The Teahouse of the August Moon
Encyclopedia
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 American comedy
film satirizing
the U.S.
occupation and Americanization of the island of Okinawa following the end of World War II
in 1945. The motion picture starred Glenn Ford
and Marlon Brando
.
John Patrick adapted the screenplay from his own Pulitzer Prize
and Tony Award
winning Broadway
play of 1953
. The play was, in turn, adapted from a 1951 novel
by Vern J. Sneider. The film was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival
.
) is sent to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands
. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando
), to act as interpreter.
Fisby tries to implement the military's plans, by encouraging the villagers to build a school in the shape of a pentagon, but they want to build a teahouse
instead. Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a young geisha
(Machiko Kyō
).
To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items to sell as souvenirs, but nobody wants to buy them. These include cricket cages and wooden Chinese footwear called Geta
. Then Fisby makes a happy discovery. The villagers brew a potent alcoholic beverage in a matter of days, which finds a ready market in the American army. With the influx of money, the teahouse is built in next to no time.
When Purdy sends psychiatrist Captain McLean (Eddie Albert
) to check up on Fisby, the newcomer is quickly won over. This, even after Fisby greets McLean wearing Geta
, an army bathrobe (which Fisby claims is his kimono
) and what Fisby terms an "air-conditioned" straw hat (the latter being headwear worn by Okinawan farmers). McLean later proves to be enthusiastic about organic farming
.
When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing a yukata
. Both are leading a rowdy song at a party in full swing in the teahouse. Purdy orders the building destroyed, but in a burst of foresight, the villagers only dismantle the teahouse instead.
In what might be referred to as a deus ex machina
, the village is chosen by the SCAP
as an example of successful American-led democratization. This leads to the teahouse being reassembled without threat of destruction by Colonel Purdy.
's method acting
techniques. He spent two months studying local culture, speech and gestures and, for the actual shooting, he subjected himself daily to two hours of make-up applied to make him appear Asian. Even though Brando is supposed to be an interpreter fluent in the local language, he does little actual translating. This, presumably because to do so would require that Brando be fully and actually conversant in the local dialect. Also, the film never explains why in a rural Okinawan village, the spoken language is Japanese instead of the local Okinawan dialect. Of course, the average American filmgoer of the 1950's was not in a position to notice these cultural discrepancies, or to be aware of the actual history of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands
.
The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by Louis Calhern
, but he died in Nara
during filming, and was replaced by Paul Ford. Ford had played the part more than a thousand times, having been one of the Broadway originals, and he would play a similarly bumbling, harassed colonel hundreds of times more in Phil Silvers
' TV series Bilko
.
The film made use of Japanese music recorded in Kyoto
and sung and danced by Japanese artists. Machiko Kyo
(Lotus Blossom) had won acclaim for her dramatic performances in Rashomon
and Gate of Hell, so this lightly comedic part was a departure for her.
for Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding. A 1971 musical version of the play Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen
ran two weeks on Broadway, closing after just 19 performances.
Recent restoration of the film has apparently left some edits where memorable lines have been lost. One of the finest exchanges has disappeared: discovering the villagers share their labor and profits equally, Colonel Purdy is sure that is communism in action. Advised by Captain Fisby that this is patterned after the Iowa Farm Cooperative, Purdy wails "Iowa? My God, they are in the Heartland!"
Brando closes the film by saying "sayonara," which would coincidentally be the name of his next film, Sayonara.
Eddie Albert went on to star in Green Acres
as Oliver Wendell Douglas
a sophisticated, urbane attorney with an obsession to become a farmer, very similar in character to Captain/Doctor McLean.
Both Brando and Ford would go on to play the fathers of Superman
in the 1978 film.
