| The Barbarian and the Geisha | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical releasehalf-sheet display poster | |
| Directed by | John Huston |
| Screenplay by | Charles Grayson |
| Story by | Ellis St. Joseph |
| Produced by | Eugene Frenke |
| Starring | John Wayne Eiko Ando Sam Jaffe So Yamamura |
| Cinematography | Charles G. Clarke |
| Edited by | Stuart Gilmore |
| Music by | Hugo W. Friedhofer |
| Color process | Color by DeLuxe |
Production company | 20th Century Fox |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,495,000[1] |
| Box office | $2.5 million[2] |
The Barbarian and the Geisha (working titlesThe Townsend Harris Story andThe Barbarian) is a 1958 Americanadventure film directed byJohn Huston and starringJohn Wayne. The film was shot primarily on location in Japan.
Townsend Harris is appointed the firstConsul General to Japan. Upon his arrival, Harris discovers that the Japanese thoroughly mistrust all foreigners, despite a two-year-old treaty between Japan and the United States. Harris slowly earns the respect of the local governor and trust of the local townsfolk and is eventually granted an audience with Japan's military dictator, theShōgun.
In 1856,Townsend Harris is sent by PresidentFranklin Pierce to serve as the first U.S.Consul General to Japan, following the treaty written by CommodoreMatthew C. Perry two years before. Accompanied only by his translator-secretary,Henry Heusken and three Chinese servants, Harris comes ashore at the town ofShimoda prefecture, as specified in the treaty as the location for an American consulate.
However, the Japanese governor Tamura refuses to accept his credentials, denying him any official status, due to a conflict between interpretations of the treaty terms. While Harris believes that the Consul shall be present whenever either country requires, the Japanese believe the terms to permit a consul only when both countries require. The governor holds to his interpretation, largely because of objections overthe threats under which the treaty was forced upon them. Harris is permitted to remain in Shimoda, but only as a private citizen, with no recognition of his official status. He is provided the use of an abandoned home, adjacent to the town cemetery.
Tamura explains that, in the two years following Perry's visit, various natural disasters had taken place. Some Japanese believed them to be warnings from the gods to avoid foreign influences. In the weeks that follow, Harris is the target of distrust and hostility, to the extent that Tamura orders townspeople to not even sell him food. Some in Japan wanted the country opened, but many others feared the corruption of foreign influences, and invasion by the barbarians of other lands. For this reason, Harris is not permitted to leave Shimoda, nor to go any closer to the capitol inEdo, 100 miles away.
For his own part, Harris does his best to cooperate with Tamura, even obeying orders to take down the American flag which had been raised to mark the location of the consulate. His cooperation noted, after several months, Harris is eventually invited to dine with the Governor, a dinner following which Tamura sends ageisha named Okichi to take care of Harris' needs.
The relationship between Harris and Okichi grows closer and more intimate, and she helps him understand Japanese culture. Harris helps rid the village of acholera epidemic and out of this comes Harris' opportunity to go to Edo, where he must then convince theShogunate to open the country, while facing his greatest crisis.
DirectorAnthony Mann initially owned the story but he sold the rights to20th Century Fox after being unable to sign a big star to play the lead.
Exteriors were shot on location in Japan atKyoto and theTōdai-ji shrine inNara. Interiors and additional scenes were completed atToho Studios inTokyo and 20th Century Fox Studios,Los Angeles. During filming,John Wayne and directorJohn Huston did not get along; in one altercation, Wayne throttled and punched Huston on set.[3][4]
The film was heavily re-edited by20th Century Fox before release. Huston denounced this version and even wanted to have his name removed from the credits.[5] Huston had wanted to make a particularlyJapanese film in terms of photography, pacing, color and narration but according to him only a few edits – representing his vision – were left intact in the theatrical version.
The film performed disappointingly at the box office. Despite Huston's anger at studio interference,The New York Times'Bosley Crowther liked the film's cinematography calling it a "whole picture out of patience and pageantry".[6] Blu-ray.com's Casey Broadwater observed this about the film: "Wayne's restrained and uncomfortable "other-ness" as agaijin in Japan is essential to the story. With his cowboy swagger and deep commanding drawl, Wayne typifies every Japanese stereotype about brash, take-charge Americans, andBarbarian's specificfrisson comes from seeing his character stumped and stymied by a culture that values group-think over individualism".[7]
The film is based on the life of the American diplomatTownsend Harris and his time in Japan during thefinal years of theTokugawa shogunate. PresidentFranklin Pierce named Harris the firstConsul General to the Empire of Japan in July 1856. He opened the first U.S. Consulate at theGyokusen-ji temple in the city ofShimoda,Shizuoka Prefecture. This consolidated the mission by CommodoreMatthew C. Perry who established the first trade agreement between the U.S. and Japan in 1853.[8][9] Harris left Japan in 1861.
In Harris' time, Japan was living through the final years of its period when the country remained ininternational isolation and adhered to strictcustoms and regulations intended to promote stability. In 1868, just seven years after Harris' departure, theMeiji Restoration started Japan's emergence as a modernized nation in the early twentieth century through massive industrialization, and enormous reforms to its political and social structure.
The film incorporates the enduring Japanese legend about Harris and a 17-year-oldgeisha named Okichi (お吉). The story says she was pressured by Japanese authorities into forming a relationship with Harris in order to make the trade meetings go more smoothly. However, after Harris departed Japan to return to America, she was insultingly called the "Barbarian Okichi" and was ostracized by her people; as a result, she began drinking and eventually committed suicide in 1892.[10] According to historians, however, most of the story is simply untrue.[10] Although Okichi was a real person, she was merely one of Harris' housekeepers, and he apparently fired her after only three days of working for him.[10][11]
The Barbarian and the Geisha was released as a combo Blu-ray and DVD two disc set on May 8, 2012, by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.