"Crazy Cats" Go to Hong Kong

**"Crazy Cats" Go to Hong Kong** (香港クレージー作戦, *Honkon kurējī sakusen*), also known as **Operation Crazy Hong Kong**, is a 1963 Japanese musical-comedy film directed by Toshio Sugie. The movie was shot in ciemascope (TohoScope) and color. Director Sugie would latter directed the spy action film called Interpol Code 8 (first installment of International Secret Police series) and screenwriter Ryôzô Kasahara would latter wrote the screenplay for A Woman's Life (directed by Mikio Naruse). Cinematographer Taiichi Kankura filmed the scenes for Taiyô wa yondeiru (directed by Eizō Sugawa).

## Overview

Following the two sucessful films, "Kureji sakusen: Sentehisshô" and "Kureji sakusen: Kudabare! Musekinin", the third film in the "Operation Series" was the first overseas location of a Crazy Movie series, British Hong Kong. The movie was directed by the great veteran of 50s film, Toshio Sugie, who pitched the project for the first time in the series, and Sugie has experienced with filming in Hong Kong for his movies such as "Three Dolls Goes To Hong Kong", "Three Gentleman from Tokyo", and "Three Gentleman Return From Hong Kong", and his achievements were bought by the studio executives.

In addition of the production, music composer Yoshiyuki Kozu, who has been in charge of the musical orchestra since "Irresponsible Era of Japan" (one of the two parts in the series), and producer Sanezumi Fujimoto, who hated Crazy Movies story draft while acknowledging the achievements, acted as the first producer in the series, which he accepted to the produced the project. The heroine in this film is Mie Hama following "Kudabare! Musekinin", and the supporting actors are Tôru Yuri and Akira Hitomi (who are appeared in Crazy films as regulars cast), Mie Nakao, Keiko Awaji, and Kingorō Yanagiya in "Kudabare! Musekinin", and Ichirō Arishima and other supporting characters from Toei Company.

Eitarō Shindō made his first apperence in the series, and Shindo in particular became an indispensable actor in the middle of the series for Toho Studio. The biggest highlight the production is the "Music Tale" that the Crazy Cats will show it for the first time in the movie (in a cohesive form). This became popular, and since then it has become a famous scene of "Operation Series" such as "Operation Crazy".

## Plot

Drinking flat side street in front of the station made a fuss about the eviction problem. Hachitaro, a small restaurant, Ankichi, a pork cutlet shop, and Keiichi, a hormone-yaki shop, are the strongest opposition groups and rival opponents. They gathered together today, and Taro Otsuka, the owner of the small restaurant, joined them to form a collaboration. Salesman Hitoshi Ueda of the Daihyaku (Hundred Shoji Corporation), a C-style man who has been accumulating money in this side street for months, offered to "take a loan in exchange for an eviction fee", but a Chinese restaurant will open in Beijing. The three people, who were depressed, did their best.

The eviction has been negotiated with the landlord. Ueda, who returned to his heart's content, decided to go to Hong Kong with all the residents of Dinpei Yokocho. Hamano of the accounting department asked Ueda, who left the company and went to Hong Kong, to take him on a business trip. Also, Ishii and Sakurabashi, who are in the sink of Drinking Flat Yokocho, have decided to go to Hong Kong. The working capital of the business was swallowed up by the President of Camel Beer, and he made a loan of 元30 million. By the way, the group of eight people who went to Hong Kong opened a Japanese restaurant "Kikukatei" in the building, but even after five days, there were no customers.

They met Japanese show dancer named Asami and mixed-race singer Nakamikiko while trying to open a shop on Hong Kong's main street as a measure of Ueda's plight. Anyway, Ueda, who had a Chindon'ya as planned, went to the detention center because of the law. All of them were released the next day with the help of Ueda. However, with the cooperation of Asami and others who came to see it in the newspaper, the band of Chindonya will appear in the best nightclub in Hong Kong. There, the group, who liked the land's influential person Zhang, succeeded in getting "Kikukatei" backed up, and the Edokko business operation in Hong Kong was a great success.

