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18 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Gentle and enjoyable, 4 April 2004
8/10
Author: Mal Walker from Australia

This is a gentle little film that may have it's faults with the hindsight of 40 years, but is enjoyable, especially I feel to those that remember the post WW11 days.

Alec Guinness plays the part beautifully, with his usual master of the character, Rosalind Russel plays a good stereotyped Jewish Mother .... the other characters just fill in between the lines. The only character that I find fault with is 'Eddy' the No. 1 boy of the family in Tokyo. He is obnoxious and completely out of character with a real 'House Boy' of the times that was lucky enough to get a 'cushy number' working for an American Diplomat.

In these days of virtual reality with sex, blood and car chases being the three main criteria of movie making, this movie is like going to a stage production from the 50's...... gentle and enjoyable.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Love Stories, 20 July 2007
10/10
Author: dlcnut-1 from United States

One of the great love stories of all time. If it is possible to fall in love with a movie I fell the first time I saw it. I did not have recorder at the time. I thought it might be a time filler when I saw the listing. I like Rosalind Russell and Alec Guinness so I tuned it in. I wish I had a recorder at that time.

It is wonderful movie. It starts with two elderly bigoted, hurt and angry people who go through trials and tribulations with her family and still get together in the end. They are hurt because of family losses during World War II.

It is a quiet romantic comedy that comes off beautifully.

If you like love stories, then this movie is a must.

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant movie, yes it was long, but well done. Still relevant, 2 July 2007
10/10
Author: tallguy62 from Chicago, IL

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I cannot believe the reviewers who are spewing forth venom that this movie is offensive somehow. Because a true "Japanese" man was not cast in Alec Guiness's role, is that any reason to dismiss this movie as horrible and offensive? This is one of the most IN-offensive films I have ever seen, particularly because it very subtly addresses whether love should have any racial boundaries.

It has a GREAT, before-its-time story. That, in and of itself, makes it a marvelous movie. Rosalind Russell blossoms in this role -- she always makes acting seem so effortless. Both Rosalind and Alec are charming, believable and yet still human. They do not pretend to have all of life's answers, even as they fall in love with each other. This is what makes the movie still relevant today. It is a movie about relationships, heartaches, failures and the good things in life, all thrown together in one film.

It is a movie to make you think about life, and most people are so rushed through life, they will not be able to enjoy a film like this; they will call it boring. I found it most interesting because I am a "thinker". Not everyone is. If you enjoy a very thoughtful, humorous and sweet love story, with all its ups and downs, you will definitely enjoy this movie!

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12 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Painfully long...?, 3 April 2004
10/10
Author: straussy from Brisbane, Australia

Maybe for someone with the attention span of a gnat.

Nice movie. Great portrayal by Alec Guinness. He somehow manages to overcome the impediment of a botox like makeup job to produce a completely convincing Japanese business man. Everything from the way he managed to sit in seiza (position of kneeling) in a relaxed manner to the way he spoke Japanese was convincing. He spoke Japanese with a better Japanese accent than he spoke English with a Japanese accent. The man was a freak. I was expecting something like the gibberish dialog of Kill Bill, but this movie got it right. Nice job done by Rosalind Russell too. Don't know her work, but I will keep my eye out.

Felt compelled to defend this sweet movie.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Eastern Parkway Meets The Far East, 15 July 2008
6/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Unlike a few of her female contemporary film stars from the Thirties, Rosalind Russell managed to avoid the perils of being cast in horror films because it was the only roles she was offered. I think only Katharine Hepburn exercised better discretion in her parts even if for Russell they weren't always completely successful with audiences and critics.

Case in point is A Majority Of One. The play by Leonard Spiegelgass ran for 559 performances in the 1959-1960 season, it was a popular hit as well with Jewish audiences. Mainly because the play was done by THE Jewish American mother from radio and television, Gertrude Berg. As a small kid I do recall the lives and loves of Molly Goldberg and her family were almost a rite on the nights it was broadcast for my Jewish relatives. Berg was a natural for the part of the Jewish widow from 776 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

Anyway this tall prominent lay Catholic from Connecticut does give it a good try and she succeeds in many ways. Today's audiences in seeing this film don't have the memory of Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg to fall back on, so Russell's performance is more likely to be judged on its own merits. It's not a bad one.

The other casting however was and remains more controversial. Alec Guinness is one of those actors who can play just about any racial or ethnic type and has. He succeeded his fellow countryman Cedric Hardwicke who played the role of the Japanese industrialist on Broadway. Doesn't mean he should have though. If A Majority of One were made even 20 years later and if players were frozen in time, Jack Warner might have given serious consideration to casting a real Japanese in Sessue Hayakawa as the Japanese widower industrialist. That would have really been something, but at that time the film would have bombed at the box office.

Interesting too because the subject of the film is overcoming our prejudices. Rosalind Russell's son was killed in the Pacific Theater in World War II. She's a widow and when her son-in-law Ray Danton who is a career foreign service officer her daughter, Madelyn Rhue and Danton think she ought to go to Japan where he's been assigned his next post.

They fly to the Pacific and take a sea voyage to Japan where Russell meets Alec Guinness, a widower who's daughter was killed at Hiroshima. Despite his strict Buddhist faith and her Orthodox Jewish background, love can bloom in the strangest places and is good the second time around.

Russell admired Guinness's cerebral technique and total concentration on character when she worked with him. In a recent biography of Alec Guinness, nothing was mentioned about him and Russell, but he felt he was not given any kind of direction from Mervyn LeRoy. Both Russell and Guinness were heavy into Catholicism so I'm betting they got along.

