THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON (1956)

In Okinawa in 1946, during the post-war American occupation of Japan, Colonel Purdy (Paul Ford), a by-the-books commander, assigns Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford, pictured) to lead the effort to Americanize the village of Tobiki. Fisby, whose background is in psychological warfare, hasn't quite fit anywhere he's been assigned—he's an easily distracted people-pleaser—and his main chores, in addition to installing democratic impulses in the people, are to start a profitable souvenir-making business and to build a new schoolhouse in the shape of the Pentagon. His local translator Sakini (Marlon Brando), though friendly and outwardly servile, figures out quickly how to keep Fisby fairly befuddled. A villager gives Fisby a geisha girl named Lotus Blossom, a gift he awkwardly accepts, and soon the village women want to be schooled in the ways of the geisha so they talk Fisby into using the school materials to build a teahouse in the geisha tradition. The souvenir business is a bust because their man-made methods lead to goods that are far more expensive than mass produced trinkets, but Sakini gets Fisby to approve a plan to produce sweet potato brandy which becomes a big hit with American soldiers. Capt. McLean (Eddie Albert) is sent by Purdy to check up on Fisby, who has gone native by now, favoring kimonos and straw hats, but McLean is enlisted to help teach organic gardening methods and he goes native as well. Eventually Purdy shows up, is horrified by the situation, and orders the teahouse and the brandy stills destroyed. But when Purdy finds out that a Congressional junket is arriving to document the success of Tobiki, Sakini and the villagers come to the rescue.

This is a gentle comedy of assimilation, though it ends up being the Americans doing the assimilating. It's a sweet and charming film that is almost perfectly cast, but these days it has to fight the stigma of the yellowface performance of Marlon Brando as Sakini. At first his exaggerated make-up (he is barely recognizable as Brando) and accent seemed offensive, but he grew on me over time, especially as his character comes off as smart and likable. A slyly comic performance is not in Brando's wheelhouse, but he winds up being very good. Glenn Ford is very appealing, coming off as just a really nice guy who overcomes his bumbling and his discomfort to become quite resourceful. Occasionally I wanted to jump into the movie and give him a hug and tell him things would be OK. Paul Ford, who created the role of Purdy on Broadway, is every bit the blustering doofus that he would be later in The Music Man. Eddie Albert is fine as another fumbling nice guy, and Japanese star Machiko Kyo has the mostly thankless role of Lotus Blossom. Harry Morgan, MASH’s Col. Potter, has a small role. In the first half of the movie, some amusing scenes tend to go on too long, as when Sakini manipulates Fisby into taking an entire extended family with him to Tobiki. I was surprised how relatively little screen time Brando had in the last half of the film as we see the predicaments he set in motion work themselves out. I thought I'd seen this movie on TV when I was quite young, but now I realize I saw a Hallmark Hall of Fame production of the original play with David Wayne as Sakini and John Forsythe as Fisby. The movie, shot partly on location in Japan, is a bit stagy at times, but I think it works to the film's advantage. I understand that some viewers may not be able to get past Brando's yellowface, but if you can, I think you’ll find the movie charming. [DVD]