The Mother Tree

1958 Horror 47 minutes Directed by Gorō Kadono

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About The Mother Tree

A painter leaves his family to paint the houses of rich clients. A lonely samurai falls in love with the painter's wife, rapes her, then kills the painter and the servants. The painter's ghost comes back, takes revenge on the samurai, and saves the wife and their newborn child.

Cast & crew

More about The Mother Tree

Gorō Katano directed Kaidan chibusa enoki, also called Ghost of Chibusa Enoki. Hiromichi Takebe was assistant director. Mitsugu Okura produced for Shintoho. The script comes from a story by San'yūtei Enchō. It opened in Japan on 13 July 1958 and runs 47 minutes. It was not dubbed in English and was not released to American theaters. Katsuko Wakasugi, Asao Matsumoto, Akira Nakamura, and Keiko Hasegawa are in the cast.

Themes

  • a painter away from home
  • a samurai's attack
  • a ghost and a newborn
  • painter
  • samurai
  • ghost
  • Shintoho
  • Enchō
  • chibusa enoki

Making

Shintoho, which was turning out ghost pictures in the late 1950s, put Katano on Enchō's tale and kept it to 47 minutes.

Preservation

A 47-minute print is the version described in release records.

Notes

  • The Japanese title is 怪談乳房榎.
  • Chibusa enoki names the hackberry tree in the ghost story Enchō told.
  • The picture is black and white and full frame.
  • The published cast names four leads and does not say who plays the painter or the samurai.

Scenes

  • The samurai kills the painter and the servants after attacking the wife.
  • The painter's ghost returns and gets the wife and the baby away from him.

Influenced by

  • Kaidan chibusa enoki by San'yūtei Enchō