LEGENDARY DAME!: 50'S FOCUS : STOPOVER TOKYO .... 1957 ...

Saturday, July 21, 2012

50'S FOCUS : STOPOVER TOKYO .... 1957 ...

20TH CENTURY FOX
Presents
A CINEMASCOPE PRODUCTION

STOPOVER TOKYO

Starring

ROBERT WAGNER as Mark Fannon
JOAN COLLINS as Tina Hogart
EDMOND O'BRIEN as George Underwood
KEN SCOTT as Tony Barrett
REIKO OYAMA as Coco
LARRY KEATING as High Commander
SARAH SELBY as Wife of High Commander
SOLLY NAKAMURA as Nobka

   Assistant Director - Joseph E Rickards Director of Photography - Charles G Clarke A.S.C
  Music by Paul Sawtell Art Director - Lyle R Wheeler & Eddie Imazu Edited by Marjorie Fielding
   Screenplay by Richard L Breen & Walter Reisch Based on the Novel by John P Marquand
   Produced by Walter Reisch Directed by Richard L Breen

Arriving in Japan to deliver important papers to a fellow intelligence agent, Mark Fannon gets more than he bargained for! After his contact is murdered, Mark teams up with another American agent, to find the killer. His spying eye falls upon Airline employee Tina, who also happens to be involved with Tony Barrett, his new sidekick! Will Mark find the killer and escape death himself? Will Tina make her choice of agent or will she double date? One dangerous Stopover Tokyo!!

(c) 1957 20TH CENTURY FOX 100 MINS REGION 1 DVD FROM FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIE HERALD

TINA SERENADES COCO

"Stopover Tokyo" turned out to be Joan's least favourite Fox film and along with friend and co-star Robert Wagner, have always referred to it as 'Stop overacting!' .. But she loved working with R.J. and they got to spend five weeks on location in Japan. It was shot around Kyoto, Japan's finest tourist resort at that time. All the extra's were local people and 1500 of them, the entire population of Zeze were used. The producers also decided to use the locals in other roles, apart from the experienced Japanese featured players. During the Olympic torch scenes, the real Japanese Olympic team were featured. The film's young co-star Reiko Oyama, who was known as the Shirley Temple of Japan, so impressed production head Buddy Adler, that she was offered a long term contract. But little has been heard of her since the film's release! The screenplay was based on a novel in the popular Mr Moto series by John P Marquand, but the studio decided to erase the oriental detective from the plot and replace him with American spies! This was Robert Wagner's 17th film release and although he enjoyed the location he was missing his girlfriend Natalie Wood.. However Natalie was a little neurotic and got it into her head that both Robert and Joan were becoming too close.. Robert spend endless hours on the phone trying to convince her otherwise! He had even brought his parents to Japan with him and his mother acted as a chaperone for him. But Natalie was not convinced and started seeing Nicky Hilton, who also had dallied with Joan, who had since found her affair with Arthur Loew fizzle out! Joan was doing well for herself otherwise with an apartment on Shorehan Drive, a pink Thunderbird and she was earning a good salary..

TINA HAS A HIGH TEA AT A LOW TABLE!

A 'New York Times' Review read....

" Fox sent a unit headed by Robert Wagner, Joan Collins and Edmond O'Brien to Japan to make this film..the trip was not entirely wasted! They have found a dark haired, eight year old girl named Reiko Oyama who portrays Koko - a joy to behold.. All she had to do is smile and you forget you're watching satire triumph over skullduggery!"