The Teahouse of the August Moon (film)

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The Teahouse of the August Moon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Mann
Written byJohn Patrick
Based onThe Teahouse of the August Moon
1951 novel
by Vern J. Sneider
Produced byJack Cummings
StarringMarlon Brando
Glenn Ford
Machiko Kyō
Eddie Albert
Paul Ford
Harry Morgan
CinematographyJohn Alton
Edited byHarold F. Kress
Music bySaul Chaplin
June Hershey
Kikuko Kanai
Don Swander
Kikuro Kanai
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's Inc.
Release date
  • November 29, 1956 (1956-11-29)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,926,000[1]
Box office$8,925,000[1][2]

The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 American

Okinawa following the end of World War II
in 1945.

.

Plot

Machiko Kyō, Marlon Brando, and Glenn Ford in The Teahouse of the August Moon

Misfit Captain Fisby (

Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando
), as interpreter.

Fisby tries to implement the military's plans by encouraging the villagers to build a school in the shape of a pentagon, but they want to build a teahouse instead. Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a young geisha (Machiko Kyō).

To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items to sell as souvenirs, but nobody wants to buy them. These include cricket cages and wooden Japanese footwear called geta. Then Fisby makes a happy discovery. The villagers distill a potent sweet potato brandy in a matter of days which finds a ready market in the American army. With the influx of money, the teahouse is built in next to no time.

When Purdy sends psychiatrist Captain McLean (Eddie Albert) to check up on Fisby, the newcomer is quickly won over. This, even after Fisby greets McLean wearing geta, an army bathrobe (which Fisby claims is his kimono) and what Fisby terms an "air-conditioned" straw hat (the latter being headwear worn by Okinawan farmers). McLean later proves to be enthusiastic about organic farming.

When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing a yukata (summer-weight kimono). They are leading a rowdy song at a party in full swing in the teahouse. Purdy orders the building and distillery destroyed. In a burst of foresight, the villagers break up old water urns rather than the brandy storage and only dismantle the teahouse, hiding the sections.

The village is chosen by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (

SCAP
) as an example of successful American-led democratization. This leads to Colonel Purdy's regretting his actions and to reassembling the teahouse.

Cast

Production

Playing the role of an Okinawan villager was to prove an interesting challenge for Marlon Brando's method acting techniques. He spent two months studying local culture, speech, and gestures and, for the actual shooting, spent two hours daily having make-up applied to make him appear Asian.[5]

The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by

Nara early in production and was replaced by Paul Ford.[6] Ford had played the part more than a thousand times on Broadway, having been an original cast member, and he would play a similarly bumbling, harassed colonel in Phil Silvers' TV series Bilko
.

Ford was not the only actor who went on to be cast in a television series role very similar to his Teahouse character. Like the psychiatrist Captain McLean, Eddie Albert's Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres (1965-1971) was a licensed professional with an advanced degree, who obsessed about the glory of farming and yearned to give up his practice in favor of tending the soil.

The film made use of Japanese music recorded in Kyoto and sung and danced by Japanese artists.

Rashomon and Gate of Hell, so this lightly comedic part was a departure for her.[7]

Home media

In November 7, 2006, was released in DVD by

Julius Caesar, Mutiny on the Bounty and Reflections in a Golden Eye.[8] In November 20, 2018, was released in DVD, under the label Warner Archive Collection.[9]

Reception

The picture was well received, both at the box-office and critically. The film was MGM's biggest hit of the year, earning $5,550,000 in the US and Canada, and an additional $3,375,000 from a worldwide audience. The film made a profit of $1,507,000.

Golden Globe Award
for Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding.

Legacy

Alongside

A 1971 musical version of the play, Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen ran only two weeks on Broadway, closing after 19 performances.

In 1980, Michael Medved awarded Marlon Brando's performance a Golden Turkey Award for "Most Ludicrous Racial Impersonation".[14]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ US and Canada take see "All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  3. OCLC 429098
    .
  4. ^ "IMDB.com: Awards for The Teahouse of the August Moon". imdb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  5. ^ Thomas, Tony, The Films of Marlon Brando, p. 97
  6. ^ trivia, IMDb
  7. ^ Thomas, Tony, The Films of Marlon Brando, p. 100
  8. ^ The Marlon Brando Collection DVD (Julius Caesar / Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) / Reflections in a Golden Eye / The Teahouse of the August Moon / The Formula), retrieved 2022-09-06
  9. ^ The Teahouse of the August Moon DVD (Warner Archive Collection), retrieved 2022-09-06
  10. .
  11. .
  12. ^ AsianWeek (November 28, 2007). "The 25 Most Infamous Yellow Face Film Performances". Asianweek.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  13. ^ "Yellowface: A Story in Pictures :: Racebending.com | Advocating for Equality in Entertainment". Racebending.com. December 9, 2009. Archived from the original on November 22, 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  14. .

External links