The Sad Whistle

is a 1949 Japanese drama film directed by Miyoji Ieki. Cast Yasumi Hara – Kenzo Tanaka Mieko Ishii Takashi Kanda – Yamaguchi Hibari Misora – Mitsuko Tanaka Mitsuyo Mizushima Ichiro Shimizu Ichiro Sugai Shin Tokudaiji – Yoshimura Keiko Tsushima Yoshindo Yamaji – Yasuda Casting Hibari after her controversial prepubescent years, was therefore "publicly criticized for her blatant eroticism", and that is when she was offered the leading role in 1949 drama The Sorrowful Whistle by Miyoji Ieki. As stated by Shamon, this transformation [from disruptive and risqué to conservative and chaste] occurred in Hibari's first starring role, in the film Sorrowful Whistle, which dramatizes an uneasy reconciliation of a childlike Hibari with her previous adult stage persona. The film achieves this by casting Hibari as a war orphan and emphasizing her innocence while at the same time showcasing her talent at singing by making the climax of the plot her stage performance of the song "Sorrowful Whistle" in a tuxedo and top hat, an outfit reminiscent of her scandalous stage career. The way Hibari's performance of the song is reconciled within the film highlights the larger process of how her image was repackaged as childlike and innocent.