{"id":41276,"date":"2018-10-25T20:51:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T03:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41276"},"modified":"2020-12-07T18:24:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:24:00","slug":"teahouse-of-the-august-moon-the-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41276","title":{"rendered":"Teahouse of the August Moon, The (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s my job to teach these Okinawans democracy &#8212; and they&#8217;re going to learn democracy if I have to shoot every last one of them!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster-206x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster-88x128.jpg 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster-768x1119.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster-703x1024.jpg 703w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-August-Moon-Poster.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn post-WWII Japan, a bumbling American captain (Glenn Ford) is sent to Okinawa to set up a school and bring democracy to the village. Once there, his wily interpreter (Marlon Brando) helps him understand that the villagers have different goals in mind &#8212; including gifting him a geisha girl (Machiko Kyo) and convincing him to use American funds to build a teahouse instead of a school. A visiting military doctor (Eddie Albert) is soon lured into helping with agriculture, and he and Ford assist the village in selling homemade brandy; it&#8217;s up to Ford&#8217;s promotion-seeking superior (Paul Ford) to set everything straight.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eddie Albert Films<\/li>\n<li>Glenn Ford Films<\/li>\n<li>Marlon Brando Films<\/li>\n<li>Military<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Satires and Spoofs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Teahouse_of_the_August_Moon_(play)\">1953 play by John Patrick<\/a> (itself based on a 1951 novel by Vern Sneider), this &#8220;occupation comedy&#8221; arouses immediate suspicion and distaste given the casting of Marlon Brando as a Japanese man &#8212; but he&#8217;s surprisingly effective and inoffensive, most likely due to his genuine love of the play and respect for his craft. According to TCM&#8217;s article:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The role of Sakini had been played by David Wayne on Broadway, but since he had little track record in movies, the part went to Marlon Brando who had loved the play so much he saw it three times. Brando intended to use some of his salary to finance a United Nations film program in Asia. True to his reputation, he worked on making his role as authentic as possible, studying the motions and spoken accents of real Okinawans though he had to adapt the language slightly to be more intelligible to American audiences.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2167bran.html\">DVD Savant<\/a> writes that Brando&#8217;s character is &#8220;a natural prankster who uses his charm and guile to completely derail Captain Fisby&#8217;s [Ford&#8217;s] mission. He completely manipulates the situation by selectively interpreting, or misinterpreting, Fisby&#8217;s words.&#8221; Indeed, the entire film handily mocks America for trying to impose democracy wholesale onto a different culture, and it&#8217;s refreshing watching the villagers quietly and insistently get what they want. As Savant &#8212; who argues the film &#8220;takes a bit of getting used to&#8221; &#8212; notes: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230; It&#8217;s disconcerting at first to see the presentation of the Okinawans as &#8216;cute&#8217; and inoffensive &#8216;little people.&#8217; Only slowly do we realize that they are the ones in control of the situation, and by the end the film is awarding them full respect while lampooning the American military as hopeless dummies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Beautiful Machiko Kyo &#8212; star of Akira Kurosawa&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11564\"><em>Rashomon<\/em> (1950)<\/a>; the Academy Award-winning Best Foreign Picture <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=98\"><em>Gate of Hell<\/em> (1953)<\/a>; Kenzi Mizoguchi&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=110\"><em>Ugetsu<\/em> (1953)<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=117\"><em>Princess Yang Kwei Fei<\/em> (1955)<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1904\"><em>Street of Shame<\/em> (1956)<\/a>; Yasujiro Ozu&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13196\"><em>Floating Weeds<\/em> (1959)<\/a>; and Kon Ichikawa&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1910\"><em>Kagi<\/em> (1961)<\/a> &#8212; acquits herself very nicely, and is especially delightful during an initial tussle with Ford as she struggles to get his clothes off.   <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-1024x444.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"278\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-1024x444.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-768x333.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-1536x666.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo-604x262.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Kyo.png 1807w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amusing lead performances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando.png 850w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Brando-768x323.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Beautiful Technicolor cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography.png 850w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Teahouse-Cinematography-768x323.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s worth a one-time look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049830\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1956\/11\/30\/archives\/screen-teahouse-at-the-music-hall-yuletide-show-stars-ford-and.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2167bran.html\">DVD Savant (scroll down to second review) <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/92445\/the-teahouse-of-the-august-moon#articles-reviews?articleId=91134\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my job to teach these Okinawans democracy &#8212; and they&#8217;re going to learn democracy if I have to shoot every last one of them!&#8221; Synopsis: In post-WWII Japan, a bumbling American captain (Glenn Ford) is sent to Okinawa to set up a school and bring democracy to the village. Once there, his wily interpreter (Marlon Brando) helps him understand that the villagers have different goals in mind &#8212; including gifting him a geisha girl (Machiko Kyo) and convincing him&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41276\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41276"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56465,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41276\/revisions\/56465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}