Cry for Happy narrative location Japan
Cry for Happy is a 1961 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Glenn Ford and Donald O'Connor. It is a service comedy set in Japan and largely filmed there. The title song is sung during the opening credits by Miyoshi Umeki, who has a major role in the movie.Plot
During the Korean War, Andy Cyphers (Glenn Ford), a Navy photographer and his three-man team occupy a Tokyo geisha house, though it is off-limits and four girls are living there.
At first, the men misunderstand the geishas' occupation. Later, romance develops. Complications ensue when a tongue-in-cheek remark made to the press by Cyphers saying he was fighting in the Korean War to help Japanese orphans gets publicity in the United States, and the Navy starts to look into the situation. The sailors and the geishas decide to quickly convert the geisha house into a temporary orphanage with local children agreeing to pose as orphans in exchange for ice cream. Surprisingly, the ruse is successful and thousands of Americans donate money, leading to Cyphers establishing a legitimate orphanage. A double wedding is held between two of the sailors and two of the geishas, while the other two men consider following suit.