Tangemania

The Asahi reports this morning that the film director and screenwriter Inoue Umetsugu passed away on February 11, 2010, of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 86. Inoue graduated from Keio University and entered Shintoho at 1947, debuting as a director in 1952. When Nikkatsu returned to film production, Inoue moved there in 1955 and became one of the main directors of Nikkatsu Action, working with Ishihara Yujiro on Arashi o yobu otoko, Washi to taka, and other hits. He turned freelance in 1960 and worked at most of the studios, doing everything from melodrama to gang films, but those studying Hong Kong cinema have recently focused on the fact that the mid-1960s he was invited by Shaw Brothers to come to Hong Kong to direct films. He is thus a central figure connecting Japanese cinema with Hong Kong film. Inoue was skilled not only at action cinema, but also musicals, working with major music stars even into the 1980s, when he made films for Johnny's. He also worked a lot on television. His wife was the actress Tsukioka Yumeji.