Lieutenant Pinkerton marries geisha-in-training but soon after abandons her and goes back to the US.Lieutenant Pinkerton marries geisha-in-training but soon after abandons her and goes back to the US.Lieutenant Pinkerton marries geisha-in-training but soon after abandons her and goes back to the US.
- Bridesmaid
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since; its earliest documented telecast took place in Minneapols Sunday 21 June 1959 on WTCN (Channel 11); it was released on DVD 19 April 2016 as one of 18 [Paramount] titles in Universal's Cary Grant: The Vault Collection, and again 12 October 2016 as part of the Universal Vault Series.
- GoofsWhen the US Navy returns to Tokyo Bay/Yokohama, mountains are seen rising from the sea. There are no mountains in that area.
- Quotes
Cho-Cho San: Do not weep, Mama-san.
Cho-Cho's mother: But you are so young and never have you been away from home before.
Cho-Cho San: But consider Mama-san, soon I shall be very great geisha and then you and the august grandfather and the little brother will have much money.
Cho-Cho's grandfather: This is no place for the daughter of my son, the daughter of a noble samurai. I should never have consented to your coming here.
Cho-Cho San: But we must live and I'm the only one who can work and help.
Cho-Cho's grandfather: Your father died with honour when he could no longer live with honour.
Cho-Cho San: Is it then so shameful to make people happy? To sing for them, to make music, and dance? And I may make a fine marriage. Then I can buy you many gifts
- ConnectionsReferenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #1.2 (1984)
Like most of Sylvia Sidney's roles in this period, the audience waits for the moment when she breaks down in inconsolable tears over the unworthy B.F. Pinkerton. Gary Cooper had been proposed to play the role. Cooper was too important, and Cary Grant was young, very good-looking, and wouldn't cost the production much in the part; given how much set designer Wiard Ihnen and costume designer Travis Banton were spending, it was a good choice. Grant isn't called to be on screen for that long, and isn't called on to do much in the way of acting; Berton Churchill as the American consulate, offers a far more nuanced performance in about four minutes of screen time.
It's clear why this movie disappeared for decades. With suicide, bigamy and miscegenation in the mix, there was no way to re-release it under the Production Code. Alas, if it's not one thing, it's another; nowadays, its use of yellowface renders it equally problematic. Nonetheless, looking at it through the character's broken English, it's another of Miss Sidney's fine performances in a heartbreaking story, one that convinces me that sentimentality and feminism is a good thing.... at least by late 19th century standards. And the visuals are superb.
- boblipton
- Feb 16, 2021
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1