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TCM Schedule for Friday, August 19, 2022 -- Summer Under The Stars: Toshiro Mifune
Today's star is actor/producer/director Toshirô Mifune. From his TCMDb biography:Although he had originally planned to work in films as an assistant cameraman, Toshiro Mifune was auditioned as an actor, a fortuitous career shift that helped change the course of Japanese cinematic history. He appeared in many of the great post-war Japanese films, most notably those of director Akira Kurosawa.
The collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune began with the film "Drunken Angel" (1948) and continued with such notable works as "Rashomon" (1950), "Seven Samurai" (1954), "Throne of Blood" (1957), "Yojimbo" (1961) and "Red Beard" (1965). The actor also appeared in such varied Japanese films as Senkichi Taniguchi's "Snow Trail" (1947), Kenji Mizoguchi's "The Life of Oharu" (1952), Hiroshi Inagaki's samurai trilogy on Miyamoto Musashi (1954-56) and his "The Rickshaw Man" (1958), in addition to Masaki Kobayashi's "Rebellion" (1967). Mifune also starred in films by non-Japanese directors, including Ismael Rodriguez's "The Important Man" (1961), John Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" (1966) and "The Challenge" (l982), John Boorman's "Hell in the Pacific" (1968), Terence Young's "Red Sun" (1971), Spielberg's "1941" (1979) and Jerry London's TV miniseries "Shogun" (NBC, 1980).
Mifune's roles tended to fall within the area described in kabuki terms as the "tateyaku" style, that of the forceful, disciplined leading man, in contrast to the softer and more weak-willed "nimaime" male. His fast-paced and explosive style was not all bluster and swordplay; they were infused with a subtle degree of sensitivity and psychological complexity into even the most thick-skinned warrior characters. In the course of his career, Mifune undertook roles ranging from a modern-day cop to a wandering, masterless samurai, from a Japanese version of Macbeth to a drunken Indian peasant. He excelled at playing a wealthy industrialist, a ruthless bandit, a compassionate physician, an aged obsessive and a day laborer.
With a talent for both drama and comedy, Mifune refined, but never totally lost, his earlier "angry young man" demeanor. He twice received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and was the recipient of the 1988 Kawakita Award, presented to those who have contributed significantly to Japanese cinema. In 1963, the actor founded his own production company, Mifune Productions. Mifune tried his hand at directing with "The Legacy of the 500,000" (1963), but its failure led him to concentrate his energies on performing and his Mifune Productions specialized in making films for TV.
The collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune began with the film "Drunken Angel" (1948) and continued with such notable works as "Rashomon" (1950), "Seven Samurai" (1954), "Throne of Blood" (1957), "Yojimbo" (1961) and "Red Beard" (1965). The actor also appeared in such varied Japanese films as Senkichi Taniguchi's "Snow Trail" (1947), Kenji Mizoguchi's "The Life of Oharu" (1952), Hiroshi Inagaki's samurai trilogy on Miyamoto Musashi (1954-56) and his "The Rickshaw Man" (1958), in addition to Masaki Kobayashi's "Rebellion" (1967). Mifune also starred in films by non-Japanese directors, including Ismael Rodriguez's "The Important Man" (1961), John Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" (1966) and "The Challenge" (l982), John Boorman's "Hell in the Pacific" (1968), Terence Young's "Red Sun" (1971), Spielberg's "1941" (1979) and Jerry London's TV miniseries "Shogun" (NBC, 1980).
Mifune's roles tended to fall within the area described in kabuki terms as the "tateyaku" style, that of the forceful, disciplined leading man, in contrast to the softer and more weak-willed "nimaime" male. His fast-paced and explosive style was not all bluster and swordplay; they were infused with a subtle degree of sensitivity and psychological complexity into even the most thick-skinned warrior characters. In the course of his career, Mifune undertook roles ranging from a modern-day cop to a wandering, masterless samurai, from a Japanese version of Macbeth to a drunken Indian peasant. He excelled at playing a wealthy industrialist, a ruthless bandit, a compassionate physician, an aged obsessive and a day laborer.
With a talent for both drama and comedy, Mifune refined, but never totally lost, his earlier "angry young man" demeanor. He twice received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and was the recipient of the 1988 Kawakita Award, presented to those who have contributed significantly to Japanese cinema. In 1963, the actor founded his own production company, Mifune Productions. Mifune tried his hand at directing with "The Legacy of the 500,000" (1963), but its failure led him to concentrate his energies on performing and his Mifune Productions specialized in making films for TV.