Two members of the original Broadway cast made it to Hollywood, Mae Questal as Russell's neighbor and Marc Marno as their Japanese servant when they set up home in Japan. Questal has an interesting scene with Ray Danton when she announces she just doesn't like her new Puerto Rican neighbors. Danton rather self-righteously upbraids her for her prejudice, but then comes face to face with his own after making a fool of himself with Guinness during business and then facing the prospect he might have an oriental stepfather-in-law.

A Majority of One is a good film, in many ways better enjoyed now than when it first came out. But it misses greatness due to the timidity of the times in Hollywood.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Essential viewing for all Alec Guinness fans, 30 October 2004
Author: S Srikant from Bangalore, India

Alec Guinness acts as an elderly, influential Japanese businessman in this romance / comedy / drama set in the background of the aftermath of World War II .

When you see this film, you will, not for a minute, imagine that Mr. Koichi Asano (played by Alec Guinness ) is anything other than Japanese - so complete is the effort put in by this great actor.

Superb acting from both Alec Guinness and Rosalind Russell and a unique background of Japanese culture make this a very memorable movie.

A 'must' for all Alec Guinness fans !

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Recently saw after 30-odd years; still a qualified treat, 6 July 2001
7/10
Author: mamaleh483 from New Jersey

Looking at the film afresh as a mature adult, I'm now amazed I never realized that however excellent an actor Alec Guiness was, he simply looked ludicrous as an ersatz Japanese man. He appeared to have some sort of tightening device around his eyes so that they always looked closed! I guess that passed for generic Asian looks in those days. Too bad at the time James Shigeta was too young for the part; I kept visualizing him as an older man. That quibble aside, it is truly a heartwarming tale and well-performed by the wonderful Rosalind Russell and Mr. Guiness. Nice to see a regular-guy performance by Ran Danton, too, as the son-in-law. I'd always associated him with "Legs" Diamond and other unsavory characters he usually seemed to play. All in all, entertaining and drives home some important points about tolerance and family relations.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A lesson in tolerance, 23 March 1999
Author: kathryn ortiz (kortiz@activesw.com) from California

What the world needs now and always is tolerance among people of different faiths. This sweet, charming film is a fine example of this principle. Rent it, buy it, see it. You won't be disappointed.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Despite horrid casting, this was an incredibly sweet film, 15 July 2008
8/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

At the onset, anyone seeing this film today will be shocked at the terrible casting decisions for this film. The most obvious one is the idea of British actor Alec Guinness playing a Japanese businessman. Sure, he was an amazing actor, but unfortunately for many decades Hollywood thought it was perfectly acceptable to have Caucasian actors play Asians. The other casting problem, though not as egregious was having a good Catholic lady like Rosalind Russell playing a very Jewish lady. In both cases there must have been more appropriate actors to play the parts, but I must admit both did a very good job despite this.

Russell plays a middle-aged widow whose daughter is moving to Japan with her husband who is working for the State Department. They ask her to go with them, but she is apprehensive since her son was killed in the war against Japan and she isn't thrilled by the prospect of going to that country. On the boat, she meets a very nice Japanese man (Guinness) and at first she is put off because of her son. However, in time they work through this and form a friendship. However, it turns out that Guinness will be negotiating with Russell's son-in-law and the son-in-law ASSUMES Guinness is just using her to gain an advantage in negotiations. So, at the son-in-law's request, she keeps her distance from Guinness. Once in Japan, though, Russell is eventually drawn back to Guinness. Although the two are very happy together, Russell can detect that their trepidation now is due to their own prejudices--they can't stand the idea of Mother dating or perhaps marrying a Japanese man!

This film abounds with class. It's an amazingly charming story and I liked how the film drew out the tale without hurrying it through. You really came to like the characters played by Russell and Guinness and the film was a lovely international romance. In addition, it was sure nice to actually see a romance between people heading towards old age--as usually such films are about "young and pretty people". I admire the film's courage in all these areas. A sweet and memorable film. Had the casting been a bit more sensitive, undoubtedly the film would have earned a 9.

PS--Keep your Kleenex nearby--you might just need them--I sure did.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Sweet, old-fashioned love story ... but not Sir Alec's finest moment, 15 July 2008
6/10
Author: henri sauvage from nashville, tn

I bow to none in my admiration of Alec Guinness' acting prowess, but sometimes there are just roles which no self-respecting practitioner of the art should accept -- unless forced to at gunpoint -- and this was one of them.

I won't say Sir Alec didn't give it a good try. He had the movements and body language down quite well, but OMG, that accent. And the makeup. And the director's insistence on shooting Guinness in profile -- there's just no way that nose could ever appear on a Japanese face!

It's a testament to Guinness' skill that there were times when I could almost suspend my disbelief. Almost. But ultimately this has to go down as one of the worst casting decisions since Brando portrayed an Okinawan in "Teahouse of the August Moon". (Although to be fair, neither was as flat-out jaw-droppingly bizarre as John Wayne's epically awful Genghis Khan, in "The Conqueror".)

Which is too bad, really. The movie had a lot of good things going for it, including a fairly touching chemistry between Russell and Guinness, solid supporting performances, and some nice comedic touches. Plus it's hard to actively dislike a film which includes a rare cameo by Mae Questel -- the voice of Betty Boop.

Besides Sir Alec's miscasting, there's also the sets, especially that horrific attempt at a Zen garden at Asano's residence. Maybe the producers thought the audience wanted that blatantly artificial look, so they could pretend they too were watching this hit play on Broadway. Then again, making the sets more believable would have only drawn more attention to Guinness' absurd makeup.

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