The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)

. . . by bragging to the Shogunate Supreme Council of Japan in 1857 that there are men in America who are willing to die to end the Satanic Evil of Racist Slavery there. Of course, a few years later the words of Wayne's "Townsend Harris" character would be borne out in spades by the slaughter of more than 100,000 brave Northern Yankee Saints. Perversely enough, as "Il Duce" was mouthing the noble sentiments of Harris, Wayne was in the midst of hatching a Real Life plot to pump new life into one of History's most infamous Racist Devils by portraying Alamo Terrorist Davy Crockett, who personally murdered dozens of valiant Mexican Freedom Fighters in his eventually successful Genocidal Campaign to Re-enslave the Free Black People of Mexico's Texas Province for TWO MORE GENERATIONS!! Some accuse Hollywood starlets of being prostitutes simply because they might get paid to perform an explicit on-screen BJ upon their director as did Chloe Sevigney in BROWN BUNNY, but Mr. Wayne had no such economic need to hypocritically deviate from his own version of BOYS DON'T CRY (that is, THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA) to the Sevigney-like job he did a few years later on Uncle Sam in THE ALAMO. The love of money may be the root of all Evil, but no amount of cash could bring GEISHA Okishi to stick with a mendacious phony like Wayne!

The picture develops the true tale of Townsend Harris (John Wayne) who during the nineteenth century is sent -along with his helper (Sam Jaffe)- by President Pierce to Japan to serve as the first American Consul-General to that nation . Towsend gets enormous hostility to foreigners , as well as dangers and risks . There finds romance with a gorgeous geisha (Eiko Ando) . Meanwhile he confronts the governor , Baron Tamura (Shomamura ), but finally he contacts in Edo with the Shogun . Then the geisha beauty is sent to destroy the barbarian from the west .This costumer picture is based on historic events . Japan was dominated for a dynasty occupied by the Togugawa family from century XVI until 1868 and characterized by ruling ¨ Daimios ¨ , confronting occidental people and shunning the opening imposed by Admiral Perry in 1863 ; he was the first foreigner in Japan who undergoes a culture shock . Being dead emperor Komei , succeeded in 1867 , Mutsu Hito , one time crowned as emperor Meiji , he abolished the Shogun , ( happenings developed in various films as ¨ Shogun ¨ with Richard Chamberlain and ¨The last Samurai¨ with Tom Cruise ). Matsu Hito carried out various changes, as a liberal cabinet , creating a Duma or Parliament and following actual models and modern spirit . Anti-reforms riots to return old values , traditional way of life and code Bushido were realized by the Samurais a type of medieval knight for preventing of occidental life style .John Wayne becomes the first Ambassador from the Western world is this oriental adventure . The film deals with conflicts between the radical conservatism and modernism ; upon relation of the West and East World . Besides , a sweeping, complex human drama with all the ingredients : betrayal , romance , inter-racial love story, , emotions and is pretty interesting . Stunning images illuminate the full-blown feats of Towsend Harris under impressive sets created by Lyle Wheeler and Walter Scott . Glimmer and colorfully filmed by cameraman Charles G Clarke shot in locations as 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, California,(studio) ,Eiga Film Studios,Tokyo, and Kawana ,and Kyoto , Japan .Evocative and appropriate score by Hugo Friedhofer . Panned by the critics , the movie was a flop at box office , receiving awful reviews , considering Wayne is horribly miscast and ¨Barbarian and Geisha¨ resulted to be one of the worst of his bad films . However , nowadays is best deemed . Motion picture produced and released by Twenty Century Fox- Darryl F Zanuck- is regularly directed by John Huston . The movie hasn't the thematic unity of 'African's Queen', ' Asphalt jungle' , ' Key Largo' , ' Maltese Falcon' or ' The treasure of Sierra Madre' the John Huston's best and shares his failures to 'Phobia' , ' the Bible' or 'Kremlin letter' . Rating : 5,5 , acceptable and passable .

John Huston and John Wayne - an odd creative pairing but, legendary drinkers that they once were, one suspects they got along famously when cocktail hour arrived. When I saw this one when it was released, it looked great on the CinemaScope/DeLuxe Color screen, with a magnetic stereophonic sound track allowing the prolific Hugo Friedhofer to fill the theater with music that enhanced the exotic locales and the (presumably) authentic glimpses of Japan during the period in which this story is set. But Wayne seems uncomfortable, to say the least, in this role, and Huston, saddled with what seems like a pastiche of a script (three writers are uncredited, for instance) was probably only mildly amused to find himself trying to make sense of this muddle. Charles G. Clarke's cinematography, along with many of the other 20th-Century Fox stalwarts fulfilling their usual assignments, is thoroughly professional. Eiko Ando, selected to play opposite Wayne, appears to have been awarded the role because she's an Amazon, looking twice the size of a typical female of Japanese descent! If you cannot see this in a format that approximates its widescreen ratio, I'd suggest you give it a respectful pass.

An interesting look at Japan prior to opening to the West. John Wayne as America's first consul to Japan arrives in accordance with agreements resulting from Perry's gunboat diplomacy. He is not welcome. Wayne eventually wins his meeting with the Shogun after bring a cholera epidemic, introduced by an American ship, under control. There follows a colorful procession to the capital bearing gifts for the Shogun, including a bottle of Old Tanglefoot. The meeting with the Shogun, the debates among the Japanese nobles and an assassination during an archery exhibit present an interesting look at the politics of the period. Altogether a rather enjoyable movie and besides how often do you get to see the Duke lose a fight to a guy half his size.