## Staffs

* Producers: Sanezumi Fujimoto, Shin Watanabe
* Screenwriter: Ryôzô Kasahara
* Director: Toshio Sugie
* Cinematographer: Taiichi Kankura
* Art Director: Shinobu Muraki
* Lighting Technician: Tsuruzô Nishikawa
* Sound Recordist: Wataru Konuma
* Sound Effects Editor: Hisashi Shimonaga
* Editor: Chozo Kobata
* Still Photographer: Taizô Hatta
* Music Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara (music arrangement), Yoshiyuki Kozu
* Stage Show Organizer: Kei Tani
* Assistant Director: Samaji Nonagase
* Cooperation: American Airlines Pan

## Cast

* Hitoshi Ueki as Hitoshi Ueda
* Hajime Hana as Hattarō Hanaoka
* Kei Tani as Keiichi Tanida
* Mie Hama as Mie Hamano
* Mie Nakao as Mikiko Naka (other name Mikiko Chū)
* Keiko Awaji as Mami Ane / Asami Hamano (Mie's older sister)
* Ichirō Arishima as Section Chief Nakamura
* Kingorō Yanagiya as President of "Hundred Shoji"
* Kenjiro Ishiyama as Lord Zhang / Mr. Chan (Hong Kong influential developer)
* Eitarō Shindō as President Matsudaira (President of "Camel Beer")
* Hiroshi Inuzuka as Taro Otsuka
* Shin Yasuda as Yasukichi Yasui
* Senri Sakurai as Sakurai
* Êitarô Ishibashi as Ishii
* Jimmy Lin Chung as President Wang (Central South Company) (credited as Rin Tsuon)
* Tôru Yuri as Vice President Nakano of Real Estate Company
* Akira Hitomi as Ueno ("Camel Beer" Sales Department businessman)
* Toki Shiozawa as Secretary of Daihyaku
* Bonta Seshi as Camel Beer Secretary Chief
* Toshihiko Furuta as Nightclub moderator
* Somesho Matsumoto as "Carmel Beer" Secretary Chief
* Mǎlì as Qiu Li
* Yasuzo Okawa as Man expecting phone call
* Shiro Tsuchiya as Company President of Gennoaji (Original Taste)
* Yôichirô Kitagawa, Kōichi Satō as Hong Kong police officers
* Sachiko Shima as Coffee shop waitress
* Yuki Shimizu as Miss Steam Bus
* Terumi Oka as Coffee shop cashier

(Non-credit below)

* Shin Otomo as Secretary (Chunan Ltd. / Central South Company)
* Mitsuko Matsubara as Stewardess
* Tamami Urayama as Miss Steam Bus
* Sôji Ubukata as President of "Vulture Soy Sauce"
* Takuzo Kumagai as President of Sake Manufacturer
* Nobuo Katsura as Bystander
* Eisaburo Komatsu as Haneda Airport security officer
* Seishirō Kuno as Bicyclist
* Kenichiro Maruyama as Taxi driver
* Setsuko Kawaguchi as Airline stewardess
* Shigeo Kato as Truck driver
* Ichirô Shôji as Salesperson
* Akira Kichichoji as Club guest
* Yoshio Katsube as Waiter
* Yoko Yano as Woman at the bar
* Ryôji Shimizu as Bartender
* Masaaki Tachibana as Bus driver
* Hans Horneff as Foreign man at Kai Tak Airport
* Osman Yusuf as Airline passenger
* Shizuko Azuma as Female customer
* Keiji Sakakida as Businessman
* Jiro Suzukawa as Bank official
* Kazuo Imai as Hong Kong straw hat man
* Yutaka Oka as Finance accountant

## Insert songs

"Chindonya" (チンドンヤ, *Chindon'ya*)

* Lyrics: Shigeru Tsukada / Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara

"Mendo Mitayo-Crotch Journey Song" (めんどうみたョ-股旅の唄, *Mendō mita ~yo - matatabi no uta*)

* Lyrics: Shigeru Tsukada / Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara

"If You Do It Anyway" (どうせやるなら, *Dōse yarunara*)

* Lyrics: Shigeru Tsukada / Composer: Hiroaki Hagiwara

"Onnanokodamon" (おんなのこだもん, *On'na no koda mon*)

* Lyrics: Kazumi Yasui / Composer: Hiroshi Miyagawa

## Simultaneous screening

Atragon (海底軍艦, *Kaitei Gunkan*, lit. '*The Undersea Warship*')

* Screenwriter: Shinichi Sekizawa / Speical Effects Director: Eiji Tsuburaya / Director: Ishirō Honda / Starring: Tadao Takashima, Yôko Fujiyama