Actors Mitsuo Hamada (81) and Chieko Matsubara (80) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on February 6th. The two great actors who supported Nikkatsu during its golden age shared stories from those days.
Hamada co-starred with Sayuri Yoshinaga in many films at Nikkatsu. Matsubara, along with Yoshinaga and Masako Izumi, were known as the "Nikkatsu Three Girls" and gained popularity.
Hamada and Matsubara first co-starred in 1961 and have since worked together in about five films. When asked about their first impressions of each other, Matsubara said with a smile, "It was so long ago that I can't remember, but I think I was monotone (laughs)." Hamada said with a wry smile, "(Matsubara's acting) was bad," but added, "But it was fresh and felt good."
When asked by Tetsuko about his memories of Ishihara Yujiro, Matsubara recalled, "Yujiro was wearing jeans. In those days, actors didn't wear jeans, so I mistook him for a member of staff and called out to him, 'Excuse me, can you help me with my costume?' When I turned around, it was Yujiro. He said, 'Whoa! I'm sorry.' That was the first time we met, and I was surprised."
Speaking of his memories of working with Kobayashi Akira, with whom he co-starred on many occasions, he said, "There was a time when I couldn't cry. There was a scene in the play where the father died and I was supposed to cry, but the moment Akira said to me, 'Why don't you try to remember when your father died?' I couldn't stop crying. I have a memory like that."
Meanwhile, Hamada said that he would sometimes go out drinking with Ishihara and Kobayashi. "We drank a lot, and at that time (expenses) were one-tenth of what they would be today, so we spent 15,000 yen. They told me that we had to pay 45,000 yen for three bars. It was the day I received my exclusive fee, and even though I had 50,000 yen, I spent 45,000 yen. I wondered what to do," he revealed.
The next day, Kobayashi said, "Sorry about yesterday, how much did it cost? I have 70,000 yen, so take it," and gave Hamada 70,000 yen. "When I turned around, Yujiro said, 'Sorry about yesterday, how much did it cost? I'll pay it, so give it back to Asahi,' and gave me 80,000 yen. Before I knew it, it was all mine, and my 45,000 yen became 150,000 yen (laughs). When I said, 'Let's go again tomorrow,' he called me, 'You idiot,' (laughs). He was very generous," he recalled.
