Tokyo dossier 212

The noir "cliches come thick and fast," begins both the first review here as well as on the videobox, I was a sucker for the box description but the film never approaches being noir. It is a propaganda spy film for America fighting "Commies" in Korea, with the novelty of being entirely filmed in Japan(not a "re-creation of Japan"). Wouldn't Ike and Hawkeye Pierce be shocked to know the war was masterminded by a couple of Japanese guys in tweed jackets? The plot is basically the same as the political drama "The Ugly American," and though there is some intrigue and a femme fatalistic Marlene Dietrich impersonator, it is mainly filmed without a noir look or moody soundtrack. It has all the subtlety and nuance of the low-budget serials of the 1940's, not so odd a coincidence since the distributor (VCI) specializes in serials. While it might be entertaining given the expectation that it is a mild war-spy drama, it will only disappoint anyone looking for noir.

Although not classic film noir, this is an entertaining little B movie filmed in Tokyo during the Korean war. Robert Peyton ("B" version of Fred McMurray) delivers a generally adequate performance as an undercover army intelligence officer investigating a Japanese spy ring that is sabotaging US operations in Korea.

More interesting is the alluring Florence Marly ("B" version of Marlene Dietrich). The Czechoslovakian-born Marly is portrayed as an Eurasian femme fatale who speaks English with a cute Japanese accent. Of course, she is completely untrustworthy and leads Frederick into the sordid Japanese underworld on a mission to locate a college friend who has been tricked into working for the communists.

The plot twists and turns with some interesting noirish street scenes and good performances by Japanese actors. Not a great movie but worth watching for Marly's intriguing performance and the surprise ending.

( SPOILERS) The movie "Tokyo File 212" starts off with a suitcase explosion in a park in downtown Tokyo at high noon. As the screams subside and dust clears were brought forward some two weeks before this dastardly deed took place to see what were the events that put it into motion. Top Secret US Government Agent Jimmy Carter, Lee Frederick, is sent on a top secret mission to Tokyo Japan using the cover of a reporter for the media outlet "The National Weekly Indicator". Jimmy is to check out the Communist infiltration of the Japanese labor movement and a top Japanese labor leader Toro Matsuto, Katsuhiko Haida, who was a friend of Jimmy before the war. Jimmy looking up Toro's Father Mr. Matsuto, Tatsuo Saito, is told that Toro became a very disturbed and unstable young man since he came back from the war and never recovered from his experience as a Kamikaze pilot trainee.

Toro was looking forward to fly into the sunset and go out in a blaze of glory by slamming his bomb laden suicide aircraft into a US warship and take hundreds of hated Americans out together with him for his country and Emperor. But the war unfortunately ended before he could make his grand and glorious exit and that left him a hurt and broken young man. After the war Toro felt lost and confused and drifted into the evil clutches of the Communist movement. There Toro thought that he finally found a home and cause for living as a top labor leader in Tokyo. At his hotel room Jimmy finds sleeping in his bed beautiful and mysterious Steffi Novak, Florence Marly, who just happened to know everything about him. Steffi tells Jimmy this story about her sister Christina,who's in Communist North Korea, and shows him a number of letters that she received from her. In her letters Christina tells Steffi that as soon as the war in Korea is over she'll be back home, in Tokyo, reunited with her.

Unknown to Steffi is that her sister was murdered by the North Koreans commies,with a bullet through her skull, who dumped her body in the Imjin River. The commies here in Tokyo who she's working for sent her those letters that are forgeries in order to keep her in line. Jimmy together with Steffi track down Toro in a sleazy downtown Tokyo commie bar hangout where Jimmy is attacked and almost killed. He's then told by the commie bar owner to stay away from Toro if he want to live and next time he won't get off this easy. The commie boss-man of the Tokyo labor movement Mr. Oyama,Tetsu Nakamur, starts to feel that Toro is having second thoughts about being involved with his gang of murderous cut-throats. Mr. Oyama then has a bunch of his goons kidnap actress Namiko, Reiko Otani, Toro's girlfriend and beat her up and dump her from a speeding car and make it look like it was the work of the Tokyo police. This is Mr. Oyama attempt to get Toro, like he did with Steffi with the fake letters from her dead sister, into line. Toro still can't give up Namiko for the good of the movement and it's seen by Mr. Oyama that he had outlived his usefulness and plans to have him done in. Toro going to the hospital to see his beloved Namiko to tell her that he's leaving the movement for her finds that she was murdered by those dirty rotten commie swines and runs for his life knowing that he'll be next.

