The Most Valuable Wife / 最高殊勲夫人 / Saiko shukun fujin (1959)

Obscure Japanese Film #25

Ayako Wakao

The third of the 20 films director Yasuzo Masumura made with star Ayako Wakao is a light comedy featuring Wakao as Kyoko, the third daughter of widower Rintaro Nonomiya (Seiji Miyaguchi), who works as the head of the finance department in a company, but is soon to retire. The family used to be poor, but her two older sisters have helped to lift them out of poverty by both marrying sons of the company’s deceased founder. A third son, Saburo (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), remains single, but Kyoko’s eldest sister Momoko (Yatsuko Tan’ami) conspires to push them together, hoping this will lead to a third marriage and further deepen the ties between the two families. Instead, Saburo and Kyoko realise what Momoko is up to and vow never to get married. Kyoko takes a job as a secretary at the company in order to find an alternative husband and a number of male employees compete for her hand, while she also ends up doing a little matchmaking of her own. 

Rin Sugimori as the calligrapher

Unfortunately, the story is far from compelling as it’s obvious from the start that Kyoko and Saburo will end up marrying. Masumura works hard to maintain interest in the paper-thin material, throwing in some amusing comic vignettes featuring random characters such as a Jackson Pollock-inspired performance calligrapher and a schoolgirl singing a jazz number in a deep, masculine voice. However, despite his inventiveness, The Most Valuable Wife remains a well-made film of little consequence. 

Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Ayako Wakao

I’ve never understood the appeal of Hiroshi Kawaguchi, who always played men whom women find irresistible even though he seems to me entirely unprepossessing. However, he starred in 10 films for Masumura and five for Kon Ichikawa before quitting Daiei in 1962 to become a real estate developer. He later returned to acting sporadically and also presented a wildlife show on TV, during which one of his fingers was nearly bitten off by a piranha. He passed away from cancer in 1987 aged only 51. 

Eiji Funakoshi and Ayako Wakao

Playing the eldest of the three sons in an amusing comic performance is Eiji Funakoshi, who was also frequently employed by both Ichikawa and Masumura. He carved out something of a niche for himself playing philandering husbands who were inept in the workplace, as he does here, but is best-remembered for his atypical role starring in Ichikawa’s nihilistic World War 2 film Fires on the Plain.

 

Wakao's matchmaking between Katsuhiko Kobayashi and Kazuko Miyagawa

Although the film hardly provides Ayako Wakao with one of her finest roles, it’s certainly further testament to her versatility. Having watched her recently in Masumura’s far superior Irezumi, it’s hard to believe this is the same woman. But the collaboration between star and director was still in its infancy at this point, and Masumura had yet to cast her in a serious dramatic role.