Hideko the Cheerleader

An early, wartime take on the Japanese "Idol" movie. Young-Girl-Star Hideko Takamine plays a young Baseball fan, determined to cheer for her favourite baseball team by creating a new song for them. The film was unusually jolly for its day, making audiences forget the bleak war times. As a treat for contemporary audiences, real professional baseball players played alongside Takamine, who would later be one of the most famous star of postwar cinema and star in the best films of directors such as Naruse or Kinoshta.