Captured by Mr. Oyama's goons outside the hospital Toro is brought to Oyama's office headquarters in a downtown Tokyo high-rise building and told by Mr. Big that by tomorrow he'll be found floating in Tokyo Bay. But before he's done in Mr. Oyama wants Toro to see his dad Mr. Matsuto Jimmy and Steffie, who finally saw the light and became one of the good guys or better yet good gals, blown to pieces outside his office window in the park across the street. Toro is then told that he'll be framed for all this.

Reading a forged pre written letter that will be attributed to Toro Mr. Oyama puts it in his left breast pocket and smirks with satisfaction as if he achieved a great accomplishment by pulling all this off; And this is the part where we came in at the start of the movie. Toro in a last act of desperation rips the pocket out of Mr. Oyama's jacket and like the brave and fearless Kamikaze pilot that he dreamed of being during the war dives head first out of Mr. Oyama's office window and falls to his death down on the Tokyo streets. Toro's brave and selfless action alerted his dad Jimmy and Steffi to get up and run from the park where the suitcase bomb was planted to kill them and it exploded without hurting or killing anyone.

With the evidence of Mr. Oyama's crime in the dead Toro's hand the Tokyo police and Jimmy run up to his office to arrest him for the murder of Namiko and attempted murder of Jimmy Mr. Matsuto and Steffi. Mr. Oyama like the cowardly rat fink that he is tries to save his dirty rotten commie neck, don't they all, by spilling the beans on the movement in order to make a deal at the expense of those who were willing to serve and die for him. But one of his henchmen at the office just had all he could take from this lowlife commie, now ex-commie, creep and takes him out with a dagger to his gut: END OF STORY.

The cliches come thick and fast with this story of cops and gangsters in post war occupied Japan. American intelligence officer posing as journalist comes to Japan to find an old college classmate, Taro, who's mixed up with a crime syndicate involved in about every 1950's evil including labor agitation and spying for the North Koreans. Taro, who just missed becoming a Kamekaze pilot before the war ended, finally turns to help the police after his own band of thugs attack his ex-fiancee and father. Predictable and cheap film noir. Beautiful and dangerous dame with strange accent, villains hiding in the shadows, blah blah blah. Two things make it worth watching: the pace is quick and the location shots and re-creation of Japanese setting are remarkably good. Tokyo looks beautiful and mysterious. Many shots of street markets and public gardens. The scene in the Japanese-only bar complete with drunken tattooed men and hula dancers is a 1950's masterpiece of the ultimate den of iniquity.

There's no doubt about it--"Tokyo File 212" is a terrible movie. The acting is often terrible (by a cast of mostly unknowns), the writing and dialog silly and the plot is also rather silly. Yet, it's still worth seeing because the film is an interesting look into the Cold War.

The film is set in Japan during the Korean War and was made with the cooperation of the Japanese and American governments. What it appears to be is a film that is trying to cement positive relations between the two countries since they were partnered against communism and it was made during the Korean War (and Japan was a staging point for the UN's forces aiding South Korea).

The film concerns an American reporter who works as an undercover agent. His job is to locate an old college friend---one who is Japanese and is working for the commies. Through much of the film, the American is assisted by a woman who looks a lot like Natasha from "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"! Eventually, they are able to get the old friend to see the goodness of democracy and the find ends on a very explosive note.

The bottom line is that although the film has a few exciting scenes, many of the actors had great difficulty reciting their lines and the film came off as super-duper cheap. You'd think with the US and Japanese government behind it, the film would have been a lot better! Instead, it looks a lot like a film created by some government hacks with little input from film professionals. Laughably bad at times--but an interesting look into the Cold War and the sort of films that were produced during the height of this tense period.