The Teahouse of the August Moon

A likeable, if overlong and distinctly verbose adaptation of John Patrick's Broadway play, which wrings some mild amusement out of a clash between cultural stereotypes (American efficiency gives way to Oriental lethargy as the occupying force on Okinawa is beguiled into building a teahouse rather than a schoolhouse). The very stuff that sitcoms are made of, it's kept alive by genial contributions from Glenn Ford, Eddie Albert, and especially Paul Ford as the mulishly obtuse Colonel (who later resurfaced as a fixture in TV's Sergeant Bilko series). As all too often in Brando movies, his performance as the crafty Okinawan interpreter is streets ahead of the dialogue and direction he gets.