My Geisha

source: My Geisha

Not a great film by any means---the dialogue tends to the wooden, and the plot to the improbable---but, somehow, it is fun to watch. As the movie goes on, Montand and MacLaine seem to warm to their roles, and some of Montand's introspective musings about love, career, and marriage, in the unwitting presence of his wife, are genuinely touching. MacLaine looks quite stunning made up as a geisha, and the location scenes of Japan in 1961 (Kyoto, Tokyo, Miyajima, Hakone) are alone worth the price of admission. Japanese culture is treated with fond respect, not simply with amusement or exotic interest. The speech by the ancient geisha "master" about the idealization of womanhood strays a bit into embarrassing hyperbole, but this is the exception, not the rule, in the film.

"my geisha" is charming. suspend belief a bit, and one realises how good an actress shirley maclaine is and how convincingly she becomes a geisha. the movie is fluff. but the attempt to parallel the plot to the libretto of "madama butterfly" is clever and almost successful. edward g.robinson as sharpless; maclaine as pinkerton, and montand as butterfly... it is a very literate attempt to use the sub-plot as the driver for the main plot. there are moments when one is reminded of a doris day-rock hudson frolic - expected in a comedy from 1962. but there's also a real "edge" that comes from the characters being a little less than saccharine. as has been pointed out, the cinematography is quite sharp. so there is an air of substance to the production, and quality is evident. in the end, though, one just should enjoy it.

Oh man, these are the kinds of quirky film concepts I live for, definitely up there with films like The Major and the Minor, The Whole Town's Talking or Sylvia Scarlett. I've never previously been a Shirley MacLaine fan but My Geisha may have converted me. Unlike many dual identity films, I actually found the premise here believable, in that Lucy's husband Paul Robiax (Yves Montand) wouldn't recognise her disguised as her alter ego geisha by the name of Yoko - At times I found myself MacLaine is pretending to be a Geisha. Ok, the illusion might not work for everyone but it did for this viewer. Also on a more superficial appraisal, omg Yoko is so cute! I was also surprised and delighted that Edward G. Robinson actually has almost as much screen time as MacLaine, making the two a great comedic pairing. I stated in my review of The Whole Towns Talking (1935) that Edward G. Robinson appeared in some very quirky comedies in his career but this film just furthers that statement, My Geisha is by far the quirkiest of them all. However, it's not just goofiness for the sake of goofiness, the dual identity set up actually allows for a deep and complex plot. For starters it examines the business of film by acknowledging the dilemma of casting white actors as non-white characters; you can't get a large budget for a film unless it stars a big box office draw, most of who in the early 1960's where white. The other surprising area of depth that comes out of the goofy plot is the examination of the husband's ego, tired of being in the shadow of his wife's success and desiring the more conservative nature of Japanese society, a nature which Robaix acknowledges is disappearing from Japan as the country becomes increasingly westernised. Another point of interest if the moment when Edward G. Robinson's character receives the news that Lucy's husband has discovered the truth about Yoko, Robinson asks to be taken to the fourth floor of the hotel. The Japanese tend to avoid the use of the number 4 due to superstitions regarding the number as unlucky. My Geisha would unsurprisingly not be made today would be seen as politically incorrect with its use of so-called "yellowface", not to mention Bob Cummings in the role of somewhat creepy adulterous movie star Bob Moore who doesn't quite understand boundaries. Yet even a film of this manner was made today, you know the film world come to a halt for 20 minutes when Lucy's secret is revealed (otherwise known as the dreaded cliché of the liar revealed) in which one character would tell the other about how they've been betrayed and they never want to see each other again even though they get back together at the end. Not here though, when Lucy's husband discovers she is Yoko (which I should add is done a very clever manner) he quietly accepts that he was fooled and there's no big pointless, drawn-out argument scene. Sorry, classic movie fanboy rant. I wonder what the Japanese reaction to this was. I assume this is an idealised, tourist brochure version of Japan but either way this film sure looks beautiful. I believe this could likely be credited to the surprising choice of director, Jack Cardiff, normally more famous for his work as a cinematographer. The entire film is a feast for the eyes and ears with its eye-popping colour and score by Franz Waxman (even the film within a film looks incredible and is itself emotionally moving). Not to mention to the costume design by the great Edith Head, it's clear in classic Hollywood films that costumes were no afterthought. My Geisha is another obscure, quirky gem which I adore.

Now this one was a real Technicolor treat. The scenery in this one is just gorgeous. Unfortunately the story and 1 casting mistake can't make me like this film. A famous comedy star is always directed by her husband. He wants to go out on his own and do a film without her so he can prove himself as a Director. The studios want none of it and barely give him a budget to work with so her agent and herself conspire to try and fool him by slipping her in the title role as a Geisha. Will he find out it's her and what will he do? This one had a lot I liked but the casting of Bob Cummings was a dreadful mistake. His day and time was in the 40's comedies and by this time....he was far past his prime. His annoying portrayal of a leading comedy star who can't stop marrying women or keep his hands off of them just doesn't work. One scene he comes close to just about forcing himself on the Geisha character and let me tell you...it's a very uncomfortable watch for a "suppose-to-be-comedy". He just can't pull off the handsome leading man in this. It's a laugh in itself. The coup of this film was Yves Montand. A great French film star but for the life of me, how blind could he be not to see or figure out the Geisha was his wife? It's just not plausible that your married to someone and around them all that time and you don't get a hint that it's her. Shirley McClain is her usual stellar self. She had a nice run in the late 50's and mid 60's. She never fails to entertain but even she can't save this thing. The master himself, Edward G. Robinson, does a fine job playing her agent. Once again though, he can't save this from a negative review. The ending is pretty obvious but again, believable?... Hardly. I think my main gripe is those Hollywood Endings we got stuck with. Within a few years we got films with some plausible consequences to bad behavior in films but this absolutely needed a different ending. Watch this one for the fantastic scenery shots of Japan in the mountains. I doubt you'll ever see any better. Other than that, move along little doggy.

