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 Kyō, Paul Ford |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | December 1956 (USA) |
| Running time | 123 min |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 motion picture comedy satirizing 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 Kyō).
To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items to sell as souvenirs, 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 psychiatrist 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 organic farming.) When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby (in a bathrobe as an improvised kimono) and McLean (in a yukata), leading a rowdy song at a party in full swing in the teahouse. 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.[citation needed]
The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by Louis Calhern, but he died in Nara during filming, and was replaced by Paul Ford.[citation needed]
[edit] Subsequent events
The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding. 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!"
- Sakini: "Poor men like to feel rich. Rich men like to feel wise. Sad men like to feel happy, so all go to geisha house and tell troubles to geisha girl. Now, she listen very politely. She say ohhhh, that's too bad, boss. She very pretty. She make tea, and she sing, and she dance, boss -- pretty soon, troubles go away, boss! So, that's not worth something, boss?"
[edit] DVD
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DVD is available as part of the "Marlon Brando Collection" including "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "Julius Caesar," "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Reflections in a Golden Eye," and "The Formula." Closed captioned, November, 2006.
[edit] External links
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