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The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)

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31 comments in total

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A great satire of the okinawan experience after WWII, 8 December 2004
Author: r-silvestri from port orchard, wa. USA

I have spent many years on Okinawa and am always amazed at Brando's ability to create a character (Sakini) that is true to the Okinawan character. I have watched it many times over and enjoy it every time. When I'm asked why I visit Okinawa so often, I usually loan them my copy of "Teahouse" and wait for a response. It is a story of a resilient and happy people who have retained their culture, through many invasions. Brando's monologue at the beginning and end of the film masterfully explains it all. The kids will like it and adults should get a laugh while watching the arrogant victors being steered to the Okinawan's needs in a hilarious manner. It's not quite history and it's not quite fantasy, but it's all good fun.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun and gentle view of cultures meeting, 26 March 2005

Author: ddavis-usnr from Los Angeles, California

This film is an under-appreciated and charming little adventure set in the time immediately after World War II. It has a very enjoyable mix of some excellently-cast actors, from the laid-back Glenn Ford, the frenetic Eddie Albert, and the pompous Paul Ford, to the host of beguiling Japanese actors. Casting Marlon Brando as Sakini requires a little suspension of belief, but his contribution quickly adds to the seductive quality of the movie. It turns out to be a good send-up of the officious, but largely benign, senior military leadership of the era, but largely revolves around Glenn Ford's character, Capt. Fisby, finding his métier. Mainly it is a loving and alluring little fiction about two peoples getting to know and appreciate each other.

It is a very nice little comedy to be enjoyed, but it clearly is not meant to be a documentary representation of U.S. Military occupation forces, and if it is viewed as such, much of the magic of the movie will be lost. While it may contain a few minor instances of the attitudes of that day, some of which are no longer politically correct, there is no malice in the characterizations and the overall message is one of appreciation of both cultures. A very enjoyable way to escape the hassle and hustle of today.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Simply hilarious, 20 August 2000

Author: SquirePM from Birmingham, Alabama

This movie is a joke! A joke! Get it??? A joke from beginning to end.

And it's hysterical. From the patently ludicrous comedy turn by Marlon Brando to the patented comic shtick by the wonderful Paul Ford. With Glenn Ford and Eddie Albert sandwiched in the middle in a farcical romp that barely lets you stop laughing long enough to catch your breath.

Ah, the mighty American conquerors, hornswoggled by the "simple peasants" of the beaten nation. Peter Sellers did this again a few years later in The Mouse That Roared - - let's get the Americans to beat us in a war so they'll make us rich!

But this one is a LOT funnier. ***** out of *****

And by the way, when I sent this tape to my daughter she called me and said she liked the film but I told her Marlon Brando was in it, and he wasn't! Ah, these twentysomethings!

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10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Brando great!, 14 April 2005

Author: wiggy3056 from Philadelphia,Pa.

For a guy who had some heavy duty roles,Waterfront,Sreetcar etc. this role was a real challenge for Brando and he is fabulous and steals movie although Glenn Ford is great too. This shows Brando's brilliance as an actor not that there was ever any doubt but this early in his career to take this comedic challenge shows his versatility. Is Glenn Ford ever bad? I don't think he gets the credit for all his talent. This movie probably could not be made today a victim of PC. Must have Asian play Asian and don't offend the the Japanese although the only people made to look like fool were the Americans which is fine with me because it's a comedy and people are suppose to look foolish. Never on, but caught on TCM.

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13 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
great film, 9 March 2004

Author: kyle_furr

Marlon Brando stars as a Japanese interpreter and Glenn Ford plays a captain who has been in almost every branch in the military. Ford is ordered to go to a Japanese village to teach the people about democracy and to build a schoolhouse in the shape of the pentagon. The Japanese are only interested in building a teahouse and their isn't enough money to build both. The Japanese try to sell some homemade stuff but it won't sell until Ford finds out that they also make brandy. The military can't get enough brandy, so they build a teahouse instead of a schoolhouse. The military don't like what Ford is doing so they send a psychiatrist but he ends up helping them out instead. I thought Glenn Ford was great here and Brando also did a good job.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Gentle fun, heartwarming - a gem !, 21 April 2005

Author: Robert D. Ruplenas

I just had the chance to see this charming movie again in widescreen format in what evidently is a new or restored print on Turner Classic Movies, and I'm realizing that I love the flick more and more each time I see it. The wonderful cast - Glenn Ford, Paul Ford (ironic - no relation!), Eddie Albert, Marlon Brando and Harry Morgan - do a fine job of playing out the movie's humorous meditation on culture clash, and the ability of a strong but flexible people to maintain their Eastern ways in the face of Western "aid". Brando, in particular, is surprising; this is about as far from Stanley Kowalksi or Terry Malloy as you can get, and one would not think him able to do much with a humorous, cross-racial characterization, yet the brilliant and convincing manner in which he pulls it off reminds us of the great thespian talent he once possessed and which he tended to squander as his life progressed. I believe this film had its origins in a very successful stage play; we can thank the forces involved for committing this funny, charming, and ultimately heart-warming story to celluloid. Best line: "I've come to a state of gracious acceptance somewhere between my ambitions and my limitations."

