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Really Surprised!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I found this to be a surprisingly light-handed touch at a 1950's culture-clash movie. John Wayne would hardly be one's first choice as a cultural attache, being about as diplomatic with his good intentions as a bull-run in Harrods. But this time he was left to play a part that was far more passive than his usual bluff persona, and he accomplished his task with style. The Duke was a guy who really could act well. His facial expressions and body language could be extremely subtle.Despite his considerable presence both as an actor and in terms of screen time, he failed to dominate this movie. Many of his good intentions came a cropper. He had authority over nobody, and the intermittent narrative was provided by the titular geisha to whom he was the barbarian.The story of American attempts to curry favour with an isolationist Japan was one of political intrigue rather than swashbuckling or hell-for-leather battles. I cannot comment on the accuracy of its research but the strangeness of the Oriental culture to western sensibilities was demonstrated well. There was a great deal of minutely-choreographed ceremony entailing what looked to this observer like authentic costume and props. The set pieces were complex and detailed. A lot of money and thought had been applied to it.The fractured romance between Wayne and his geisha added a little extra element, and stopped the movie becoming just a political or flag-waving effort. Script was good without being too wordy. There was a great deal of Japanese dialogue, but the lengthy periods of translation didn't interfere with the narrative. It was nice to see plenty of genuine orientals on the set. Whether or not they were Japanese, I couldn't say. But anyway they looked the part. At least the leads were not played by cross-dressing Caucasians, unlike other efforts such as 'Blood Alley' (yes, I know they were Chinese) 'The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness' or even 'The King And I'.Frankly, I enjoyed this more than any of those other movies. The script was better for a start. I never liked the songs in 'The King And I', and wasn't impressed by the heavy-laden anti-communist subtext of 'Blood Alley'. I confess to never having seen this work before and found it compared very favourably to many of The Duke's more popular outings.Recommended.

Star and director are not exactly in their element throughout this period piece (set in mid-19th century Japan and based on real events) – though John Wayne gets to brawl with a dwarf/giant combination!; apparently, Huston became fascinated with the country and its culture after viewing Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON (1951) and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s GATE OF HELL (1953) – in fact, he obtained the services of the latter as a “script supervisor” on this one!Still, the film is interesting in its depiction of the clash of traditions – especially involving two countries which, a little over a decade earlier, had been deadly enemies – and, in any case, Japan was a popular venue with Hollywood during this time: witness the two back-to-back Marlon Brando vehicles THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON (1956) and SAYONARA (1957). The glossy production values (courtesy of Fox) make the most of the exotic locations, but the plot itself is rather melodramatic – Wayne’s initially hostile reception, an outbreak of cholera, the assassination of a supportive Japanese leader (which threatens to throw the country into Civil War), an attempt on Wayne’s own life and the failed aggressor’s subsequent seppuku (which also terminates Wayne’s subtle romance with the geisha of the title), etc.Finally, though as I said this is one of Wayne’s most uncharacteristic films (which I had missed out on countless times in the past but was determined to catch now in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Huston’s passing), it’s certainly not worthy of the same level of disdain as his other Asian flick – Dick Powell’s camp classic THE CONQUEROR (1956).

If you were to make a real film about Townsend Harris, the first American diplomat in Japan, the guy you would have cast in the role was Clifton Webb. The real Harris was an aesthete like Webb's persona on screen, never married, might have been gay as Webb was. Now that would have been an interesting film.But done the way John Huston did it, with Harris as a romantic figure, Tyrone Power would have been perfect casting. I have a gut feeling that since 20th Century Fox produced this, the property might have been at one time meant for Power. Wayne looked so awkward and ridiculous mouthing those romantic lines that Ty Power could have done in his sleep.John Huston said that in casting John Wayne he was trying to show a clash of cultures, Tokugawa Japan being opened to the west by the young vibrant, expanding America and Huston saw Wayne as the personification of 19th century America. Well it didn't work. Supposedly both men developed a hearty dislike of the other.I will say this though, it's a spectacularly photographed film and it does show quite accurately the Japan that Townsend Harris was dealing with.But it was still one of the big duds for the Duke's career.

This film was doomed from the start,Wayne was reluctant to make it;then to make matters worse he fell out with Houston who was directing. After filming had been completed,Houston moved on to other projects,Wayne however was not satisfied and had whole scenes reshot and re edited,the finished product was a mish mash of styles with the Duke trying to play a Cowboy in Japan.