Review of The Teahouse of the August Moon (1957) by Tyler B — 31 Dec 2010

Marlon Brando plays perhaps the most off-beat role of his career as Sakini, a guileful translator for the American occupation forces on post-WW2 Okinawa who victimizes the hapless Army officers attempting to "reconstruct" his village.

Glenn Ford makes an uncharacteristic but passable comedic turn as one of the aforementioned American officers that can be an uncomfortable high-wire act to watch at times when he is routinely out-funnied by his various co-stars, most notably Brando and Paul Ford.

Fortunately, he performs the constant state of genial exasperation with enough agility that it avoids becoming tiresome. Make no mistake, however; this is Brando's show and he is fun to watch assuming you can shrug off the minor bugbear that it's a white guy playing an asian character.

The film's most admirable quality is the fun it has at the expense of the US Army, given its close proximity to the actual end of the occupation of Japan five years before its release.