When Murata joined Toei Kyoto Movie Studios, people thought that he would make mediocre products quickly one after another, but in 1934 he was highly appreciated about "Muteki" (A Foghorn) which was Jiro DAIBUTSU's original novel after a long-term interval and won the ninth prize in the Eleventh Kinema Junpo Top Ten (1934.)
村田も東映京都撮影所に入所し、気のない凡作を矢継ぎ早に作るかと思われていたが、1934年、大仏次郎原作の『霧笛』で久々の高評価を受け、第11回（1934年度）キネマ旬報ベストテン第9位に選出された。