Admission: $7.50 general; $6, BAM/PFA members, UCB students, seniors, disabled.Before the screening Mr. George Yoshida, a musician who is completing a book on Japanese Americans and American popular music, will give a short talk about the film's star, Betty Inada, a Nisei singer and dancer from Sacramento who had a successful career in Japan. Following the film, the audience is invited to a reception with Mr. Yoshida's trio providing music. Please join us!(Hodo no sasayaki). We are delighted to present a rediscovered Japanese jazz film from the thirties, restored by PFA in collaboration with the National Film Center, Tokyo. Whispering Sidewalks is a thoroughly engaging and charming musical starring singer-dancer Betty Inada and Saburo Nakagawa, a well-known pioneer of Western dance in Japan. It is directed by Japanese matinee idol Denmei Suzuki, who also co-stars. Few people know of the cultural exchange personified by a number of Japanese Americans who lived and worked for a period in the entertainment world in Japan. Whispering Sidewalks illuminates a forgotten current in the history of jazz and tap dance in Japan, following the story of a singer and dancer, Betty Yoshida (Inada), recently arrived from the U.S. to go on tour in Japan. Prey to unscrupulous managers, Betty becomes the darling of a group of struggling musicians who live and work together in typically impoverished digs. The film itself is a city symphony relying on montage and fancy footwork on the pavement; but the highlight is spunky Betty Inada singing "Carolina Dinah," "La Cucaracha," "Blue Moon," and other favorites, and tap dancing with Nakagawa, dapper in his brim-down hat and Ronald Colman mustache. Please note that, although the print has no English subtitles, it is quite easy to follow; a synopsis will be provided. The history of our print is almost as interesting and charming as the film itself. It was made from a rare nitrate print donated to PFA by a Japanese American woman who, from the 1930s through the 1960s, traveled with her husband to churches and community centers to screen Japanese films. In celebrating Whispering Sidewalks, we highlight PFA's special interest in preservation and in the history of film in local communities. If you find old films in your garage, please contact us-occasionally there's a real treasure to be found!