page_title: The Teahouse of the August Moon (film)
section_title: Plot
hierarchical_section_title: The Teahouse of the August Moon (film) / Plot
caption_attribution_description: English: Left to right: Machiko Kyō, Marlon Brandon, and Glenn Ford in The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) - publicity still (original image damaged, modified and cropped&#160;: see source)
context_page_description: The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 American comedy film directed by Daniel Mann and starring Marlon Brando. It satirizes the U.S. occupation and Americanization of the island of Okinawa following the end of World War II in 1945.
  John Patrick adapted the screenplay from his own Pulitzer-Prize- and Tony-Award-winning Broadway play of 1953. The play was, in turn, adapted from a 1951 novel by Vern J. Sneider. The film was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
context_section_description: Misfit Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) is sent to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando), as interpreter.
  Fisby tries to implement the military's plans by encouraging the villagers to build a school in the shape of a pentagon, but they want to build a teahouse instead. Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a young geisha (Machiko Kyō).
  To revive the economy, he has the Okinawans manufacture small items to sell as souvenirs, but nobody wants to buy them. These include cricket cages and wooden Japanese footwear called geta. Then Fisby makes a happy discovery. The villagers distill a potent sweet potato brandy in a matter of days which finds a ready market in the American army. With the influx of money, the teahouse is built in next to no time.
  When Purdy sends psychiatrist Captain McLean (Eddie Albert) to check up on Fisby, the newcomer is quickly won over. This, even after Fisby greets McLean wearing geta, an army bathrobe (which Fisby claims is his kimono) and what Fisby terms an "air-conditioned" straw hat (the latter being headwear worn by Okinawan farmers). McLean later proves to be enthusiastic about organic farming.
  When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing a yukata (summer-weight kimono). They are leading a rowdy song at a party in full swing in the teahouse. Purdy orders the building and distillery destroyed. In a burst of foresight, the villagers break up old water urns rather than the brandy storage and only dismantle the teahouse, hiding the sections.
  The village is chosen by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) as an example of successful American-led democratization. This leads to Colonel Purdy's regretting his actions and to reassembling the teahouse.
caption: Machiko Kyō, Marlon Brando, and Glenn Ford in The Teahouse of the August Moon
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