Ma geisha

My Geisha is a film that I'm not sure why it is overlooked. Essentially Shirley MacLaine plays two roles in this film. One she's Lucy Dell, a Hollywood Actress not unlike Shirley MacLaine. But with a lot of heavy makeup she's also playing a geisha girl who husband/director Yves Montand picks to star in a film version of Madame Butterfly.

Shirley at that time was married to Steve Parker who lived and worked in Japan and they had one of the weirdest marriages on record. They stayed together almost thirty years, basically because they only saw each other once or twice a year with her living in Hollywood. But this film with Steve Parker producing it for his wife brought them together for a much longer sojourn.

Montand directs his wife's films and she's known as a good comic actress in the profession. He and her perennial leading man Bob Cummings want to do a serious drama, Madame Butterfly, film the Puccini opera with dubbed in singers.

MacLaine and producer Edward G. Robinson go to Japan, Shirley in secret and for a lark she puts on geisha makeup and outfit. Montand and Cummings are so taken with her that Montand hires the geisha that Shirley is pretending to be as the lead in Madame Butterfly.

The masquerade is kept going, but the joke runs into some unforeseen complications for all concerned.

My Geisha glides effortlessly from comedy to drama when the careers and egos of both MacLaine and Montand are on the line. It works out in a highly unusual way. Both Montand and MacLaine do very well by their lead parts with Bob Cummings portraying a wolfish leading man and Edward G. Robinson to dispense wise counsel for all.

It's a very good part for Shirley MacLaine. She summons some hidden depths for the film in portraying the tragic geisha of Madame Butterfly. It's one of her best films.

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.

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.

Although I only saw this movie once over ten years ago on late night TV,I was struck by the beautiful scenery and the storyline somehow reminded me of James Mason & Judy Garland "A star is born".Shirley Mclaine is a favorite of mine and she managed to imbue the Japanese persona so purely and one could feel Yves Montand frustration and eagerness to achieve success without his wife.I cannot recall much more of this film but I do know that my best friend Maruschka has watched it so many times that her tape copy is wearing out.It is a classic love story. Very hard to find a copy for it and I would love to see it out on DVD.I would then surprise my friend by buying her a copy (and one for me also).Millie

Shirley MacLaine is such fun to watch. She dives into her character body and soul. She leads you on and you follow her. It would be foolish not to. We don't question anything because we're in love with her. This movie is a real rarity.I suspect that Steve Parker, Shirley's husband then and producer of "My Geisha" actually directed this. He chose Jack Cardiff as the director, the great Cardiff one of the top cinematographers of all time -- See "Black Narcisus" for instance -- But, as we all know, a cinematographer is used to work with directors, cinematographers must be artists with a very different kind of ego. What a spectacular way for Steve Parker to direct his movie by proxy. Better plan, impossible. The film is a comedy slash morality tale with a stunning Cardiff like look and a delicious performance by MacLaine. Yves Montand plays her husband. His English is tentative at best but he is unquestionably charming in a clumsy written part. Edward G Robinson is another plus. His character's delight is utterly contagious. Many of my contemporaries are to jaded to enjoy this film, but I've tried it on kids and it works, let me tell you, they love it. Not to mention my parents. So there you are, I guarantee you'll love "My Geisha" if you're young, if you're old or if you're me.