| The Teahouse of the August Moon | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Daniel Mann |
| Written by | John Patrick |
| Based on | The Teahouse of the August Moon 1951 novel byVern J. Sneider |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings |
| Starring | Marlon Brando Glenn Ford Machiko Kyō Eddie Albert Paul Ford Harry Morgan |
| Cinematography | John Alton |
| Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
| Music by | Saul Chaplin June Hershey Kikuko Kanai Don Swander Kikuro Kanai |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,926,000[1] |
| Box office | $8,925,000[1][2] |
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 Americancomedy film directed byDaniel Mann and starringMarlon Brando. Itsatirizes theU.S. occupation and Americanization of the island ofOkinawa following the end ofWorld War II in 1945.
John Patrick adapted the screenplay from his ownPulitzer-Prize- andTony Award-winningBroadwayplay of 1953. The play was, in turn, adapted from a1951 novel byVern J. Sneider.[3] The film was entered into the7th Berlin International Film Festival.[4] The supporting cast featuresGlenn Ford,Machiko Kyō,Eddie Albert,Paul Ford andHarry Morgan.
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Misfit Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) is sent to Americanize the village of Tobiki onOkinawa, the largest of theRyukyu 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 ateahouse instead. Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a younggeisha (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 calledgeta. 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 wearinggeta, an army bathrobe (which Fisby claims is hiskimono) and what Fisby terms an "air-conditioned" straw hat (the latter being headwear worn by Okinawan farmers). McLean later proves to be enthusiastic aboutorganic farming.
When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing ayukata (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.
Playing the role of an Okinawan villager was to prove an interesting challenge forMarlon Brando'smethod 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 byLouis Calhern, but he died of a sudden heart attack inNara 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 inPhil Silvers' TV seriesBilko.
Ford was not the only actor who went on to be cast in a television series role very similar to hisTeahouse character. Like the psychiatrist Captain McLean, Eddie Albert'sOliver Wendell Douglas onGreen 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.Machiko Kyō (Lotus Blossom) had won acclaim for her dramatic performances inRashomon andGate of Hell, so this lightly comedic part was a departure for her.[7]
In November 7, 2006, was released in DVD byWarner Bros. Home Entertainment as part of The Marlon Brando Collection along withJulius Caesar,Mutiny on the Bounty andReflections in a Golden Eye.[8] In November 20, 2018, was released in DVD, under the labelWarner Archive Collection.[9]
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.[1] It was nominated for aGolden Globe Award forMotion Picture Promoting International Understanding.
AlongsideJapanese War Bride (1952) and another Brando film,Sayonara (1957),The Teahouse of the August Moon was argued by some scholars to have increased interracial tolerance in the United States by openly discussinginterracial marriages.[10] Other scholars have argued that the movie is one in a long list stereotyping Asian American women as "lotus blossom, geisha girl, china doll, orSuzie Wong" by presenting Asian women as "passive, sexually compliant and easy to seduce" or as downright prostitutes.[11] The movie has been criticized by critical theorists and Brando's performance branded as an example ofyellowface casting.[12][13]
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 aGolden Turkey Award for "Most Ludicrous Racial Impersonation".[14]
