My Geisha

Released Jun 13, 1962

2h 0m

Comedy

Drama

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Reviews

62%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A director's (Yves Montand) wife (Shirley MacLaine) poses as a geisha to win the lead in his Japanese production of "Madame Butterfly."

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An excellent movie that is both a touching romance between a married couple and a sympathetic homage to Japanese culture well before that became fashionable. Both MacLaine and Montand give stellar performances. There is never a false note as the ingenious but straightforward plot moves quickly along and reaches a conclusion that is emotionally satisfying without being obvious. The journey is enhanced by superb location shots and the background story and music of Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

A perfectly charming, yet highly implausible comedy of errors in which Shirley Maclaine stars as a high profile comic actress whose director husband decides not to cast her in his latest pic, an adaptation of Madame Butterfly set entirely on location in Japan. Master of blatantly obvious disguise, Maclaine, conspires with the film's producer and masquerades as Yoko Mori, who is an actual geisha and not Shirley in geisha get up complete with mildly racist accent. It kind of loses momentum halfway through, Montand is a charisma vacuum and Cummings shouts his way through the film. Maclaine is fine though. It just needed to be a touch more farcical with a better supporting cast. Sweet ending with a great closing line.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

this is my favorite shirley maclaine movie i love the story

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

Satisfactory comedy is put over by a cute Shirley MacLaine performance and that old pro Edward G. Robinson. Bob Cummings has his moments as an egotistical star although the thought of him as a major romantic idol is a bit of a stretch. The major flaw as it always is in any film in which he appeared is that cinematic black hole Yves Montand. At least in his English language films he is so devoid of personality and charisma that he stops the picture dead in it's tracks whenever he is on screen. Also the fact that his character doesn't recognize his wife in geisha makeup when she looks exactly like Shirley MacLaine in a black wig and heavy makeup make him seem like a nitwit.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

If you are looking for a movie that will make you smile without having to think then I suggest you watch this

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

this turned out to be better than i expected. the story is about an actress that dupes her director husband into casting her as a geisha for his film in japan. i think it was a little longer than it needed to be but i enjoyed seeing 1962 japan in technicolor, and thankfully there weren't a lot of cheap laughs at the expense of the japanese. most of the humor centers on hollywood's vanity. that was another thing i liked about the movie - its portrait of how movies get made.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Jack Cardiff

Director

Shirley MacLaine

Lucy Dell

Yves Montand

Paul Robaix

Edward G. Robinson

Sam Lewis

Bob Cummings

Bob Moore

Yôko Tani

Kazumi Ito

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My Geisha: Official Clip - Lucy In Disguise

2:07

My Geisha: Official Clip - Bluffing Japanese

2:02

My Geisha: Official Clip - Have I Got a Lot To Learn

2:13

My Geisha: Official Clip - Community Bath With the Girls

2:11

My Geisha: Official Clip - Kissing Is Most Interesting

2:10

My Geisha: Official Clip - Keep Bowing, You Little Ham

1:57

My Geisha: Official Clip - Weak Connection

2:12

My Geisha: Official Clip - You're Dishonoring Me

2:12

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Synopsis

A director's (Yves Montand) wife (Shirley MacLaine) poses as a geisha to win the lead in his Japanese production of "Madame Butterfly."

Director: Jack Cardiff
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 1962, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 6, 2014
Runtime: 2h 0m

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