Sayonara *** (1957, Marlon Brando, Miyoshi Umeki, Miiko Taka, Red Buttons, Ricardo Montalban, Patricia Owens, Kent Smith, Martha Scott, James Garner) – Classic Movie Review 7275

Director Joshua Logan’s 1957 romantic drama Sayonara won four Oscars and stars Marlon Brando and Red Buttons as US air force Major Lloyd ‘Ace’ Gruver and Airman Joe Kelly, a pair of US Korean war servicemen buddies, in Kobe, Japan, for recuperation, who fall in love with two local girls, Hana-Ogi and Katsumi (Miiko Taka and Miyoshi Umeki).

And, while one affair ends in joy, the other concludes in tears, in Logan’s sprawling, lengthy (147 minutes) but quite delicately handled adaptation of the James A Michener novel, carefully scripted by Paul Osborn. Gruver falls for a beautiful performer despite his opposition to marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women.

A faded picture-postcard view of Americans abroad rather than a profound, relevant examination of deep personal feelings, the well-meaning Sayonara nevertheless has its merits and its charms, and it garnered four Oscars for best supporting actor Buttons, best supporting actress Umeki, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Ted Haworth, Robert Priestley) and Best Sound, Recording (George Groves), plus six other nominations including Best Picture (for producer William Goetz), Best Actor (Brando), Best Director (Logan), Best Adapted Screenplay (Paul Osborn), Best Cinematography (Ellsworth Fredericks) and Best Film Editing (Arthur P Schmidt, Philip W Anderson).

Apart from the good-looking visuals in Ellsworth Fredericks’s colour cinematography, the impressive acting is certainly the film’s biggest attraction. The attractive score is written by Franz Waxman and the song ‘Sayonara’ is penned by Irving Berlin.

Also in the cast are Ricardo Montalban, Patricia Owens, Kent Smith, Martha Scott, James Garner, Douglass [Douglas] Watson, Reiko Kuba, Soo Yong and Harlan Warde, as well as the Shochiku Kagekidan Girls Theatrical Revue.

James Garner won the Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer – Male and Buttons was voted Best Supporting Actor.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7275

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