Emovie Blows it Again

[crowzilla]

Two different collectors emailed me to ask about a current Emovieposter auction, each wanting my opinion on the same autograph - namely that of "Ryosaku Takasugi" (supposedly the man inside the Godzilla costume).
I had to laugh, because just like the myth that there are two endings to King Kong vs. Godzilla, there is no such thing as a Ryosaku Takasugi. Godzilla in the first film was played by Haruo Nakajima for the majority of the film (and who would go on to play the monster a dozen times total in sequels) and in a few scenes by Katsumi Tezuka.
I believe this myth started in the first volume of Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies! but he corrected it in later editions.
Of course this isn't the first time Emovie has gotten it wrong as regards to Godzilla items, I've corrected many of their auctions for them before. You just have to wonder, if their customers are smart enough to email me and ask questions to verify things, why aren't they?


http://auctions.emovieposter.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=4590700

And for the record, that is an autograph of Haruo Nakajima, the man who was in the Godzilla costume.
But I sincerely doubt their consignor told them Ryosaku Takasugi, and they didn't bother to try and verify anything.

[erik1925]

Sean, where did this name come from then? (Ryosaku Takasugi)

Is it just made up?

[crowzilla]

You would have to ask Bill Warren (Keep Watching the Skies! author).
But that name has never appeared in any Japanese credits or texts on the film, and doesn't appear in the Criterion Blu-ray either.

[erik1925]

Thanks. 

[martinc]

I notice that Heritage has this description of Ryosaku Takasugi as "the actor who trampled Tokyo dozens of times in the Godzilla costume" in a sale of a Godzilla one sheet from 2004:

ttps://movieposters.ha.com/itm/science-fiction/godzilla-toho-1956-/a/607-19309.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

They also credited him with signing the poster as well.

So I guess it's not just EMP making this particular mistake.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

I notice that Heritage has this description of Ryosaku Takasugi as "the actor who trampled Tokyo dozens of times in the Godzilla costume" in a sale of a Godzilla one sheet from 2004:

ttps://movieposters.ha.com/itm/science-fiction/godzilla-toho-1956-/a/607-19309.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

They also credited him with signing the poster as well.

So I guess it's not just EMP making this particular mistake.

Martin

while it is correct that HA did indeed make this mistake one time, 13 years ago, in the ensuing time period they have the correct actor, Haruo Nakajima, noted for the 165 auctions since and they have not sanitized the mistake they made
https://movieposters.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=54+790+231&Ntk=SI_Titles-Desc&Nty=1&Ntt=Haruo+Nakajima&ic4=KeywordSearch-A-K-071316

currently, EMP has Ryosaku Takasugi credited in 197 listings
http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/search/Ryosaku%2520Takasugi/archive.html

[crowzilla]

I notice that Heritage has this description of Ryosaku Takasugi as "the actor who trampled Tokyo dozens of times in the Godzilla costume" in a sale of a Godzilla one sheet from 2004:
ttps://movieposters.ha.com/itm/science-fiction/godzilla-toho-1956-/a/607-19309.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

True. And when told of the mistake, they purchased the poster back from the buyer.
It was correctly identified when resold.

https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/science-fiction/godzilla-trans-world-1956-autographed-one-sheet-27-x-41-science-fiction/a/511011-51176.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

As a result, I frequently get emails from Grey asking about the authenticity of Godzilla-related items.
Yet despite correcting Emovie multiple times about them, they have never asked me a single question.

[erik1925]

Martin

while it is correct that HA did indeed make this mistake one time, 13 years ago, in the ensuing time period they have the correct actor, Haruo Nakajima, noted for the 165 auctions since and they have not sanitized the mistake they made
https://movieposters.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=54+790+231&Ntk=SI_Titles-Desc&Nty=1&Ntt=Haruo+Nakajima&ic4=KeywordSearch-A-K-071316

currently, EMP has Ryosaku Takasugi credited in 197 listings
http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/search/Ryosaku%2520Takasugi/archive.html

So Im assuming those old listings in the data base will remain as is, but maybe with a small *footnote at the bottom of each, updating that incorrect info?

I certainly can't imagine that all those listings would be re-written or edited so as to look like they were correctly described & written from day one, would they? Dunno. 

[crowzilla]

So Im assuming those old listings in the data base will remain as is, but maybe with a small *footnote at the bottom of each, updating that incorrect info?
I certainly can't imagine that all those listings would be re-written or edited so as to look like they were correctly described & written from day one, would they? Dunno. 

No idea. but at least that is a phantom credit and no one is looking up that name and basing a value on it.
It's not like EMovie did with this Breakfast at Tiffany's where they changed it to a re-release years after it was sold to make it look like someone willingly paid $800 for something that wasn't a first release like they advertised.
http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archiveitem/6242624.html

The Breakfast example is particularly bad because earlier the same year they sold another copy that was described as a re-release (http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archiveitem/5955973.html), but they didn't care to get the info right the second time around.

[martinc]

I didn't realise that EMP had the misinformation in all those listings. That is poor "housekeeping" if they had been made aware of the mistake, I agree.