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- Scandal (1950)
1h 45m | Drama | TV-PG
A tabloid reporter tries to turn a singing star's friendship with a young artist into an illicit romance.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Yoko Katsuragi, Toshiro Mifune, Noriko Sengoku
The story for the film was inspired by real events from Japanese tabloids writing things about celebrities; specifically a famous actress. Akira Kurosawa wrote about the nameless actress in his autobiography, saying "I reacted as if the thing had been said about me" describing the tabloid as using a "weapon of publicity" against someone.
8:00 AM -- Throne of Blood (1957)
1h 50m | Epic | TV-14
Spurred by his wife and a witch's prediction, a samurai murders his lord to steal the throne.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
Takeshi Katô (Guard killed by Washizu) was worried about the thrust of Toshirô Mifune's sword, so he placed a block of wood in his arm pit. Unfortunately Mifune's thrust split the block and wounded Katô. He bore the scar until his death in 2015.
10:00 AM -- Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
1h 32m | Adventure | TV-PG
A young man dreams of becoming a master samurai warrior and must overcome his humble, poverty-stricken roots to achieve that goal.
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kuroemon Onoe
This first entry in the Samurai Trilogy is based on the epic novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, which consists of 7 parts. This film covers the first of the 7 parts, which is just over 10% of the whole epic.
12:00 PM -- Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
1h 44m | Adventure | TV-PG
Japan's greatest samurai returns to Kyoto to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing.
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsuruta, Mariko Okada
Musashi Miyamoto (Toshiro Mifune) is seen carrying two swords. This was a samurai custom known as daisho. Translated this means 'big-little'. The bigger of the two blades was the curved katana, which was generally used for combat and duelling. The short sword was the wakizashi, this blade was generally associated with committing seppuku, however, as can be seen in the film was also used for combat.
2:00 PM -- Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)
1h 44m | Adventure | TV-PG
A humble fencer abandons his life as a knight errant and becomes a teacher.
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsuruta, Kaoru Yachigusa
he third entry in the Samurai Trilogy.
4:00 PM -- Yojimbo (1961)
1h 50m | Adventure | TV-14
A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Yoshirô Muraki
Akira Kurosawa told Toshirô Mifune that his character was like a wolf or a dog and told Tatsuya Nakadai that his character was like a snake. Inspired by this direction, Mifune came up with Sanjuro's trademark shoulder twitch, similar to the way a dog or wolf tries to get off fleas.
6:00 PM -- Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
1h 56m | Action
No Description available
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Cast: Shintaro Katsu, Toshiro Mifune, Mori Kishida
Yojimbo is the name most commonly given the character played by Toshiro Mifune in this film. The word Yojimbo is Japanese for 'bodyguard'. 'Yojimbo' is also the name of an Akira Kurosawa film from 1961 which starred Toshiro Mifune in the title role, however in this film his character claims that his name is Sanjuro. In 1970 Mifune again played a character called Yojimbo in the film 'Incident at Blood Pass' or 'Machibuse', directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Shintaro Katsu.
WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS -- TOSHIRO MIFUNE
8:00 PM -- Rashomon (1950)
1h 28m | Drama | TV-PG
In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Takashi Shimura
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Takashi Matsuyama and H. Motsumoto
Akira Kurosawa asked Toshirô Mifune to model his character's movements after wildlife, particularly the lion. Kurosawa's vision of how a lion was supposed to move was heavily influenced by the wildlife documentary work of husband-and-wife team Martin E. Johnson and Osa Johnson.
9:45 PM -- The Seven Samurai (1956)
2h 40m | Epic | TV-14
Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo
Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Takashi Matsuyama, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Kôhei Ezaki
Early in the writing process, six of the samurai were conceptualized, all loosely based on historic figures. For example, Kyuzo was based on Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous samurai who ever lived. Originally Toshirô Mifune was meant to play Kyuzo, the extremely stoic master swordsman. However, Akira Kurosawa and his collaborating writers decided that they needed a character they could more identity with who wasn't a fully-fledged samurai, so Kikuchiyo was created. Since Kikuchiyo didn't have a historic basis, Mifune was allowed to do an unprecedented (for a Kurosawa film) amount of improvisation in the part.
1:30 AM -- High and Low (1963)
2h 23m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-14
Kidnappers mistake a chauffeur's son for the child of a wealthy businessman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoko Kagawa
For the scenes in Gondo (Toshirô Mifune)'s house, an outside miniature set of Yokohama was built, complete with bridges and a moving train, and with lights for all the night time shots. For most day shots, they filmed in a studio living room set with the actual city of Yokohama outside.
4:00 AM -- I Live in Fear (1955)
1h 44m | Drama | TV-PG
An elderly industrialist's fear of nuclear warfare leads his family to accuse him of insanity.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eiko Miyoshi, Haruko Togo
Toshiro Mifune was 35 years old when he played the role of a 70 year old.
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