von Sternberg directed the tale of shipwrecked Japanese soldiers who refused to believe that WWII had ended...
- Machiko Takeno - Momoko KochiMomoko KochiMomoko Kōchi was a Japanese actress. She was born in Japan. She is best known for her roles in the original Godzilla, playing the character of Emiko Yamane , & in the Mysterians, playing as Hiroko Iwamoto.- Filmography :* Godzilla * Half...
- Professor Tanaka - Nobuo NakamuraNobuo Nakamurawas a Japanese actor, who made notable appearances in the films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps his most famous roles were those of the callous deputy mayor in Kurosawa's Ikiru , and the hairdresser's henpecked husband in Ozu's Tokyo Story .Nakamura is famous for...
- Nakata - Sachio Sakai
- Tribal Chief - Kokuten Kodo
- Oba - Yoshio Kosugi
- Chubby Thug - Akira Tani
- Shinsuke Takeno - Kenji KasaharaKenji Kasaharais a Japanese entrepreneur who founded mixi, a social networking site. He is currently ranked as the 37th richest Japanese person.-Timeline:1997: * Created the job information website .1999: * Founded eMercury Inc....
- Villager - Senkichi Omura
- Kurihara - Koji SuzukiKoji SuzukiKoji Suzuki is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and currently lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring cycle of novels, which has been adapted into a manga series. He has written several books on the subject of fatherhood...
- Shinagawa - Ren Yamamoto
- Matsui - Akira Sera
- Kodama - Yasuhisa Tsutsumi
- Takeno - Tadashi Okabe
- Thug - Yutaka Nakayama
English cast
- Dr. John Rayburn - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
- Prof. Philip Osborne - Russell ThorsonRussell Thorson----Russell Thorson , was an American actor, perhaps best known for his co- starring role as Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom in the ABC late '50's hit crime series, The Detectives- Career :Born in Wisconsin, USA...
- Prof. Alan Templeton - Robert KarnesRobert KarnesRobert A. Karnes was a prolific television actor who also appeared in some films early in his career, including mostly uncredited parts in The Best Years of Our Lives , Miracle on 34th Street , Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye , and From Here to Eternity...
- Dr. Carl Jordan - Morris AnkrumMorris AnkrumMorris Ankrum was an American radio, television and film character actor.-Early life:Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of...