Sayonara (1957)

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

James Michener (novel)
Paul Osborn (screenplay)

Release Date:

1957 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Worlds apart...theirs was the daring love affair violating every rule, every custom, every centuries-old belief!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

American | Korean War | Military | Interracial Romance | Duty

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 13 nominations

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

Also Known As:

Sayonara (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Sayonara (Greece) [el]
Sayonara (Finland) [fi]
Sayonara (Argentina) [es]
Sayonara (Sweden) [sv]
Sayonara - Elveda (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Sayonara... farlig kærlighed (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Pennebaker Productions

Trivia:

Apparently Marlon Brando was not the first choice for this lead. It was offered to Rock Hudson, but he chose to make A Farewell to Arms (1957) instead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Eileen and Major Gruver visit Nakamura backstage, Gruver says he thought the kabuki performance could have used Marilyn Monroe, and Nakamura allows that he too is a fan of Miss Monroe. In 1957, when the movie was filmed, this conversation would have made sense. But it takes place in 1951, at a time when Marilyn Monroe was still a small-part player, little known to the public. It is highly unlikely that even Gruver would have known who she was, and impossible that Nakamura would have, that early in her career.

Quotes:

Major Gruver: This is the first liquid rice I have ever run into!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What's My Line?: (1957-12-01)" (1957)

Soundtrack:

Sayonara

Brando's Southern Accent

I have seen several comments here about Brando using a Southern accent, some of which felt it was a mistake. When this movie was made, racism and discrimination were very strong in the South. The Jim Crow laws were still in effect. Civil Rights was in it's infancy. Could this have possibly been a subtle social commentary, a Southern man in love with a woman of another race? The same way MASH was a subtle criticism of the Viet Nam war? Any thoughts?

Another comment was made about Myoshi Umeki appearing "cold". Anyone who has been in Japan would understand. The Japanese people, at least in my experience, did not tend to show emotion in front of strangers. There were strict social rules, especially for men meeting single women. Americans in Japan were totally foreign to this culture, and the blunt attempts to meet women were shocking to the ladies. One trait of the Japanese was to smile when embarrassed or uncomfortable, which many American servicemen took as a sign that their advances were welcomed. Also remember that at the time represented in the movie, Japan had just been defeated, and the occupying forces were treated with reluctant acceptance. I think Myoshi Umeki gave a very credible performance of what her situation would have been. Watching her interaction with the American actors brought back several memories of my own experiences in the country. I was able to meet a pair of lovely young ladies who, after I convinced them I was not the typical American male, taught me their language and their culture during my time in their country.