Inoue Umetsugu was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1923. He earned a degree in economics from Keio University in 1947 and, introduced by Seiichiro Uchikawa, joined Shintoho as a part-time assistant director, learning under masters such as Kiyoshi Saeki, Yasuki Chiba and Yutaka Abe. Gifted at screenwriting, he was promoted to director in 1952 and made his debut. He moved to Nikkatsu in 1955 and two years later helped make a star of the newcomer Yujiro Ishihara, becoming a mainstay of the studio's youth action films while also excelling in light comedy and modern musicals. He left Nikkatsu in 1959 and, invited by Daiei's head Masaichi Nagata, travelled to the United States with his wife, the actress Yumeji Tsukioka, to study widescreen and other new technologies. After returning he directed entertainment pictures for Takarazuka, Daiei, Shochiku and Toei, including The Wind-calling Band (1960), A Woman's Fantasy (1961), The Black Lizard (1962) and Gambling Den Bloodshed (1963). In 1965, through the cinematographer Yoshimoto Sho, he signed an open-ended 'hundred-film contract' with Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong); in December 1966 he arrived in Hong Kong with a team of assistant directors, art directors, lighting men and choreographers. His first Shaw film was the spy thriller Angel with the Iron Fists (1967), followed by Hong Kong's landmark musical Hong Kong Nocturne (1967). He strongly recommended the composer Ryoichi Hattori to Shaw, who scored Angel with the Iron Fists, Hong Kong Nocturne and The Singing Drummer (1967). His fast, on-time and on-budget method matched Shaw's drive for volume, and his last Shaw picture was a 1972 musical. He always appeared before Hong Kong audiences under his own name and directed seventeen films for Shaw. In all he directed about 160 films, ninety-nine of them self-written, and from the mid-1970s moved into television and the stage. He died on 11 February 2010.
Arriving in Hong Kong, Inoue Umetsugu brought the Japanese studio musical to Shaw Brothers; Hong Kong Nocturne, with its large-scale song-and-dance numbers, became a landmark of 1960s Hong Kong musicals. His fast, on-budget methods suited Shaw's mass production, producing seventeen films for the studio and encouraging composer Ryoichi Hattori's collaboration with local cinema.
Achievements
- 1952 · Promoted to director, completing his debut feature.
- 1965 · Signed an open-ended 'hundred-film contract' with Shaw Brothers.
- 1967 · Directed Hong Kong's landmark musical Hong Kong Nocturne.