From a cinematographic point of view this movie is nothing special. However, the performance of Shirley MacLaine, as a Geisha who is secretly playing in her husbands movie, is very good (as always). Accompanied by some other great movie stars, like Edward G. Robinson and Yves Montand, in the supporting roles, this movie is well worth watching. A typical '50s style comedy/drama.

I am not sure how this film would be received by the Japanese. The idea of an American actress posing as a geisha would seem utterly silly to them, I would assume. However, despite seeming insane to me, this really worked...and was a lovely film. Shirley MacLaine played a famous actress married to a director (Yves Montand). He is about to make a movie version of "Madame Butterfly" and resists her request for him to cast her in the movie. So, to prove to him she could do it, she secretly follows him to Japan to find the perfect actress. Posing as a geisha, MacLaine is able to convince him to cast her in the role--and he has no idea she is his wife. This is all very clever and cute--and MacLaine makes the best of this role. Perhaps she isn't perfect but I can't think of another American actress of the time doing better. She is, oddly, quite credible. The film, however, takes a big jump later in the movie. Instead of a light film, a darker side of all this comes to light. I could easily say more but think you really need to see it for yourself. I loved how the story eventually became a parallel to "Madame Butterfly"--and ended marvelously (nearly making me cry). I think some feminists today might blanch at this ending, but I really understood MacLaine's sacrifice and thought this was a perfect way to wrap up the film. Exceptionally complex and enjoyable. The writing was amazing and acting quite good. This seemingly slight movie really took me by surprise and has an amazing depth to it. Well worth seeing and, at times, fun and at others quite touching. See this film. By the way, if you do see this film, pay attention to the attempted seduction scene involving Bob Cummings. When seen today, this certainly appears like an attempted rape and is quite creepy.

Very Mild Spoilers The basic plot of `My Geisha' is so cliché as to be ridiculous. A husband slights his wife by implying that she could not handle the lead in his new production of `Madame Butterfly', she dresses up as a Geisha to prove he couldn't tell her from a real Japanese girl, and he hires the lovely (fake) Japanese. The rest of the story toys with infidelity and the question of whether the couple `really' loves each other and all's well that ends well. You've seen it all (and with far better comic timing) on `I Love Lucy' dozens of times. However, Shirley MacLaine is both young and exciting as the spurned actress, Yves Montand is excellent as the long-suffering `Ricki' equivalent, and Edward G Robinson manages to pull off both Fred and Ethel while making it look almost fun to be an overstressed film producer. The Japanese actors all hold their own very well - in spite of a plot that may disturb the racial sensitivities of modern audiences. In spite of its datedness, this film manages to approach the intricacies of Japanese culture with genuine respect, and does not treat the `Geisha' as a by-definition dishonored woman. This is not to say that it depicts its subject with any degree of accurate detail, but at least it avoids the most heinous cliches. The other redeeming aspect of the movie is a reasonable amount of strong outdoor location work in 1960's Japan. The cinematographer is Japanese, suggesting that Jack Cardiff (who was himself a cameraman at one time) was looking for an Asian eye to depict the Japan he wanted American audiences to see. `My Geisha' does not capture an `authentic' Japanese flavor - certainly it looks nothing like a contemporary Japanese film - but it does, perhaps, give a refined tour guide's perspective.

My Geisha could never, ever be made today, for so many reasons. In addition to it being enormously politically incorrect and offensive, it would also anger every feminist on the planet. In the film, Shirley MacLaine plays an actress married to a director, Yves Montand, but he doesn't really take her career seriously. She's an extremely well-loved and successful actress, but he doesn't think she can carry a drama. When he decides to make a movie of Madame Butterfly, Shirley wants the part. Yves doesn't think she'd be convincing in the role, and to prove him wrong, she decides to don a disguise and audition as an actual Japanese geisha. She tries to learn enough Japanese to get by when real Japanese people talk to her, but most of the time, she just makes offensive sounds and hopes no one will notice. I'm not dissing Shirley; these parts were actually written into the script. Why did anyone think was a good idea? Besides the obvious offensive aspects of the story, I had trouble with the casting. If the entire point of the movie was that Shirley has to talk in an accent and pretend she barely speaks English, why did they cast someone as her husband who talks in an extremely thick accent and seems like he barely speaks English? I always have a hard time understand Yves Montand, and since many of his lines involve teaching English to Shirley-when she's in geisha-mode and pretends not to understand his English colloquialisms-wouldn't it make sense to cast someone who doesn't seem to need lessons himself? One person I did like in the movie was Edward G. Robinson. I always love him, and I think he transitioned marvelously in his career from a young to middle-aged man. In the 1950s and 1960s, he still took very meaty roles, instead of fading away. You can skip this one, though, and rent A Hole in the Head instead.

First saw this movie on TV one afternoon whilst I was off from work.Had always wanted to see it,but after it's release(rather like John Goldfarb),it kind of disappeared.Lucky to catch up with it though,as from the opening credits I was hooked.MacLaine,very young and initially kooky,is marvellous in this film.I guess most people know the plot by now,but for a comedy,it does have it's touching moments,especially at the end.The scenery is superb,the music is great,the costumes colourful and I for one am glad this will receive a DVD release in December.Edward G and Yves Montand are both good in their roles,although I found Bob Cummings just a bit long in the tooth for his part.Altogether a very enjoyable movie and one to watch for if you haven't seen it before.Yes,I know some of it doesn't make sense,but heck,this is a comedy,and wonderful it is too.