Major Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brando) is a US flying ace in the Korean War who is reassigned to Kobe, Japan. He claims he's not racist but he tries hard to talk admiring soldier Joe Kelly (Red Buttons) out of marrying a Japanese girl which is against regulations. Nevertheless he's a witness to his wedding. While bringing his girlfriend Eileen Webster and her family General Webster to the club, Captain Bailey (James Garner) tries to bring a famous Japanese performer in but is rejected by the guard and General Webster. He and Eileen go to see Kabuki and meets performer Nakamura (Ricardo Montalban). They have a blow out when Eileen wants to advance their relationship. Being a witness to the inter-racial marriage causes more friction between Gruver and General Webster. He falls for Hana-Ogi who is the star performer and his previous prejudices go out the window. In addition to official regulation, they face social isolation from both sides.
This is a weak romance wrapped in a message movie. While I admire the message, the romance has a great deal of problem. First Brando has to dump the white movie pinup girl. I think it's a way to show that he's choosing a Japanese girl over a white girl to break the old mold. The first problem is that the audience isn't introduced to Hana-Ogi until after 45 minutes and she doesn't have much to do. It's very late for the romantic lead. The second problem is that she doesn't have chemistry with Brando or at least less chemistry than with Eileen. They don't really interact enough to create the chemistry. The third is that the message becomes larger than the romance and it is made to serve it. The movie may have maintained a better structure if Eileen was written out and General Webster was just Gruver's disapproving father.
This is a weak romance wrapped in a message movie. While I admire the message, the romance has a great deal of problem. First Brando has to dump the white movie pinup girl. I think it's a way to show that he's choosing a Japanese girl over a white girl to break the old mold. The first problem is that the audience isn't introduced to Hana-Ogi until after 45 minutes and she doesn't have much to do. It's very late for the romantic lead. The second problem is that she doesn't have chemistry with Brando or at least less chemistry than with Eileen. They don't really interact enough to create the chemistry. The third is that the message becomes larger than the romance and it is made to serve it. The movie may have maintained a better structure if Eileen was written out and General Webster was just Gruver's disapproving father.