Bill Slocum There's a lot of reason to like "The Barbarian And The Geisha," too bad so little of that shows up on screen. It's a classic case of how good intentions when married to fuzzy execution yield disappointing results.In 1856, following the opening of Japan to an American naval force, newly-appointed consul general Townsend Harris (John Wayne) shows up at the fishing community of Shimoda to ratify an agreement. He is met with resistance, much of it from a regional governor, Tamura (So Yamamura), who reminds Harris it takes two to make a treaty. Harris insists, and Tamura responds with some hospitality, including a music-making geisha named Okichi (Eiko Ando) who is sent to Harris to make him more comfortable."The governor wants to know about us, and we want to know about Japan," Harris tells his aide Henry (Sam Jaffe) in accepting the young lovely into his home.Shot on location in glorious CinemaScope, "The Barbarian And The Geisha" is the kind of movie I want to like. It takes an even-handed approach at celebrating a century of Japanese-American relations centering on the idea of being a "good neighbor." Another reviewer here criticizes Wayne for playing a "cowboy;" that's not the issue at all.In fact, a big part of the problem is Wayne's gentleness. He gets into a couple of fan-service fistfights, but for the most part speaks softly and makes his point with wisdom, not force. His problem is he's not the actor for such a role, and struggles to define a character with a lot of earnest diplomat-speak that suits him as poorly as his period trousers.Another reviewer suggests Clifton Webb would have been a better casting choice. How about Gregory Peck? He was so stiff and elegant, he would have been perfect in this. I can see him arching that eyebrow as he uttered such dry lines as: "No one stays as he was…nor any country."Director John Huston doesn't seem to know what kind of film he's making, a romance or a history, so he throws together a historical romance that sells both sides short. The Okichi relationship is set up as crucial; hers is the character we hear in the frequent narration. Alas, there is no chemistry between the leads, just nods and smiles. Ando was a newcomer in her only screen role, and she's charming enough, but what exactly is the point of Okichi in this story is as hard to tell by watching the film as it is from reading the history.Not that I found myself caring too much. The film starts and ends with a scene of grand spectacle, and pretty much that's Huston's agenda, the kind of spectacle meant as show and divorced from story. There's some drama when an American ship's arrival leads to a cholera epidemic, but just as that seems to spell the end of Harris's mission, it is revealed the Japanese appreciated his efforts in stopping the epidemic. Thus is conflict resolved, with another long pageant to celebrate same.The only thing I enjoyed about this movie was So Yamamura, who gets my 1958 Doe Avedon award for best performance in a bad film. Though his character makes no more sense than anyone else's, he plays his part with a humor and grace surprising for what amounts to the token heavy. "I have sympathy for a man alone in a strange country," he tells Harris in good English, showing he may be a stick but far from ignorant about it. Yamamura subtly signals his conflict between respecting Harris and fearing what he represents, and that tension charges every scene he's in.That charge is sorely needed, for this film is otherwise as inert as sushi. Noble intentions and a good cause are just not enough to make this worth a view.

James Hitchcock The hero of this film, Townsend Harris (1804-1878), was a real individual; he was an American merchant and diplomat who in 1856 was appointed the first U.S. Consul-General to Japan. The parts of the film dealing with his diplomatic mission, culminating in the signing of the "Harris Treaty" regulating American-Japanese trade, are generally based in historical fact. The parts dealing with a romance between Harris and the beautiful Japanese geisha Okichi, however, are probably fictitious, although the legend of their love has long persisted in Japan.As others have pointed out, this was (in some ways at least) an unusual role for John Wayne, although Harris does share some characteristics with the quintessential Wayne hero, such as courage, honour and patriotism. In other respects, however, as a diplomat and man of peace whose only weapon is the power of persuasion he is very different to the men of action- cowboys, gunfighters, soldiers, etc.- portrayed by Wayne in most of his other movies. The film contains two main strands. One deals with the love-story of Harris and Okichi. The other deals with the conflict between the pro- Western Japanese modernisers, who welcome Harris's mission, and the conservative, traditionalist forces who resent it. Harris is at first based not in Edo (as Tokyo was then known) but in the small coastal town of Shimoda, some sixty miles away, and the local governor Lord Tamura (a conservative sympathiser) refuses to recognise his diplomatic status. The plot of course has a number of similarities with that of "Madame Butterfly", which also concerns a young Japanese girl who falls in love with an older American man. "The Barbarian and the Geisha", however, explores the theme of cultural differences much more deeply than does Puccini's opera, which is essentially the story of a woman betrayed by a faithless lover. The forces which doom the relationship between Harris and Okichi are much more fundamental, and are rooted in irreconcilable differences between their two nations' concepts of morality and honour.Some have expressed surprise that a film celebrating the establishment of peaceful American-Japanese relations was made only thirteen years after the end of World War II, but this becomes less surprising when one considers that by 1958 Japan was a key US ally in the Cold War. Moreover, the view of the Japanese in this film is not altogether positive. The events of 1853, when Japan was forced to open its doors to the West by Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet under threat of force, are justified by allegations that the Japanese had been guilty of beheading shipwrecked foreign sailors and refusing to allow American vessels to enter their ports, even to take on emergency supplies of food and water. Arguments that it was for Japan itself, as an independent sovereign state, to determine its own trade policy with the rest of the world are largely glossed over or presented as the doctrines of a self-interested reactionary faction. Harris and the Japanese progressives are the good guys and the Japanese conservatives the bad guys, something shown when they make a treacherous attempt to murder Harris. This was John Wayne's only collaboration with director John Huston, and apparently they did not get on with one another. Yet Wayne does enough here, both as diplomat and as lover, to suggest that he had a greater range as an actor than he is normally given credit for. Eiko Ando as Okichi makes a luminously beautiful heroine. This is one film where all the Japanese characters are played by Japanese actors, something which was by no means always the rule in the fifties, "Love is a Many Splendid Thing" and "Inn of the Sixth Happiness" being two examples from the period where oriental characters were played by white actors.Huston himself was dissatisfied with the film because it was heavily re- edited by the studio and he felt that it did not reflect his vision. As far as I am aware there is no "director's cut" so we do not know what Huston's vision would have looked like had it been realised. The film we actually have, however, is far from being a bad one. It has its weaknesses; the pace tends to sag at times, especially during the first half. Nevertheless, it is visually attractive, well acted and throws an interesting light on the history of American-Japanese relations. It is an unusual film to have come out of the Hollywood of the fifties, made all the more unexpected by Huston's use of a star normally associated with films of a very different sort. 7/10

ma-cortes 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 .

ebaycrap22 I had high hopes for this film because it was one of the few John Wayne Films I had not seen. but it wins the "Worst John Wayne Films Ever Award." No plot or better yet lousy plot....American Diplomat (Wayne) attempts to put a dent in Isolationist Colonial Japan, toss in a Geisha, a Plague and you still have Zero. and to make this a real minus zero you have the wonderful John Houston directing...the Studios must have truly desperate for material for Wayne to have 'unloaded' this on him....the "only" good thing you can say is "it is too lousy for an updated sequal" for this looser film to snooze through .....I gave it a ~~Minus Five Stars~~ because Houston knew better, John Wayne should have known better.and you can avoid this lemon, unless you need a "nap."