The Human Vapor (1960)

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Image gallery for The Human Vapor
The Human Vapor soundtrack


Transforming Human Series
The Secret of the Telegian
The Human Vapor
None
The Human Vapor
The Japanese poster for The Human Vapor
Alternate titles
Flagicon Japan.png Gas Human No. 1 (1960)
See alternate titles
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Takeshi Kimura
Music by Kunio Miyauchi
Distributor TohoJP
Brenco Pictures CorporationUS
Rating Unrated
Running time 92 minutesJP
(1 hour, 32 minutes)
81 minutesUS
(1 hour, 21 minutes)
Aspect ratio 2.35:1
Half man... Half beast! Born of woman, re-created by outer space! - Yet, loves like a man!
„ 

— English tagline

The Human Vapor (ガス人間第一号,   Gasu Ningen dai Ichi-gō, lit. Gas Human No. 1) is a 1960 tokusatsu film produced by Toho. It is considered to be the third film in Toho's Transforming Human Series, after The H-Man and The Secret of the Telegian. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 11, 1960, and to American theaters on May 20, 1964.

Plot

The film tells the story of Mizuno, a librarian who has been given the ability to become vapor after a scientist performs an experiment on him. Mizuno uses this power to engage in criminal activities, robbing banks to give the money to his love interest, the dancer Fujichiyo. Police Lieutenant Kenji Okamoto and his reporter girlfriend Kyoko (Keiko Sata) work together to solve the criminal case and attempt to bring things to a peaceful conclusion.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Ishiro Honda
  • Written by   Takeshi Kimura
  • Executive producing by   Sanezumi Fujimoto
  • Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
  • Music by   Kunio Miyauchi
  • Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
  • Edited by   Kazuji Taira
  • Production design by   Kiyoshi Shimizu
  • Assistant directing by   Koji Kajita
  • Special effects by   Hidesaburo Araki, Sadamasa Arikawa, Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Tatsuya Mihashi   as   Detective Okamoto
  • Kaoru Yachigusa   as   Fujichiyo Kasuga
  • Yoshio Tsuchiya   as   Mizuno/Human Vapor
  • Keiko Sata   as   Kyoko Kono
  • Hisaya Ito   as   Doctor Tamiya
  • Yoshifumi Tajima   as   Sergeant Tabata
  • Yoshio Kosugi   as   Detective Inao
  • Fuyuki Murakami   as   Dr. Sano
  • Bokuzen Hidari   as   Jiya
  • Takamaru Sasaki   as   Police Chief
  • Minosuke Yamada   as   Official Hayama
  • Tatsuo Matsumura   as   Editor Ikeda
  • Kô Mishima   as   Detective Fujita
  • Kôzô Nomura   as   Kawasaki
  • Ren Yamamoto   as   Nomura, Robber
  • Someshô Matsumoto   as   Fujichiyo's Teacher
  • Yasuhisa Tsutsumi   as   Bank Manager
  • Shôichi Hirose   as   Guard
  • Yukihiko Gondô   as   Guard
  • Tetsu Nakamura   as   Tobe, Journalist
  • Toki Shiozawa   as   Satoyo, Wife
  • Takuzô Kumagai   as   Kajimoto
  • Kamayuki Tsubono   as   Policeman Ozaki
  • Yutaka Oka   as   Cop
  • Akio Kusama   as   Cop
  • Mitsuo Matsumoto   as   Member of crime laboratory
  • Hideo Shibuya   as   Audience Member
  • Wataru Ômae   as   Audience Member
  • Kichishirô Fujitaya   as   Nagauta
  • Shôtarô Kashiwa   as   Nagauta
  • Kojûrô Kineya   as   Nagauta
  • Kyûtarô Yoshimura   as   Nagauta
  • Katsushirô Kineya   as   Shamisen
  • Wakisuke Kineya   as   Shamisen
  • Washiyuki Kineya   as   Shamisen
  • Washisaburô Kineya as Shamisen
  • Wanosuke Kineya as Shamisen
  • Nobuhide Hôsei as Hayashi fue
  • Kishirô Katada as Hayashi kotsuzumi
  • Kisaburô Katada as Hayashi ôtsuzumi
  • Kisaku Katada as Hayashi taiko
  • Hiroshi Fukuhara as Hayashi ôdaiko
  • Haruo Nakajima as Transitional Human Vapor
  • Junpei Natsuki as Bystander
  • James Hong as Mizuno/Human Vapor (voice, U.S. version)

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: The Human Vapor/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: The Human Vapor (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • Gas Human No. 1 (Literal Japanese Title)
  • The Human Vapour (Alternate English Spelling)
  • A Cloud of Terror (Una nube di terrore; Italy)

Theatrical Releases

U.S. Release

American The Human Vapor poster

The Human Vapor was released theatrically in the United States in 1964 by Brenco Pictures Corporation. It was later re-released in a double-bill with Gorath in 1969. The American version re-structured the film from a mystery story to a narrative focused around Mizuno told from his point of view. Approximately eleven minutes of footage was cut, while a portion of Kunio Miyauchi's score was replaced with stock music, primarily from Paul Sawtell's score for The Fly. Eventually, the rights to the film in the U.S. were acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who released it on VHS throughout the 1980's and 1990's. The film has not yet received a Region 1 DVD release.

Stage Adaptation

Gashumanno1.jpg

Toho produced a stage adaptation of The Human Vapor in October 2009, with a cast that included Kumi Mizuno.[1] No recording of the show has surfaced, although it was broadcast on NHK on February 26, 2010.[2]

Unmade Sequel

Main article: Frankenstein vs. The Human Vapor.

After The Human Vapor proved a box office success in both Japan and the United States, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka began to plan for a sequel entitled Frankenstein vs. The Human Vapor. The sequel's premise would revolve around Mizuno, having actually survived the film's climax, seeking out Frankenstein's monster in order to find the secret of his immortality and use it to revive his love interest, who perished in the climax. However the film never came to pass, although Frankenstein's monster would later appear in Toho's Frankenstein vs. Baragon in 1965.

Video Releases

Toho DVD (2002)

  • Region: 2
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese (1.0 Mono, 5.1 Surround)
  • Subtitles: Japanese
  • Special Features: Isolated score, audio commentary by actress Kaoru Yachigusa, Japanese theatrical trailer, still galleries of publicity materials, Toho sci-fi props, and actors

Videos

Trailers

Japanese The Human Vapor trailer
American The Human Vapor trailers

Miscellaneous

Ending of the Italian version, combining the editing of the American version with the music and newspaper insert of the Japanese version

Trivia

  • The surf rock band Man or Astro-man? is named after one of Brenco Pictures' taglines for The Human Vapor.

External Links

References

This is a list of references for The Human Vapor. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

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