Plot

The comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 involves Mrs. Jacoby, a Jewish widow

Widow

A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...

 from Brooklyn, New York, and Koichi Asano, a millionaire

Millionaire

A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...

 widower from Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. Mrs. Jacoby is sailing to Japan with her daughter and foreign service officer son-in-law who is being posted to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She still considers the country the enemy responsible for the death of her son during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but her feelings change when she meets Mr. Asano on board the ship. When she advises her family of Mr. Asano's desire to court her, Mrs. Jacoby's daughter objects to the possibility of an interracial marriage.

The 1959-60 Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production was directed by Dore Schary

Dore Schary

Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American motion picture director, writer, and producer, and playwright who became head of production at MGM and eventually president of the studio...

 and ran for 3 previews and 556 performances, with Gertrude Berg

Gertrude Berg

Gertrude Berg was an American actress and screenwriter. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her serial comedy-drama The Rise of the Goldbergs , later known as The Goldbergs.-Career:Berg was born...

, Cedric Hardwicke

Cedric Hardwicke

Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...

, and Ina Balin

Ina Balin

Ina Balin was an American actress on Broadway and in film.Born as Ina Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, she first appeared on television on The Perry Como Show...

.

Awards and nominations

• Tony Award
  Tony Award
  The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
  
   for Best Actor in Play (Cedric Hardwicke, nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Gertrude Berg, winner)
• Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (Donald Oenslager, winner)
• Tony Award for Best Direction (Dore Schary, nominee)
• Theatre World Award
  Theatre World Award
  The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
  
   (Ina Balin, winner)

Film version

In 1961 Spigelgass adapted his play for a Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 film starring Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...

 and Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...

 and directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Mervyn LeRoy

Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...

.

Awards and nominations

• Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography (Harry Stradling Sr., nominee)
• Directors Guild of America
  Directors Guild of America
  Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
  
   Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Mervyn LeRoy, nominee)
• Golden Globe Award
  Golden Globe Award
  The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
  
   for Best Film Promoting International Understanding (winner)
• Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy (winner)
• Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy (Rosalind Russell, winner)
• Writers Guild of America
  Writers Guild of America
  The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
  
  Award for Best Written American Comedy (Leonard Spigelgass, nominee)

External links