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.
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.