Okinawa had been under American control for about 10 years when this motion picture was made. The island would continue to be occupied, controlled and Americanized by the United States for another 2 decades until the end of the 5-year reversion period (1972-1977), i.e., until sovereign control was returned to Japan
. Americanization of the island over a period of some 30 years included driving on the right side of the road (instead of left), the use of the U.S. dollar
instead of Japanese yen, and (contrary to the happy-go-lucky nature of the film) social stratification of government workers into three ethnic groups. These groups were the American civilians at the top of the social and economic scale, Filipino civilians at the center strata and then the Okinawans who worked for the U.S. Government being situated at the bottom of the social and wage scale. All of this would begin to change, starting in 1977 with Japanese control being reinstated. It is interestingly authentic that the shoulder patch worn by the army characters in the film was that of USARYIS (U.S. Army Ryukyu Islands), well known as the gold and black "Torii
Patch" by American veterans of the Okinawa occupation during the period 1950-1972. Contrary to popular belief, Okinawa as a part of Japan
is a relatively recent phenomenon, when compared to some 700 years of rule under the Tenson, Eisō and Shō dynasties of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
, between 1187 and 1879.
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...
film satirizing
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
occupation and Americanization of the island of Okinawa following the end of 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...
in 1945. The motion picture starred Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
and Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
.
John Patrick adapted the screenplay from his own Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
and Tony Award
Tony Award for Best Play
The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
winning 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...
play of 1953
The Teahouse of the August Moon (play)
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1953 play written by John Patrick adapted from the 1951 novel by Vern Sneider. It was later adapted for film in 1956, and the 1970 Broadway musical, Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen.-Plot summary:...
. The play was, in turn, adapted from a 1951 novel
The Teahouse of the August Moon (novel)
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a novel by Vern Sneider published in 1951. The book was subsequently adapted for a play and film with the same titles, both written by John Patrick, and later, in 1970, the Broadway musical Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen by Patrick and Stan Freeman...
by Vern J. Sneider. The film was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival
7th Berlin International Film Festival
The 7th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 21 to July 2, 1957.-Jury:* Jay Carmody * Jean de Baroncelli* John Sutro* Dalpathal Kothari* Fernaldo Di Giammatteo* Bunzaburo Hayashi* Miguel Alemán hijo...
.
Plot
Misfit Captain Fisby (Glenn FordGlenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
) is sent to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
), to act as interpreter.
Fisby tries to implement the military's plans, by encouraging the villagers to build a school in the shape of a pentagon, but they want to build a teahouse
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
instead. Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a young geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
(Machiko Kyō
Machiko Kyo
is a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She rose to extraordinary domestic praise in Japan for her work in two of the greatest Japanese films of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu.Machiko trained to be a dancer before...
).
To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items to sell as souvenirs, but nobody wants to buy them. These include cricket cages and wooden Chinese footwear called Geta
Geta
Geta may refer to:*Publius Septimius Geta , a Roman emperor*Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland*Getå, a minor locality in Sweden*Geta, Nepal*Geta , a type of Japanese footwear...
. Then Fisby makes a happy discovery. The villagers brew a potent alcoholic beverage in a matter of days, which finds a ready market in the American army. With the influx of money, the teahouse is built in next to no time.
When Purdy sends psychiatrist Captain McLean (Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
) to check up on Fisby, the newcomer is quickly won over. This, even after Fisby greets McLean wearing Geta
Geta
Geta may refer to:*Publius Septimius Geta , a Roman emperor*Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland*Getå, a minor locality in Sweden*Geta, Nepal*Geta , a type of Japanese footwear...
, an army bathrobe (which Fisby claims is his kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
) and what Fisby terms an "air-conditioned" straw hat (the latter being headwear worn by Okinawan farmers). McLean later proves to be enthusiastic about organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
.
When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing a yukata
Yukata
A is a Japanese garment, a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton. People wearing yukata are a common sight in Japan at fireworks displays, bon-odori festivals, and other summer events. The yukata is also frequently worn after bathing at traditional Japanese inns...
. Both are leading a rowdy song at a party in full swing in the teahouse. Purdy orders the building destroyed, but in a burst of foresight, the villagers only dismantle the teahouse instead.
