exploring the arcade in 波止場の賭博師 (1963) aka Hatoba no tobakushi (The Wharf Gambler)

This is the 3rd of 3 arcade explorations I will be doing based on a series of tweets from Sugiyama-san. (archive).

They have been increasing with excitement, and this one is my favourite.  It introduces a number of previously unseen machines from Japan's (mostly-undocumented) early 60s.

波止場の賭博師 (1963)

Check out this amazing arcade called BUFFALO.  It's a fairly steady shot so here's 6 frames.  Cycle through them and you get a sense of the motion in the scene.  (This appears to be an arcade constructed for the movie.)

There is so much to look at here, and this isn't even the whole thing!  We're going to proceed Left to Right, but since there are smartball tables on both sides I will look at them all first.

On the left there are 3 smartball tables.  2 views on the left:

center table, we can see Olympic rings

The upper ball tray on these tables is an indented curve.  We can see a similar curve in the smart ball spotted in the 1955 movie 未成年.

スマートボール (smart ball) [seen in 未成年] by 三葉 (Mitsuba) [presumed]

On the right-hand side we can see 2 smartballs that almost perfectly line up with this Mitsuba smart ball:

In the screenshot above we cannot tell much about the ball tray curve.

1950s スマートボール (smart ball) by 三葉工業 (Mitsuba Kogyo)

Another smartball with an upward curve at the ball tray:

1950s スマートボール (smart ball)
note the curve of the upper ball tray rail

 

Next we have these two copies of ドライブ (drive):

We get a number of great shots of these games!  Let's start with this next shot, which also shows the profile of the smartball tables:

This game appears to be a knock-off of Kansai Seiki's Mini Drive:

1958 ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)

Let's combine some of the better angles for a picture to use in the database:

ドライブ (drive)

 

While perhaps not the exact same game, this game is nearly identical to another Mini-Drive copy we've seen, and the painted dots from one of the two cabinets are certainly recognizable.

This version, with the brown ground and the blue stream, appears in 黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手 (1966) & in ワンパク番外地 (1971).

 

Next we see a woman in front of this machine that is the size of a woodrail pinball machine, but does not have a head.  The cabinet is blue with a moon and stars.

We can get a glimpse of it through a window in a later shot:

note the indentation of the top rail from this side, and what appears to be a joystick? 

We can see it better in these next two shots during a fight sequence:

From this angle the joystick is once again facing the player.  But this machine actually has a joystick on either side.  It has been repainted, but this is Twin Hockey.

1950 Twin Hockey by Chicago Coin
shown without legs

Next up is a classic!

Yes that's right, we finally get nice colour images Sega's first game, Jungle Gun!!!

1961 Jungle Gun - ジャングルガン by 日本娯楽物産 (Nihon Goraku Bussan) & 日本機械製造 (Nihon Kikai Seizo — Sega)

Let's check some later scenes:

It's not the best picture, but we now have a colour image of Jungle Gun:

Next two are American gun games.

 

1954 Sportsman by Keeney

1954 De Luxe Carnival Gun by United

On to the right-hand side of this shot:

The yellow cabinet with red splattered paint is Jet Gun.

1952 Jet Gun by Exhibit Supply - pinrepair

Next is the iconic Punching Bag. This one doesn't have the lined-trim at the top, but it's quite recognizable when you look at this diagram from the specs sheet.

1962 Punching Bag - パンチングバッグ by 日本娯楽物産 (Nihon Goraku Bussan) & 日本機械製造 (Nihon Kikai Seizo — Sega)

Punching Bag specs diagram, showing a matching profile

They grey-pedestal gun game:

1956 Jungle Hunt by Exhibit Supply - pinrepair

The blue cabinet with stars has a very distinct marquee. This is another repainted cabinet, which makes sense given that the game was then 22 years old.

1941 Scientific Batting Practice by Scientific Machine Co - source

Tucked at the right of the frame we see a purple vertical cabinet.

We can get another perspective on it in this frame:

1939 Hi-Ball by Exhibit Supply

note: the Exhibit Supply version had a lovely design painted on the cabinet. This blandly painted cabinet might have been the version sold by Mike Munves after World War 2.  Munves took many prewar machines in stock, and modified them slightly before selling them.

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Then at the end of the row we have more smart balls, which we discussed above.

In this shot, taken from the other side of the glass, we can spot Sportsman on the right, Jungle Gun to the left, and then 3 pinball/smartball-style games.

 

Other shots we can see them in:

Enhance!

 

ミニドライブ (mini drive)

I think these might be hand-built machines, constructed from spare parts.  I assume they are smartball-style games, but is that a plunger at the front or a knob for rotation?  

All 3 games appears to have the same build.  The machine on the left has a bingo backbox (note the 5x5 grid of lights,) no backglass, and then 6 pictures of cars pasted on it.

The machines on the right say ミニドライブ (mini drive) and appear to be modified versions of a variant of a backglass seen on 1958 ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki).

That post includes all of the variants, but specifically these seem to be modified from the original versions of the backglass.

1958 ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) [original backglass] by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
[reference only]

I will be adding these games to the eremeka database, but I do not know for sure if these were games that were sold commercially, or games that were modified by operators, or even just games made by the set designer.

The cast is quite violent with the arcade, there are many stunts, and many angles which would be difficult to capture if there were walls, which means this is a constructed arcade and not a natural filming location.

unknown bingo-style game?

 

Given that the Mini Drive backglasses look taken from old machines, and that the bingo backbox probably has no relation to the game, there is a good chance these are props and were always just meant to sit in the background, unexamined.

 

In this frame, by the left curtain, you can spot  Jungle Hunt.  In  the hallway leading towards the billiards player, there are two trade stimulators on stands.

1947 Pop-Up by Marvel

1947 Hit-A-Homer by Auto-Bell Novelty Co (ABCO)

And finally, let's ID that jukebox.

1953 AMI Model E - via

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