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Great Film overall

Excellent but underrated film

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This was not, as I had expected, a silent movie, but a full talky: the first, according to the IMDb, produced in Japan. Atsushi Watanabe is a playwright who has just rented a country house and moved there, with his wife, Kinuyo Tanaka, where he is to finish his new play -- which he has barely begun -- within a month. However, as you might expect, this is rather more easily said than done. There are constant interruptions: the friends who helped them move won't leave. The children demand constant attention. Door-to-door salesmen pop by to sell him patent medicines, and there's a jazz band practicing next door, with a modernistic and sexy Satoko Date to arouse the jealousy of the wife.Gosho was clearly held in high esteem by production company Shochiku, to helm such an important movie, and he acquits himself in his comedy direction very well. Given the timing, it's no wonder that most of the jokes are about noise, their disruption, and a definite nostalgia for the Good Old Days is evident in the movie, even as everyone shrugs their shoulders and admits this is 1931 and we must be modern. Watanabe, who later played many roles, great and small for Kurosawa, is excellent in his role, awkward and gawky and impatient and very real. It's certainly not a great movie, but it remains a very pleasant effort,

Japan's first all-talkie is heavily influenced by Hollywood. And that's not a bad thing. It starts off as a Laurel & Hardy style comedy before slipping into sitcom-style antics. The humor is universal, so we don't really need subtitles. Atsushi Watanabe has a hint of Buster Keaton, while Kinuyo Tanaka seems like a kimono-clad Mary Pickford. The Jazz party is a delight as we see the writer slowly fall under the charms of the neighbor's wife (the Madam in the title). The ending works well – very sweet. Director Gosho fully exploits the new technology and paces the film well. If you're looking for the "real" Japan, it's not here. The neighborhood looks like any lakeside resort and the houses also look American on the outside. Overall, light and entertaining.

I saw this film 35 years ago at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and have yearned to re-see it ever since. The plot is simple. A writer with a deadline finds he cannot concentrate in the bustle of the big city, so he takes his wife and baby to a seaside resort, hoping for peace and quiet. However, the baby cries, distracting him, so he quarrels with his young wife. Then mice in the rafters scurry and squeak. The last straw is a wild jazz party next door. He storms over to complain -- and finds a comely young lady doing the Charleston. She soothes him and he happily stays at the party, much to the consternation and jealousy of his wife. (The jazz band plays American tunes of the period.) Comes the dawn and he finishes his manuscript, then takes his wife and baby for a walk on the beautiful seaside boardwalk. They reconcile by singing "My Blue Heaven" -- I think in Japanese.)After 35 years I'm not entirely sure.) A moment of total sweetness and delight.