In what might be referred to as a deus ex machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
, the village is chosen by the SCAP
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...
as an example of successful American-led democratization. This leads to the teahouse being reassembled without threat of destruction by Colonel Purdy.
Production
Playing the role of an Okinawan villager was to prove a challenge for Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
's method acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
techniques. He spent two months studying local culture, speech and gestures and, for the actual shooting, he subjected himself daily to two hours of make-up applied to make him appear Asian. Even though Brando is supposed to be an interpreter fluent in the local language, he does little actual translating. This, presumably because to do so would require that Brando be fully and actually conversant in the local dialect. Also, the film never explains why in a rural Okinawan village, the spoken language is Japanese instead of the local Okinawan dialect. Of course, the average American filmgoer of the 1950's was not in a position to notice these cultural discrepancies, or to be aware of the actual history of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
.
The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by Louis Calhern
Louis Calhern
Louis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
, but he died in Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
during filming, and was replaced by Paul Ford. Ford had played the part more than a thousand times, having been one of the Broadway originals, and he would play a similarly bumbling, harassed colonel hundreds of times more in Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
' TV series Bilko
The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...
.
The film made use of Japanese music recorded in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
and sung and danced by Japanese artists. Machiko Kyo
Machiko Kyo
is a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She rose to extraordinary domestic praise in Japan for her work in two of the greatest Japanese films of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu.Machiko trained to be a dancer before...
(Lotus Blossom) had won acclaim for her dramatic performances in Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
and Gate of Hell, so this lightly comedic part was a departure for her.
Subsequent events
The film was nominated for a Golden Globe AwardGolden 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 Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding. A 1971 musical version of the play Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen
Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen
Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen is a musical with a book by John Patrick and music and lyrics by Stan Freeman and Franklin Underwood.Based on Patrick's play and screenplay The Teahouse of the August Moon, it focuses on Capt. Fisby who, assigned the task of Americanizing the village of Tobiki on...
ran two weeks on Broadway, closing after just 19 performances.
Recent restoration of the film has apparently left some edits where memorable lines have been lost. One of the finest exchanges has disappeared: discovering the villagers share their labor and profits equally, Colonel Purdy is sure that is communism in action. Advised by Captain Fisby that this is patterned after the Iowa Farm Cooperative, Purdy wails "Iowa? My God, they are in the Heartland!"
Brando closes the film by saying "sayonara," which would coincidentally be the name of his next film, Sayonara.
Eddie Albert went on to star in Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
as Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas was the major character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. The character's name was inspired by famed Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and possibly also by then-Supreme Court justice William Orville Douglas....
a sophisticated, urbane attorney with an obsession to become a farmer, very similar in character to Captain/Doctor McLean.
Both Brando and Ford would go on to play the fathers of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
in the 1978 film.
Okinawa had been under American control for about 10 years when this motion picture was made. The island would continue to be occupied, controlled and Americanized by the United States for another 2 decades until the end of the 5-year reversion period (1972-1977), i.e., until sovereign control was returned to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Americanization of the island over a period of some 30 years included driving on the right side of the road (instead of left), the use of the U.S. dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
instead of Japanese yen, and (contrary to the happy-go-lucky nature of the film) social stratification of government workers into three ethnic groups. These groups were the American civilians at the top of the social and economic scale, Filipino civilians at the center strata and then the Okinawans who worked for the U.S. Government being situated at the bottom of the social and wage scale. All of this would begin to change, starting in 1977 with Japanese control being reinstated. It is interestingly authentic that the shoulder patch worn by the army characters in the film was that of USARYIS (U.S. Army Ryukyu Islands), well known as the gold and black "Torii
Torii
A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred...
Patch" by American veterans of the Okinawa occupation during the period 1950-1972. Contrary to popular belief, Okinawa as a part of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
is a relatively recent phenomenon, when compared to some 700 years of rule under the Tenson, Eisō and Shō dynasties of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
, between 1187 and 1879.