My Geisha (1962)

Very well executed

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Satisfactory comedy is put over by a cute Shirley MacLaine performance and that old pro Edward G. Robinson. Bob Cummings has his moments as an egotistical star although the thought of him as a major romantic idol is a bit of a stretch. The major flaw as it always is in any film in which he appeared is that cinematic black hole Yves Montand. At least in his English language films he is so devoid of personality and charisma that he stops the picture dead in it's tracks whenever he is on screen. Also the fact that his character doesn't recognize his wife in geisha makeup when she looks exactly like Shirley MacLaine in a black wig and heavy makeup make him seem like a nitwit.

"My Geisha" never quite manages its transitions smoothly, but they were trying something quite difficult for the period: a comedy with some genuine depth of feeling. They get there in the end, thanks to MacLaine and Montand, but there are a couple of stops along the way. You've read the setup by now, and know that Bob Cummings is playing her leading man, while her husband (Montand) is the Director of his first serious film without his wife's fame to help him succeed. He Has to Do It On His Own. It takes both his wife and his producer much too long to take this seriously, and thereby endanger both marriage and friendship. Because they think he'll come around, or appreciate the joke of her disguise, we do too...until he finally recognizes her. At that point, Montand stops being a supporting player and moves into full partnership. We believe him, and ache for him. We don't believe that "Bob Moore" is his best friend. Cummings' "arrested adolescent" is unfunny and unappealing, and he's given way too much screen time. Edward G Robinson is a pleasure throughout, but a lot of the gags - mixed bathing, sumo wrestling - are fairly condescending and forced in spite of the obvious admiration for Japan and its culture. The scenery is stunning, but there's sadness too in seeing it now. Nobody shoots beautiful films about Japan IN Japan any more; "Last Samurai" was largely shot in New Zealand, "Memoirs of a Geisha" in California. And the undercurrents - the Parker/MacLaine marriage and its eventual dissolution - sometimes haunt the script. Franz Waxman's peppy score keeps preventing us from really believing we're watching a shoot about "Madame Butterfly". When the Puccini music finally arrives, it's marvelous. And when Shirley lip-synchs the aria, she breathes like a singer. Shirley MacLaine went on to prove over and over again that she was more than a kooky comedienne...but at the time this film was made, it was a case of Art imitating Life. It's uneven, but parts of it are definitely worth seeing.

Beleaguered, contrived story has Shirley MacLaine playing an over-eager actress determined to star in her director-husband's new picture, the musical "Madame Butterfly". But hubby Yves Montand is indifferent, so Shirl travels to the Orient to audition for him disguised as a geisha girl... it's like an episode of "I Love Lucy" where Ricky doesn't recognize his own wife incognito. MacLaine proves to be so convincing in fact that she gets mixed up in romantic misunderstandings and harried make-up switcheroos (the low-point comes when slimy co-star Robert Cummings puts the moves on the sexy geisha--nearly raping her in the process). Terrible movie has a talented star and top-drawer production values, yet it wastes both on ridiculous material. * from ****

Most of this movie is a regular romantic comedy with some excellent stars. But the end of the movie, where Shirley plays the death scene from Madam Butterfly, will make you weep. I first saw this when I was in the military, and had never seen Madam Butterfly. After seeing this movie, I went to the opera to see the full opera, and it has become my favorite. Having seen the death scene many times in my life, Shirley's performance still ranks up there with the best.