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My Geisha (1962) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   490 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 13% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Norman Krasna (screenplay)
Norman Krasna (story)
Contact:
View company contact information for My Geisha on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
February 1962 (Austria) more
Genre:
Tagline:
It's the WACKIEST HOAX That Ever Turned the Screen Hilarious! more
Plot:
Paul Robaix is a well known director, married to Lucy Dell, a famous movie star. Robaix wants to make a movie of the classic play Madame Butterfly... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
User Comments:
"Dramedy" Before Its Time: See it for Shirley more (14 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Shirley MacLaine ... Lucy Dell / Yoko Mori

Yves Montand ... Paul Robaix

Edward G. Robinson ... Sam Lewis

Robert Cummings ... Bob Moore
Yoko Tani ... Kazumi Ito
Tatsuo Saito ... Kenichi Takata
Tamae Kyokawa ... Amatsu Hisako
Ichirô Hayakawa ... Hisako
Alex Gerry ... Leonard Lewis
Tsugundo Maki ... Shiga
George Furness ... George (Robaix's butler)
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
119 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Shu Umeara did the makeup for 'Shirley McClaine''s Geisha role after Michael Westmore, the regular make-up man, fell ill. His design catapulted Shu to international recognition and he founded a studio of his own. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: A huge premiere is planned for the movie Lucy is working on mere days after the final scene is shot; in reality, a major film of the magnitude she's starring in would take months for editing and other post-production work. more
Quotes:
Sam Lewis: I'm not a philosopher; I'm a film producer! more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 68th Annual Academy Awards (1996) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
MADAMA BUTTERFLY more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
"Dramedy" Before Its Time: See it for Shirley, 3 July 2009
6/10
Author: sharlyfarley from Southern Maryland

"My Geisha" never quite manages its transitions smoothly, but they were trying something quite difficult for the period: a comedy with some genuine depth of feeling. They get there in the end, thanks to MacLaine and Montand, but there are a couple of stops along the way. You've read the setup by now, and know that Bob Cummings is playing her leading man, while her husband (Montand) is the Director of his first serious film without his wife's fame to help him succeed. He Has to Do It On His Own. It takes both his wife and his producer much too long to take this seriously, and thereby endanger both marriage and friendship. Because they think he'll come around, or appreciate the joke of her disguise, we do too...until he finally recognizes her. At that point, Montand stops being a supporting player and moves into full partnership. We believe him, and ache for him. We don't believe that "Bob Moore" is his best friend. Cummings' "arrested adolescent" is unfunny and unappealing, and he's given way too much screen time. Edward G Robinson is a pleasure throughout, but a lot of the gags - mixed bathing, sumo wrestling - are fairly condescending and forced in spite of the obvious admiration for Japan and its culture. The scenery is stunning, but there's sadness too in seeing it now. Nobody shoots beautiful films about Japan IN Japan any more; "Last Samurai" was largely shot in New Zealand, "Memoirs of a Geisha" in California. And the undercurrents - the Parker/MacLaine marriage and its eventual dissolution - sometimes haunt the script. Franz Waxman's peppy score keeps preventing us from really believing we're watching a shoot about "Madame Butterfly". When the Puccini music finally arrives, it's marvelous. And when Shirley lip-synchs the aria, she breathes like a singer. Shirley MacLaine went on to prove over and over again that she was more than a kooky comedienne...but at the time this film was made, it was a case of Art imitating Life. It's uneven, but parts of it are definitely worth seeing.

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