《Infinite Progress》

... Her debut work was the first film adaptation (1937) of Eiji Yoshikawa's Miyamoto Musashi, in which she played the role of the sweet Otome opposite Kataoka Chiezo's Musashi, and she quickly became a popular star, nicknamed Otome-san instead of Turkey. From Endless Progress (1937), in which she played the kind and cheerful daughter of an old salaryman (Kosugi Isamu), to Calico-san (1939) and Nonki Megane (1940), to Hana-san (1943), the film adaptation of a popular sitcom-style serialized manga by Sugiura Yukio, modeled on Todoroki Yukiko herself, she also sang the theme song Oji wa Jitensha ni Notte, which was a huge hit, her ``natural cheerfulness'' has continued to grow. She specialized in playing cheerful and lively daughter roles, but later she played unusual characters such as Kanto Komasa, a prostitute in "The Gate of Flesh" (1948), a film adaptation of Tamura Taijiro's "Nikutai Bungaku" (Body Literature), for which she sang the theme song "Who Says That Woman?", and the second daughter Sachiko in the film adaptation of Tanizaki Junichiro's best-selling novel "The Makioka Sisters" (1950). In 1953, she remarried director Shima Koji (divorced in 1965), and thereafter her image as a "chubby mother" was strongly influenced by her roles in "Seishun Kaidan" (1955), "Hi no Ataru Sakamichi" (1958), and "Otoko no Monsho" (1963).

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Endless Progress" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　吉川英治原作の《宮本武蔵》の最初の映画化(1937)がデビュー作で，片岡千恵蔵の武蔵を相手にかれんなお通の役を演じ，トルコに代わってお通さんの愛称でたちまち人気スターになった。しがない老サラリーマン(小杉勇)のやさしく明るい娘を演じた《限りなき前進》(1937)から《キャラコさん》(1939)，《暢気眼鏡》(1940)などをへて，杉浦幸雄が轟夕起子その人をモデルにして描いたというホームコメディ的な人気連載漫画の映画化《ハナ子さん》(1943，主題歌《お使ひは自転車に乗って》も歌って大ヒットした)に至るまで，〈天性の明るさ〉を持ち味にした明朗ではつらつとした娘役が専門の彼女であったが，のち，40年に結婚(1950年離婚)したマキノ正博監督による，田村泰次郎の〈肉体文学〉の映画化で主題歌《あんな女と誰が言う》も歌って大ヒットした《肉体の門》(1948)の娼婦関東小政や，谷崎潤一郎のベストセラー小説の映画化《細雪》(1950)の次女幸子といった異色のキャラクターを演じた。53年，島耕二監督と再婚(1965年離婚)，その後は一転して《青春怪談》(1955)から《陽のあたる坂道》(1958)，《男の紋章》(1963)に至る〈ふとったお母さん〉のイメージが強い。…

※「《限りなき前進》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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