Stuart Galbraith IV
Encyclopedia
Stuart Galbraith IV is an American cinema historian, film critic, and DVD special features producer, essayist, and audio commentator.
, Galbraith first worked professionally as a film reviewer and long-running home video columnist for The Ann Arbor News. In 1993, Galbraith moved to Los Angeles, California, where he eventually earned an M.A. from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television.
Galbraith’s Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, the first English-language book about the genre, was published in 1994, soon followed by The Japanese Filmography.
Galbraith’s 1998 book Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films was an oral history of the genre, told by such filmmakers as Kinji Fukasaku, Jun Fukuda, Kihachi Okamoto, and Noriaki Yuasa, and actors Mie Hama, Kumi Mizuno, and Akira Takarada.
and actor Toshirō Mifune
, and the first biography of either man published outside Japan. As with Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo!, the 800-page book featured original interviews with collobrators including Shinobu Hashimoto, Kyoko Kagawa, Takeshi Kato, Yoshiro Muraki, Masaru Sato, and Senkichi Taniguchi.
After that book’s publication, Galbraith returned to archive work, as a “film detective” for MGM, tracking down the original camera negatives to more than three dozen "lost" films.
On DVD, Galbraith’s essays have accompanied Criterion
's three-disc Seven Samurai, Optimum's Rashomon
, and BCI Eclipse's The Quiet Duel
. He was an associate producer for the DVDs of the classic poolroom drama The Hustler
and Sidney Lumet
's The Verdict
. He provided audio commentary (with director Richard Fleischer
) for the Special Edition DVD of Tora! Tora! Tora!
, and interviewed Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
for his audio commentary track for The Sadist
. Galbraith's audio commentary for Classic Media's Invasion of Astro-Monster
was released in 2007 and nominated for a Rondo Hatton Award.
Since August 2003, Galbraith has been a reviewer for the website DVD Talk, where to date he has published more than 1,000 reviews.
Galbraith’s The Toho Studios Story was published in 2008, and Japanese Cinema, edited by Paul Duncan, was published by Taschen in 2009. Also in 2009 he recorded a commentary track for AnimEigo
’s Tora-san, Our Loveable Tramp.
Galbraith is not directly related to Kilimanjaro Live music promoter Stuart Galbraith or former Ballyclare Comrades midfielder Stuart Galbraith.
Early life and education
Raised in Livonia, MichiganLivonia, Michigan
Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest...
, Galbraith first worked professionally as a film reviewer and long-running home video columnist for The Ann Arbor News. In 1993, Galbraith moved to Los Angeles, California, where he eventually earned an M.A. from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television.
Galbraith’s Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, the first English-language book about the genre, was published in 1994, soon followed by The Japanese Filmography.
Galbraith’s 1998 book Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films was an oral history of the genre, told by such filmmakers as Kinji Fukasaku, Jun Fukuda, Kihachi Okamoto, and Noriaki Yuasa, and actors Mie Hama, Kumi Mizuno, and Akira Takarada.
Career
After graduation, Galbraith worked as an archivist for the USC-Warner Bros. Archives, and later worked at the Warner Bros. Corporate Archives before writing The Emperor and the Wolf, a joint biography of Japanese director Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
and actor Toshirō Mifune
Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
, and the first biography of either man published outside Japan. As with Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo!, the 800-page book featured original interviews with collobrators including Shinobu Hashimoto, Kyoko Kagawa, Takeshi Kato, Yoshiro Muraki, Masaru Sato, and Senkichi Taniguchi.
After that book’s publication, Galbraith returned to archive work, as a “film detective” for MGM, tracking down the original camera negatives to more than three dozen "lost" films.
On DVD, Galbraith’s essays have accompanied Criterion
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
's three-disc Seven Samurai, Optimum's Rashomon
Rashomon
Rashomon may refer to:* Rashōmon, the former main city gate in two Japanese capital cities, Heijokyō and Heiankyō * Rashōmon , a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa first published in 1915...
, and BCI Eclipse's The Quiet Duel
The Quiet Duel
is a 1949 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa.-Plot:Toshirō Mifune plays a young idealistic doctor who works at his father's clinic in a small and seedy district. During the war, he contracts syphilis from the blood of a patient when he cuts himself during an operation...
. He was an associate producer for the DVDs of the classic poolroom drama The Hustler
The Hustler
The Hustler is a 1959 novel by American writer Walter Tevis. It tells the story of a young pool hustler, Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges the legendary Minnesota Fats .The Hustler was adapted into a 1961 film of the same title, starring Paul...
and Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
's The Verdict
The Verdict
The Verdict is a 1982 courtroom drama film which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer who pushes a medical malpractice case in order to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing. Since the lawsuit involves a woman in a persistent...
. He provided audio commentary (with director Richard Fleischer
Richard Fleischer
-Early life:Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie and animator/producer Max Fleischer. He started in motion pictures as director of animated shorts produced by his father including entries in the Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman series.His live-action film career began in 1942 at the RKO...
) for the Special Edition DVD of Tora! Tora! Tora!
Tora! Tora! Tora!
is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G...
, and interviewed Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
Vilmos Zsigmond
Vilmos Zsigmond, A.S.C. is a Hungarian-American cinematographer.In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild placed Zsigmond among the ten most influential cinematographers in history.-Biography:...
for his audio commentary track for The Sadist
The Sadist
The Sadist is a book published by psychiatrist Karl Berg, following the confessions of Peter Kürten, a well-known serial killer in the late 1920s in Germany....
. Galbraith's audio commentary for Classic Media's Invasion of Astro-Monster
Invasion of Astro-Monster
Invasion of Astro-Monster is a Science Fiction kaiju film released in 1965 as a direct sequel to Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster...
was released in 2007 and nominated for a Rondo Hatton Award.
Since August 2003, Galbraith has been a reviewer for the website DVD Talk, where to date he has published more than 1,000 reviews.
Career in Japan
In 2003 Galbraith moved to Kyoto, Japan, with his wife, Yukiyo Nishi. Their daughter, Sadie, was born in 2007. In addition to his work as a cinema scholar, until 2009 Galbraith published a monthly home video column for the English-language edition of the Daily Yomiuri. He also records narration and voice-over for industrial and educational films.Galbraith’s The Toho Studios Story was published in 2008, and Japanese Cinema, edited by Paul Duncan, was published by Taschen in 2009. Also in 2009 he recorded a commentary track for AnimEigo
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...
’s Tora-san, Our Loveable Tramp.
Galbraith is not directly related to Kilimanjaro Live music promoter Stuart Galbraith or former Ballyclare Comrades midfielder Stuart Galbraith.
Books
- Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films (hardback). McFarland; 1994; ISBN 0899508537
- Motor City Marquees (hardback). McFarland; 1994; ISBN 0786411430
- The Japanese Filmography (hardback). McFarland; 1996; ISBN 0786400323
- Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films (softcover). Feral House; 1998; ISBN 0922915474
- The Emperor and the Wolf – The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune (hardback). Faber; 2002; ISBN 0571199828
- The Toho Studios Story (hardback). Scarecrow Press; 2008; ISBN 081086004X
- Japanese Cinema (hardback). Taschen; 2009; ISBN 3822831565
External links
- Stuart Galbraith IV at the Internet Movie Database
- Stuart Galbraith IV at DVD Talk (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/bio.php?ID=68&reviewID=38330)
- Stuart Galbraith IV interview (http://ryuganji.blogspot.com/2008/09/interview-stuart-galbraith-iv-author-of_7902.html)