Nakane Ryutaro Comedy Productions (中根龍太郎喜劇プロダクション)
Nakane Ryutaro Comedy Productions, founded in June of 1928 and closed in August of 1928, was a film company located in Kyoto. It was a production company established by Ryutaro NAKANE, a leading actor and director of the time. The company produced three silent films by renting the Narabigaoka Studio. These films are known for their appearances of Kenichi ENOMOTO while he was a bit-part actor. It is also known as Nakane Comedy Productions and commonly referred to as "Nakane-pro" (Nakane Productions).
Brief History/summary
In April of 1928, Tokujiro YAMAZAKI of the company called Sankyo (the distribution company of Makino Productions which conducted its business in the Shikoku region), gathered the owners of 150 independent theaters around Japan with Ryosuke Tachibana (the owner of Bando Tsumasaburo Productions), Kikumatsu OSHIMA (Kikusui Kinema Firm in Kobe City) and others. Nihon Katsudo Josetsukan Kanshu Renmei Eiga Haikyu Honsha' (Distribution Company Headquarters for Movie Theater Owners in Japan) (also known as "Kanshu Renmei" [the Theater Owner's Association]) was established in Osaka and announced policies on contributions to production costs and direct distribution of films to independent productions. Influenced by these announcements, Chiezo KATAOKA, who left Makino Productions in April and found 'Kataoka Chiezo Productions' (commonly known as Chie Productions) in May, as well as other members who resigned from Makino Productions around the same time such as Kanjuro ARASHI, Toshio YAMAGUCHI (the film actor), Kobunji ICHIKAWA and Reizaburo YAMAMOTO established their own productions as well. The leading actor and director of Makino Productions named Ryutaro NAKANE also left the company. Nakane Ryutaro Comedy Productions' was established during June of 1928.
Moved by Yamazaki's innovative actions, Makino Productions' chief stagehand Hiroshi KAWAI and cinematographer Juzo Tanaka left Makino and established the rentable studio called 'Japan Kinema Studio' (also known as Narabigaoka Studio) in Narabigaoka, Kyoto. Japan Movie Production Federation' was organized by those who established their own productions after leaving Makino, including Chie Productions.
They borrowed 'Narabigaoka Studio,' established by Kawai and Tanaka, to make films and began providing movies to the 'Theater Owner's Association.'
A famous lighting technician who worked at the Shochiku Kyoto Studio named Shigeru MUTAGUCHI, known for his nickname 'Mutayan' (later known as Korema ARIMA), joined Nakane Productions under the name 'Shigeaki ARIMA,' bringing over Kenichi Enomoto (he referred to himself as 'Ken ENOMOTO' at the time), a chorus boy for the Asakusa Opera and Obeya-haiyu (an actor who played bit-parts to establish their career and lived together with other actors who had the same aims) from Toa Kinema Kyoto Studio (also known as Toji-in Studio). Miekichi YUKI (later known as the director Masafusa OZAKI and Kengeki actor [a Swashbuckler film actor], Shuzaburo MATSUYAMA) and Saburo CHIBA (later known as Hachiro DAIJOJI) also joined Nakane Productions. Kobunji ICHIKAWA of Ichikawa Kobunji Kabuki Eiga Productions also performed in the first work, "Sukedachi Shobai" (Business of Helping to Kill Somebody), produced after Nakane Productions was established.
However, the Theater Owner's Association established by Yamazaki and others had already collapsed by the end of July. Nakane Productions was closed down in August after shooting three comedy films along with the other independent productions that had started their businesses around the same time. Only Chie Productions produced six movies that year and built their own studio in Sagano the following year.
After the production was closed down, Nakane stayed at his wife's parents' home (the actress, Haruko IZUMI) in Karatsu-cho, Saga Prefecture (present-day Karatsu City) with Arima and Ozaki and joined the Hanabushi Shibai (Hanabushi Play) troupe. Before long Nakane was welcomed into the Shochiku Kyoto Studio in November. Arima, Ozaki and Chiba (later known as Daijoji) also joined the studio through Nakane's recommendation. Enomoto came to realize the art of 'comedy' and returned to Asakusa-koen Roku-ku (Asakusa Park District No. 6) in 1929. In an attempt to widen his field, he joined the 'Casino Folies' troupe and then started the comedy troupe called 'Pierre Brilliant' with Teiichi FUTAMURA and gradually became popular.