The Teahouse of the August Moon
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| The Teahouse of the August Moon | |
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 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Daniel Mann |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings |
| Written by | John Patrick, Vern J. Sneider |
| Starring | Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyô, Paul Ford |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | December 1956 (USA) |
| Running time | 123 min |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 motion picture comedy satirising the U.S. occupation of Japan following the end of World War II. It starred Glenn Ford and Marlon Brando. John Patrick adapted the screenplay from his own Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning Broadway play of 1953. The play was, in turn, adapted from a 1951 novel by Vern J. Sneider.
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[edit] Plot summary
Misfit Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) is sent to Americanise the village of Tobiki on Okinawa. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando), to act 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 Kyô).
To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items, but nobody wants to buy them. Then Fisby makes a happy discovery. The villagers brew a potent alcoholic beverage 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 Captain McLean (Eddie Albert) to check up on Fisby, the newcomer is quickly won over. (In a foreshadowing of Albert's later role on Green Acres, he proves to be enthusiastic about farming.) When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby in the teahouse wearing a bathrobe as an improvised kimono. Despite Purdy's anger, in a deus ex machina, the village is chosen by the SCAP as an example of successful democratisation.
[edit] Production
Playing the role of a Japanese villager from Okinawa was to prove a challenge for Marlon Brando's method acting techniques. He spent two months studying local culture, speech and gestures.
The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by Louis Calhern, but he died in Tokyo during filming, and was replaced by Paul Ford.
[edit] Cultural impact
Conventionally, the film stands firmly within the genre of official goes native stories such as Local Hero. A stuffy bureaucrat is sent to resolve a perceived problem in a community but becomes socialised into a more permissive way of life. When the official's superiors come to audit him, conflicts in values are exposed with results comic or tragic. Perhaps Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is the prototype of such tales.
However, in the occupation of Japan, the US were aiming to nurture democracy, respect for human rights and liberal values. The occupation had seen not only reconstruction but also the trial and execution of those held responsible for war crimes. With the occupation only ended in 1952, the subject ought to feel like an odd one for a light popular comedy. Moreover, the Japanese people are cast in a humane and civilised, if somewhat patronising, light alongside the officious and bureaucratic Americans.
The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding but by the 1970s, cultural idiosyncrasies and pronunciation struggles had ceased to be a subject of fun. A 1971 musical version of the play (Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen) flopped.
[edit] Quotes
- Sakini: "Pain makes man think. Thought makes man wise. Wisdom makes life endurable."
- Sakini: "Socks up, boss!"
