Movielogr
A Pebble by the Wayside (1938)
Directed by Tomotaka Tasaka
Overview
Tomotaka Tasaka’s A Pebble by the Wayside (Robo no Ishi), made in 1938 and taken from a Yuzo Yamamoto novel, takes place around 1902, was about a young boy brought up entirely by his mother since his drunken father is never home. An intelligent teacher wants to send him to middle school, but instead the father apprentices him to a clothing store to which he is in debt. The mother dies and the boy is forced to quit work when his father insults the store owner. Later the boy goes to Tokyo, but only to continue his hardships. First he is forced to do a maid’s job at a boarding house and later is used by an old woman to steal at funerals. Finally he is rescued by the teacher, whom he meets in Tokyo.
Length 131 minutes
Actors
Akihiko Katayama | Reisaburô Yamamoto | Hisako Takihana | Shirô Izome | Sadako Sawamura | Fumiko Matsudaira | Kansho Yoshii | Toshimasa Inoue | Mantarô Ushio | Michiko Hoshi | Kisao Tobita | Ureo Egawa