Sayonara
Sayonara | |
---|---|
James Michener | |
Produced by | William Goetz |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredricks |
Edited by | |
Music by | Franz Waxman |
Production companies | Pennebaker Productions William Goetz Productions |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 147 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Japanese |
Box office | $26.3 million |
Sayonara is a 1957 American
Unlike many 1950s romantic dramas, Sayonara deals squarely with racism and prejudice.[1] The picture was released by Warner Bros. on December 25, 1957, to critical acclaim and commercial success. At the 30th Academy Awards the film was nominated in nine categories and won four, including Best Supporting Actor for Buttons and Best Supporting Actress for Umeki. The latter award made Umeki the first East Asia-born woman to win an Oscar.
Plot
by General Webster, the father of his fiancée, Eileen. While Ace and Eileen have been together for years, their relationship has become strained.Airman Joe Kelly, Ace's enlisted crew chief, is about to wed a Japanese woman, Katsumi, in spite of the disapproval of the military establishment, which will not recognize the interracial marriage because it is generally illegal under American law. The Air Force, including Ace, is against the marriage. Ace and Joe have an argument during which Ace uses a racial slur to describe Katsumi. Ace eventually apologizes, then agrees to be Joe's best man at the wedding.
Ace falls in love with a Japanese entertainer, Hana-ogi, who is the lead performer for a Takarazuka-like theater company, whom he meets through Katsumi. Eileen realizes that Ace's attentions are no longer focused on her and begins a friendship with a famous Kabuki performer, Nakamura. After overhearing that Joe's house has been under surveillance by the Army, she believes that Ace is in danger and goes there to warn him.
Joe suffers further prejudice at the hands of openly hostile Colonel Crawford, pulling extra duty and all the less attractive assignments. When Joe and others who are married to Japanese are targeted for transfer back to the
Joe and Katsumi's home is boarded up by the military police and Ace is taken into custody by General Webster, where he is confined to quarters. He is told that he will most likely be sent back to the United States and Hana-ogi will be sent to
After exiting Joe's home, Ace and Bailey are attacked by Japanese holding
The loss of Joe strengthens Ace's resolve to marry Hana-ogi, and Ace goes to the theater company to find her. There, he learns Hana-ogi has already left Kobe for Tokyo a week ahead of schedule. General Webster, believing the crisis with Ace is averted, apologizes for what happened to Joe and Katsumi and says that laws will soon be passed to allow interracial marriages in the United States.
Ace leaves Kobe and flies to Tokyo. He tracks down Hana-ogi at her new venue in a Tokyo theater and pleads with her again to become his wife. They leave the theater and Hana-ogi announces to the waiting Japanese and American reporters that they intend to wed. When a military newspaper reporter asks Ace how he will explain his marriage to the "big brass" as well as to the Japanese, Ace says, "Tell 'em we said, 'Sayonara.'"
Cast
- USAF
- Patricia Owens as Eileen Webster
- USMC
- Martha Scott as Mrs. Webster
- Miiko Taka as Hana-ogi
- Miyoshi Umeki as Katsumi Kelly
- Red Buttons as Airman Joe Kelly
- Ricardo Montalbán as Nakamura
- Kent Smith as Lt. Gen. Mark Webster
- Reiko Kuba as Fumiko
- Soo Yong as Teruko
- Douglass Watson as Colonel Crawford
- Harlan Warde as American Consul
- William Wellman Jr. as Stars and Stripes Reporter
Production
According to director Joshua Logan, Marlon Brando was the first choice. He turned it down so they offered the part to Rock Hudson who had too many obligations at Universal. They tried Brando again who was reluctant, so they offered the female lead to Audrey Hepburn. Brando eventually agreed to do it if they changed the ending of the novel so the two lovers got married instead of the American leaving. When Hepburn turned him down, he looked to cast an unknown actress.[2] Miiko Taka, who at the time was working as a clerk at a travel agency in Los Angeles, was discovered by a talent scout at a local Nisei festival.[3] She was cast despite having no previous acting experience.[2] Logan cast Ricardo Montalbán after claiming he was unable to find a Japanese actor for the role.[4]
Brando affected a nondescript
Garner wrote in his memoirs that he actively lobbied to play his role, one of the few times in his career he did this. It had originally been cast with John Smith, but Garner succeeded in getting the part.[7]
Reception
Sayonara received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and cinematography, in addition to the acting ability of its cast. It won four Academy Awards, including acting honors for co-stars Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 82% of critics out of 57 have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.6/10, with the website's critics consensus reading, "As sumptuously staged as it is ponderously paced, Sayonara flutters by on the strength of its touching story and solidly assembled cast.".[8]
It was
Awards and nominations
The film is also recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated[14]
- 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[15]
Analysis
In an article for the Los Angeles Times in 2003, Scarlet Cheng stated that the film "while calling for tolerance, also views the Japanese woman (so quiet, so subservient) as clearly superior to her American counterpart (so demanding, so loud). The Brando character, Maj. Lloyd, on R & R in Japan, doesn’t start out with this appreciation. As the movie opens, he’s trying to persuade another soldier to give up his Japanese girlfriend -- by showing him a picture of his own fiancee...Soon afterward, though, the good major breaks off his long-standing engagement -- to take up with a Japanese stage actress...Of course, the object of his affection is no mere chorine, but in fact, the star of the show, adored by thousands of fans -- a fitting partner for an America hero."[16]
Legacy
Alongside the less successful
See also
Notes
- ^ Tied with Charles Laughton for Witness for the Prosecution.
References
- ^ Shales, Tom (July 14, 2006). "The Bright Appeal of Red Buttons". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Capote, Truman (November 9, 1957). "The Duke in His Domain". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
- Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 9780440062585.
- ^ Capote, Truman (2008), Portraits and Observations, New York: Modern Library, p. 191
- ^ "Esteemed Actor Ricardo Montalban Dies".
- ^ Garner, James; Winokur, Jon (2011). The Garner Files: A Memoir. Simon & Schuster. p. 251.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. January 29, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved October 21, 2021 – via Archive.org.
- ^ "All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
- ^ "Antidote for pessimists". Variety. October 15, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
- ^ "The 30th Academy Awards (1958) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ "NY Times: Sayonara". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-03-13. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
- ^ "AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores" (PDF). American Film Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-03-13. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
- ^ Cheng, Scarlet (2003-09-07). "Through Western eyes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-8346-0.
- ISBN 978-0-313-34751-1.
Bibliography
- Provencher, Ken (Spring 2014). "Bizarre Beauty: 1950s Runaway Production in Japan". S2CID 142842143.
- Schallert, Edwin (1957-12-26). "'Sayonara' Exerts Spell for Viewers". Newspapers.com.
External links
- Sayonara at IMDb
- Sayonara at AllMovie
- Sayonara at the TCM Movie Database
- Sayonara at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Sayonara at Rotten Tomatoes
- Trailer of Sayonara introduced by Miika Taka
- The Duke and His Domain by Truman Capote
- James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show Archived 2008-01-03 at the Wayback Machine
- James Garner interview at Archive of American Television- (c/o Google Video) - March 17, 1999