Yutaka Abe (阿部 豊, Abe Yutaka, February 2, 1895 in Yamoto, Miyagi
â€" January 3, 1977 in Kyoto) was a Japanese film director and actor.
He went to America along with a younger brother to visit an uncle
living in Los Angeles. There he enrolled in an acting school and upon
hearing that Thomas H. Ince was looking for Japanese extras to work in
his studios he applied and was accepted in 1914. He appeared in such
films as The Wrath of the Gods and The Cheat with Sessue Hayakawa. He
was often billed as "Jack Abbe" or "Jack Yutake Abbe." He returned to
Japan in 1925, finding work at the Nikkatsu studio, and soon made his
debut as a director. Among his early works was the 1926 silent film
The Woman Who Touched the Legs (Ashi ni sawatta onna), a comedy about
a writer and a woman thief. This film, along with most of Abe's early
work, is now lost. Before and during World War II, Abe directed a
number of nationalistic propaganda films including Moyuru Å zora
(Flaming Sky) and Ano hata o ute (Fire on That Flag).After the war, he
directed the 1950 film adaptation of Jun'ichirÅ Tanizaki's The
Makioka Sisters, a film which brought him commercial success. His
later films include the 1959 satirical comedy Season of Affairs (Uwaki
no kisetsu).
â€" January 3, 1977 in Kyoto) was a Japanese film director and actor.
He went to America along with a younger brother to visit an uncle
living in Los Angeles. There he enrolled in an acting school and upon
hearing that Thomas H. Ince was looking for Japanese extras to work in
his studios he applied and was accepted in 1914. He appeared in such
films as The Wrath of the Gods and The Cheat with Sessue Hayakawa. He
was often billed as "Jack Abbe" or "Jack Yutake Abbe." He returned to
Japan in 1925, finding work at the Nikkatsu studio, and soon made his
debut as a director. Among his early works was the 1926 silent film
The Woman Who Touched the Legs (Ashi ni sawatta onna), a comedy about
a writer and a woman thief. This film, along with most of Abe's early
work, is now lost. Before and during World War II, Abe directed a
number of nationalistic propaganda films including Moyuru Å zora
(Flaming Sky) and Ano hata o ute (Fire on That Flag).After the war, he
directed the 1950 film adaptation of Jun'ichirÅ Tanizaki's The
Makioka Sisters, a film which brought him commercial success. His
later films include the 1959 satirical comedy Season of Affairs (Uwaki
no kisetsu).
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