Mitsuo Murayama was a Japanese film director born in Niigata Prefecture on 1 April 1920. In 1940 he joined the Tamagawa studio of Nikkatsu as an assistant director under Kiyose Eijiro, but was soon drafted into the army and only returned to work in 1946 at the Tokyo studio of the Daiei company. He assisted directors Ushihara Kiyohiko, Watanabe Kunio and Hisamatsu Seiji, and served as assistant director to Mizoguchi Kenji on Yang Kwei Fei (1955), the first Hong Kong-Japanese co-production. Promoted to director in 1956 with Tokyo Crime Map, he went on to direct more than twenty films at the Daiei Tokyo studio. Three years later, Ah, Etajima (1959) showed his flair for war films and paved the way for titles such as Ah, Zero Fighter (1965), Ah, the Navy (1969) and Ah, the Army Falcon Fighter Squadron (1969). Besides war subjects he was known for crime, action and detective films, including The Invisible Man and the Fly Man (1957), Mama Is Not a Murderer (1958), The Eliminated Detective (1958), Intruder in Broad Daylight (1958), Pistol Pact (1960) and Crime Zone No. 6 (1960). From 1969 he directed for Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) under the Chinese name Mu Shih-chieh, making Ren Tou Ma (1969), Sha Ji (1970) and Gui Men Guan (1970), all in his favoured psychological-crime and violent-action vein. He liked to shoot in blocks, filming all scenes from one set together, and once finished three films in three months. When Daiei went bankrupt in December 1971 he moved into television, returning to directing in 1974 with his last film, Summer in Karafuto 1945: Gate of Ice and Snow. He died on 29 July 1979.
Mitsuo Murayama made his name at Daiei with war and crime-suspense pictures; Ah, Etajima launched a run of his 'Ah' war films. In 1969 he directed three psychological-crime films for Shaw Brothers under the name Mu Shih-chieh, and his block-shooting method once yielded three films in three months, leaving a concrete record of the traffic between Japanese and Hong Kong cinema.
Achievements
- 1956 · Was promoted to director, making his debut with Tokyo Crime Map.
- 1959 · Directed Ah, Etajima, revealing his flair for war films.
- 1969 · Directed Ren Tou Ma for Shaw Brothers under the Chinese name Mu Shih-chieh.