TOKYO FILE 212

Lee Frederick and Florence Marly

TOKYO FILE 212 (1951). Directors/co-writers: Darrel McGowan; Stuart E. McGowan. Colorized. 

Army Intelligence man Jim Carter (Lee Frederick, using the name Robert Peyton) is in occupied Tokyo pretending to be a reporter. He meets Steffi Novak (Florence Marley), who says that her sister is in North Korea and she is desperate to be reunited with her. Jim's old friend Taro Matsuto (Katsuhiko Haida) has joined a communist outfit working out of Japan. His father (Tatsuo Saito) tells Jim that Taro was preparing to be a Kamikaze pilot when the war ended, and all his preparations were for nothing. He has cut off all ties with his father and former fiancee, Namiko (Reiko Otani). Taro reports to a man named Oyama (Tetsu Nakamora) who is not above kidnapping and murder to achieve his goals. Meanwhile Jim has to wonder just which side sexy Steffi is really on. 

Marley with Katsuhiko Haida

Czech-born Florence Marley was Humphrey Bogart's leading lady in Tokyo Joe, which came out two years earlier, and undoubtedly it was this that got her cast as one of the leads in Tokyo File 212. Marley looks good and never gives the game away as to who she's really playing for; an insouciant and appealing performance. Unconventionally attractive, Frederick is a laid-back and likable hero although decidedly from the minor leagues. Katsuhiko Haida, Saito, Otani, and especially Tetsu Nakamora as the chief villain of the piece are all excellent. Nakamora appeared in many English-language films. 

"insouciant and appealing:" Florence Marley

The movie was filmed entirely in Japan, and features some actual Intelligence Officers and Kamikaze pilots (who apparently survived). This is essentially an anti-commie film, simplistic in some ways, but flavorful in its locales and details. There are some good action scenes as well. (You would never know that two major Japanese cities had been wiped off the map just a few short years before.) The film greatly benefits from a evocative score by Albert Glasser, who usually scored monster movies and the like. Here he is given a lot more to work with and he runs with it, embellishing every sequence and giving the low-budget picture an added polish. 

Verdict: Unusual kind of spy film with a highly interesting cast. ***. 

UNDERSEA GIRL

Florence Marly and the gang

UNDERSEA GIRL (1957). Director: John Peyser.  

Members of a gang led by Sam Marvin (Ralph Clanton) are after loot that comes from a sunken Navy ship. Reporter Valerie Hudson (Mara Corday of Tarantula) is trying to get info for her story from Lt. Mike Travis (Dan Seymour) and Naval investigator Brad Chase (Pat Conway), Val's on again/off again boyfriend. Apparently Brad wants Val to stop this foolishness and just shut up and marry him. Meanwhile Sam's girlfriend, Leila (Florence Marly) seems to be playing him against nasty Eric Nelson (Myron Healey of Panther Girl of the Kongo), who has his own plans for the money hidden in an underwater cave.

Pat Conway and Mara Corday

Well I won't quite say that watching Undersea Girl is like watching paint dry, but it's not all that much better. You would think a movie with gangs, hidden treasure, underwater attacks and murder, a gun moll and a brash lady reporter would be a lot more interesting than it is. Corday gives her usual spirited performance; Florence Marley is as odd as ever; Pat Conway -- son of director Jack Conway -- is okay as the hero; he was also in Deadly Mantis but had mostly television credits. Myron Healey actually does some of his best work as the sociopathic and slimy Nelson. Undersea Girl plays like a low-budget and uninspired TV production, which comes as no great surprise as director John Peyser mostly helmed episodes of TV shows. 

Verdict: Even Florence Marley  of Queen of Blood can't save this one! **.