Morning's Tree-Lined Street (1936)

Sachiko Chiba leaves her village to look for a job in Tokyo. Her parents warn her the big city is full of evil people. She expects to stay with Ranko Akagi, her friend from the village, who has a job in Tokyo. However, it turns out that Miss Akagi's job is as a bar hostess, a dead-end position. Miss Chiba is a bit terrified by all the strangers, but she gamely sets out, only to run into Heihachirô Ôkawa, a salaryman who drinks at the bar. Miss Chiba decides to work at the bar until something better turns up, and Mr. Ôkawa shows up almost every night. She fantasizes a bit about their getting married.

Mikio Naruse's film about the girl from the small town in the big city is a pleasant trifle, but Miss Chiba is a real beauty. Naruse directed her in half a dozen movies in 1935 and 1936. Most of her directors treated her well, but Naruse berated her for her poor acting, driving her to tears on one shoot. So of course, they got married in 1937. The marriage lasted only three years.