Sayonara (1957)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Brown	...	2nd MP (voice) (uncredited)
Dennis Hopper	...	1st MP (voice) (uncredited)
James Stacy	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Consul (uncredited)
William Wellman Jr.	...	Sgt. Reporter for Stars and Stripes (uncredited)

Directed by
Joshua Logan

Writing credits
James Michener		(novel) (as James A. Michener)
Paul Osborn		(screenplay)

Produced by
William Goetz	....	producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
Ellsworth Fredericks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Philip W. Anderson
Arthur P. Schmidt

Art Direction by
Ted Haworth

Set Decoration by
Robert Priestley		(as Robert Priestly)

Costume Design by
Norma Koch

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ad Schaumer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
M.A. Merrick	....	sound
Carl Mahakian	....	sound editor (uncredited)
William A. Mueller	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	photographer: second unit (as H. F. Koenekamp)

Music Department
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Joseph Curtis	....	dialogue coach
Carlo Fiori	....	dialogue coach: Marlon Brando
Masaya Fujima	....	technical advisor: Kabuki Theatre scenes
LeRoy Prinz	....	supervisor: Matsubayashi Girls Revue Numbers
Walter Thompson	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Pennebaker Productions
• William Goetz Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1974) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Afex-Fílmverleih (1957) (Austria) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)

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:

Also according to Turner Classic Movies, Marlon Brando insisted on playing Ace Gruver with a Southern accent, against the will of the director and producers. Brando adopted a nondescript Southern accent for Gruver, despite the objections of director Joshua Logan, who didn't think that a general's son who was West Point-educated would speak that way.

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:

Hana-ogi: The pleasure does not lie in the end itself. It's in the pleasurable steps to that end.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brando (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sayonara

BRANDO'S MASTERPIECE

Personally, I think Sayonara was the greatest movie he ever made. It touched every emotion from anger to romance to complete tragedy. And Brando should have won for best actor. Anyway, the movie is awesome, the man is attractive to BOTH MEN AND WOMEN and now you have no reason not to see it! Do so, and fall in love.