A young naive American and a cynical older British diplomat disagree over politics in 1952 Vietnam and over a beautiful young native girl.
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Title: The Quiet American (1958)
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1 nomination.
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Audie Murphy | ... | The American | |
| Michael Redgrave | ... | Thomas Fowler | |
| Claude Dauphin | ... | Inspector Vigot | |
| Giorgia Moll | ... | Phuong | |
| Bruce Cabot | ... | Bill Granger | |
| Fred Sadoff | ... | Dominguez | |
| Kerima | ... | Phuong's Sister | |
| Richard Loo | ... | Mr. Heng | |
 |
Peter Trent | ... | Eliot Wilkins |
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Georges Bréhat | ... | French Colonel (as Georges Brehat) |
| Clinton Anderson | ... | Joe Morton | |
| Yôko Tani | ... | Rendezvous Hostess | |
|
|
Nguyen Long | ... | Boy with Mask |
|
|
C. Long Cuong | ... | Boy in Watchtower |
|
|
Tu An | ... | Boy in Watchtower |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
In this adaptation of Graham Greene's prophetic novel about U.S. foreign policy failure in pre-war Indochina, Audie Murphy plays an innocent Young American opposite the older, cynical Brit Sir Michael Redgrave. They play out their widely different views on the prospects struggle for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people in their competition over a young woman. Murphy wants to reform her and make her a typical middle class American housewife; Redgrave accepts her inability to formulate or retain a political ideal and while promising her no real future, he objects to Murphy's attempts to change her. It's not clear whether Murphy is just what he appears - a bungling Yankee do-gooder, or a deliberate agent of U.S. covert operations. Written by Rita Richardson <RRichar790@aol.com>
Plot Keywords:
interracial romance | year 1952 | 1950s | diplomat | three word title |Taglines:
Where He Walked - All Hell Broke Loose! See more »Parents Guide:
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Phuong: They think I have come back to you.
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Trivia
Sir Michael Redgrave and Sir Michael Caine, the two actors who have portrayed the character of Thomas Fowler in theatrical movie adaptations of Graham Greene's 1955 source novel of the same name, in The Quiet American (1958) and The Quiet American (2002), respectively, appeared in The Battle of Britain (1969). See more »Quotes
Thomas Fowler: [Noticing to the Vietnamese women who are reacting to him] What's all the chattering and giggling about?Phuong: They think I have come back to you.
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
8 February 1958 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Quiet American See more »Company Credits
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Graham Greene did not have a comfortable vision of the world--or at least of the activities of human beings in the world. While very few movies do justice to books on which they are based, the Quiet American is a chilling forewarning of what the United States would be letting itself in for in the years to come. Murphy, always an appealing figure on the screen but not noted for truly great acting depth and breadth, is ideal for this understated role. A very well done thriller which addresses racism, colonialism, various "economic"isms, all the while focusing on the individual human impacts of high level decision-making. Are we just pawns, forced into just following orders, or do we have the responsibility to take action on the side of what we know to be right, in spite of the personal cost?