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
It just gets better at every screening!, 2 December 2003

Author: yvesrodier-1 from Montreal

This movie is soooooo funny!

For those who think it is racist, wake-up!!! The Americans are the ones being made fun of! And Brando as a Japanese? Just hilarious!!! Who would have thought?!

I can't believe that some people are saying Glenn Ford stumbles while tying to ad-lib his lines... IT IS CALLED ACTING!!! And he does a wonderful job at it!!!

See this movie, and judge by yourself! 4 1/2 * out of 5

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Above average comedy, 11 July 2004
Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

I've seen this several times and it loses nothing with re-viewing, as long as you don't overdo it, I guess. Basically it's a story of Glen Ford going native, seduced by Marlon Brando, Machiko Kyo, a horde of Okinawan villagers, with Eddie Albert as a closet hydroponicist who gets sucked in along the way.

It has its weaker moments when it becomes a little cute, the way sitcoms are cute, and the ending is a feel-good addendum that tries to graft a happy ending onto an unhappy situation. The ending is less organic than Eddie Albert's vegetables.

Marlon Brando -- well, he's not Japanese. He's too tall and too hefty, and the role was really beneath him. The guy at the time was a fantastic dramatic actor, not a comedian. Paul Ford as Colonel Purdy is fine. No one has expressed disbelief better while on the phone. Albert doesn't have to do much. But Glen Ford couldn't be improved upon as Captain Fisbe, the abject schlemiel who always flunks every test of wits that's thrown in his direction. I couldn't stop laughing at some of the scenes -- Kyo wrestling with Ford while she struggles to remove his clothing, and Colonel Purdy on the phone, asking him, "What are you doing about physical education?", as Ford flops gracelessly on the floor. Ford doing a fine imitation of having a manic episode when Albert visits him -- "This is my cricket cage," and then adding quickly, so as not to be misunderstood, "I haven't got my cricket yet."

The script is full of yoks. Colonel Purdy demanding an explanation from Ford of exactly what he's been teaching the villagers. "Well, Colonel, you know, from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs, share and share alike --" Purdy: "That's COMMUNISM!"

Alas it falls apart after the show at the opening of the teahouse. But that's nothing much, a wasted ten minutes. It's worth seeing, not only for the many successful gags but for Glen Ford's superb performance as well.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Marlon Brando as Japanese?, 5 May 2003

Author: Ilya Mauter

Casting Marlon Brando in this film as Sakini, a Japanese interpreter for American troops in post WW-II Japan is considered by many critics and film historians alike as one of the worst casting errors ever made in a film history. In my opinion, though, Marlon Brando is the one responsible for turning this quite an average film into a hillarious comedy. Yes, they really did it. With a little bit of make up and great effort from actor's part to learn Japanese mannerism and language in order to get an accent in his speech we have here Marlon Brando in his most unimaginable role. The rest of the cast is also quite good, namely Paul Ford as Colonel Waiwright Purdy III, a somehow cliche figure of stubborn, narrow minded US military officer and Glenn Ford by his side as Captain Fisby, for whom Brando's character Sakini ends up working as an interpreter and, of cause, unforgettable Machiko Kyo, as a spirited geisha, whom lovers of Japanese cinema must remember from Akira Kurosawa's films.

Directed by Daniel Mann (Butterfield 8, Come Back, Little Sheba) and based on John Patrick's stage play that was a big hit on Broadway at it's time, The Teahouse of the August Moon is slow in parts and in terms of some aspects of the story considerably aged and outdated but still funny and entertaining movie. 8/10

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A gem!, 11 July 2004

Author: Almeirazz from California

This movie was the first chance to see Marlon Brando in a truly comical role, not the "He Man"-unbelievably good! His accent, his body movements, the Japanese he spoke, hard to believe this was the same man who did the Waterfront.I really think he deserved an award for this role. These were a couple of the most enjoyable hours I've ever spent. Having lived in Okinawa, and familiar with the practical, down-to-earth people there, I enjoyed the movie that makes so much fun and caricatures narrow-mindedness and pompousness while exalting creativity, adaptation, and "what really matters". The movie does make fun of the narrow-mindedness of some Americans, and shows the Okinawans with respect and tenderness, as assertive, business-minded, resilient, and proud. A real quality movie, and I'm so glad I taped it from Turner Classic movies.10 out of 10.

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