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.
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Title: Sayonara (1957)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Marlon Brando | ... | Major Lloyd Gruver | |
| Patricia Owens | ... | Eileen Webster | |
| James Garner | ... | Captain Mike Bailey | |
| Martha Scott | ... | Mrs. Webster | |
| Miiko Taka | ... | Hana-Ogi | |
| Miyoshi Umeki | ... | Katsumi | |
| Red Buttons | ... | Joe Kelly | |
| Kent Smith | ... | General Mark Webster | |
 |
Douglass Watson | ... | Colonel Crawford (as Douglas Watson) |
|
|
Reiko Kuba | ... | Fumiko-San |
|
|
Soo Yong | ... | Teruko-San |
|
|
Shochiku Kagekidan Girls Revue | ... | Theatrical Revue |
| Ricardo Montalban | ... | Nakamura | |
Edit
Plot Summary
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Add Synopsis
See All (37) »
Storyline
Major Lloyd Gruver, a Korean War flying ace reassigned to Japan, staunchly supports the military's opposition to marriages between American troops and Japanese women. But that's before Gruver experiences a love that challenges his own deeply set prejudices... and plunges him into conflict with the U.S. Air Force and Japan's own cultural taboos. Written by alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords:
cultural differences | interracial marriage | interracial relationship | bare chested male | hairy chest |Taglines:
"I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire..." Marlon Brando and an exquisite new Japanese star. They LIVE James A. Michener's story of defiant desire. It is called "Sayonara" See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
20 December 1957 (Japan) See more »Also Known As:
Сайонара See more »Edit
Box Office
Gross USA:
$26,300,000Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
Eileen Webster: I don't know.
Nakamura: Then permit me to reassure you. I think Major Gruver is brave, but, uh, not so brave enough to face the censure that would result from such a marriage. As for our famous, honored Hana-ogi, there are many Japanese - most of them, in fact - who look upon marriage to an Occidental with as much distaste as your people do to one of us.
Nakamura: [continues] I do not feel that ...
See more »
(1913) (uncredited)
Words and Music by Haseo Sugiyama and Koji Fukiya
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Miyoshi Umeki's Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress made her the first Asian actor to win an Oscar. Also, as of 2010, she is the only person of East Asian descent to win an Academy Award for acting. See more »Goofs
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. See more »Quotes
Nakamura: What are you really afraid of, Miss Webster? You don't think it would enter Major Gruver's mind to marry a Japanese girl?Eileen Webster: I don't know.
Nakamura: Then permit me to reassure you. I think Major Gruver is brave, but, uh, not so brave enough to face the censure that would result from such a marriage. As for our famous, honored Hana-ogi, there are many Japanese - most of them, in fact - who look upon marriage to an Occidental with as much distaste as your people do to one of us.
Nakamura: [continues] I do not feel that ...
See more »
Soundtracks
Hanayome Ningyo(1913) (uncredited)
Words and Music by Haseo Sugiyama and Koji Fukiya
See more »
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The genre was then at its peak,and Douglas Sirk was its high priest."Sayonara" ,although it has touching moments ,seems very static and academic today and lacks a truly inspired director.Joshua Logan never transcends his subject .Douglas Sirk's screenplays (magnificent obsession;a time to love and a time to die ;all that heaven allows;imitation of live) were as maudlin as this military melodrama ,but his pictures,his use of color,his extremism ,and his endings were admirable.Here the movie should end with the tragedy,because the last twenty minutes are perfunctory and Brando's last line comes as an anti-climax.
With the ridiculous "teahouse at August moon..." the precedent year (another Japanese story where he played an implausible Japanese,and where a she-goat stole the show),it was the beginning of a weak period for Brando after the brilliant Kazan trilogy and his sensational Marc Antony in Mankiewicz's "Jules Cesar".It was 1967 before he found again a part worthy of himself,with Colonel Penderton in highly underrated Huston's adaptation of McCullers's "reflection in a golden eye".
At a pinch,for melodramas lovers ,but they will not be completely satisfied.