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Sayonara (1957)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
1957 (Japan) moreTagline:
Worlds apart...theirs was the daring love affair violating every rule, every custom, every centuries-old belief! morePlot:
A US air force major in Kobe confronts his own opposition to marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women when he falls for a beautiful performer. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Won 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 13 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(10 articles)
Ricardo Montalban: From Latin Lovers to Khan (1920-2009) (From FilmExperience. 16 January 2009, 8:38 AM, PST)
Ricardo Montalban Dies At 88
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 15 January 2009, 2:04 AM, PST)
User Comments:
A Landmark film moreCast
(Complete credited cast)| Marlon Brando | ... | Maj. Lloyd 'Ace' Gruver - USAF | |
| Patricia Owens | ... | Eileen Webster | |
| Red Buttons | ... | Airman Joe Kelly | |
| Miiko Taka | ... | Hana-ogi | |
| Ricardo Montalban | ... | Nakamura | |
| Martha Scott | ... | Mrs. Webster | |
| Miyoshi Umeki | ... | Katsumi | |
| James Garner | ... | Capt. Mike Bailey - USMC | |
| Kent Smith | ... | Lt. Gen. Mark Webster | |
| Douglass Watson | ... | Colonel Crawford | |
| Reiko Kuba | ... | Fumiko-San | |
| Soo Yong | ... | Teruko-san | |
| Shochiku Kagekidan Girls Revue | ... | Dancers |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
147 minCountry:
USAColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)Certification:
USA:Approved | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:AtpFun Stuff
Trivia:
In 1956, more than 10,000 American servicemen had defied regulations and married Japanese women, as indeed had the novel's author, James Michener. moreGoofs:
Continuity: When Maj. Gruver is lying on a bent tree, we see him putting his right hand in his pocket. The next shot shows him with his both hands on his belly. moreQuotes:
Major Gruver: Are you gonna sit there with your bare face hangin' out and tell me you never heard of Tanabata? moreSoundtrack:
Sayonara moreFAQ
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The books of James Michener taking readers to faraway places with strange sounding names were probably at their most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. His Tales of the South Pacific became a major blockbuster Broadway hit for Rodgers&Hammerstein. South Pacific was directed by Joshua Logan and he was a natural to do the film adaption of another Michener success, Sayonara.
It was only a decade before that American films during World War II did not portray the Japanese kindly. I'm sure it wasn't easy for people who fought the Pacific war to change attitudes overnight. That and a general no fraternization policy with occupied peoples in general are at the crux of this story about interracial romance.
Sayonara is a relevant film today. The military has always butted in to the personal lives of its personnel in ways no civilian employer could get away with legally. In America at the time Sayonara was made there were still miscegenation laws on the books in many states. Today gays in the military is a big issue. Someone may one day do a Sayonara like film on that issue.
Joshua Logan was on familiar ground. South Pacific also had racism as a component of its plot. With a sure hand, Logan assembled a great cast and crafts a beautiful story.
Marlon Brando, Patricia Owens, James Garner, Kent Smith some of the occidental players do a fine job. But the picture is stolen by the orientals here. Miko Taka hits the mark beautifully as Brando's love interest. But the real stars are the two that one both Supporting players Oscars, Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki.
Buttons is your everyman enlisted man Air Force member. He falls passionately in love with Katsumi played by Miyoshi Umeki. They marry and the military cruelly does everything they can to break them up. They presume to KNOW what's best for Buttons and Umeki. Buttons was a TV comedian and a fair talent, but he never got a part as good as this the rest of his career.
And Miyoshi Umeki's Oscar was the first one given to an oriental. It got a great deal of attention because at the time of the Academy Awards, Miyoshi was starring on Broadway in Flower Drum Song. I was privileged to see it on Broadway, it was the first Broadway show I ever saw. I still carry the memory of it.
That Oscar symbolized something else too. Our war with Japan was really over and we saw in Sayonara a great nation with a proud tradition and culture.
Ricardo Montalban plays Nakamura, a Kabuki Theatre actor. If Sayonara were done today, Logan would never get away with it. But Montalban is fine.
Good location photography and a grand story. This film should be revived more often it has a great moral.