Teahouse of The August Moon Re-Visited

 

 Last night Mike and I watched "Teahouse of the August Moon". A film made in 1956 with Glenn Ford, Marlon Brando and Eddie Albert. The Teahouse of the August Moon is a comedy about the process of the Americanization of Japanese citizens on the island of Okinawa during the American Occupation of Japan following World War II. The major reason we watched it is because it was the film that started my maternal grandmother's career in movies at the age of 63. She plays the old woman on top of the jeep which is taking Glenn Ford to an outlying country village. Marlon Brando is oddly cast as "Sakini" a country bumpkin interpreter for the army officers. In many ways the film is odd especially with this casting of Brando since he had already done "On the Waterfront" and "Streetcar Named Desire" which began his career. At any rate this dated movie theme still entertained me because of my grandmother. I kept saying "There's my grandma!" Just as I did in the movie theater when I was a child. We were fortunate that my grandma spoke and understood English well which was unusual for people of her generation born in Japan. It was hilarious to see her atop this jeep laden with luggage, children and a goat! I remember when she'd get home from filming at the MGM studios she would say they put a cap on my head and some wig and they didn't tie me very well to the jeep. I had to hold on very tight so I would not fall off. She liked Marlon Brando very much. He avoided most of the people on the set and in the commisary and often sat with my grandma whom he called "Mama-san" and she would address him as "Brando-san". She also like Eddie Albert very much and said he was funny and very nice to her. This was the beginning of a decade of film making and bit parts. She also met Cary Grant in "Walk Don't Run" when his pants flew out of his Tokyo apartment and landed on my grandma's head. She had a lot of funny stories and enjoyed her time movie making. When she became ill I remember one funny event when the paramedics were carrying her from the upstairs bedroom out the door. She said to them "Don't drop me! I'm a movie star!". They kind of smiled and we said "She's not kidding. She really is!"