Sayonara

""I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire...""

1957 2h 27m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 150

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver is reassigned to a Japanese air base and is confronted with US racial prejudice against the Japanese people. The issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with Japanese women, in defiance of US military policy. Ordinarily, a by-the-book officer, Gruver must take a position when a buddy of his, an enlisted man, Joe Kelly, falls in love with a Japanese woman, Katsumi, and marries her. Gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony.

“"I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire..."”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Marlon Brando
Major Lloyd Gruver
Patricia Owens
Eileen Webster
James Garner
Capt. Mike Bailey
Martha Scott
Mrs. Webster
Miiko Taka
Hana-ogi
Miyoshi Umeki
Katsumi
Red Buttons
Joe Kelly
Kent Smith
Gen. Webster

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joshua Logan
Writers: Paul Osborn
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joshua Logan, shot by Ellsworth Fredericks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Franz Waxman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Philip W. Anderson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marlon Brando and Patricia Owens and James Garner carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: ""I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire..."".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0050933 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joshua Logan directs. Ellsworth Fredericks behind the camera. Franz Waxman scores. Philip W. Anderson cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

169 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
3Directed by Joshua Logan, shot by Ellsworth Fredericks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Franz Waxman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Philip W. Anderson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Marlon Brando and Patricia Owens and James Garner carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: ""I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire..."".
8IMDB entry: tt0050933 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "japan", "based on novel or book", "u.s. air force", "air force".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks
Original score: Franz Waxman
Editing: Philip W. Anderson
Costume design: Norma Koch
Runtime: 147 min · 2h 27m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Sayonara (1957)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Production Design
Academy Award for Best Sound
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Joshua Logan

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-11-10
★ 7/10
Brando’s romantic culture clash in Japan after WW2 In 1951, an American Air Force pilot serving in Korea (Marlon Brando) is reassigned to Kobe, Japan, where he deals with his American fiancé (Patricia Owens) and a Japanese performer who attracts his attention (Miiko Taka). The problem is there’s a military order against fraternizing with indigenous women. James Garner and Red Buttons have peripheral roles while Ricardo Montalban is on hand as a famous Kabuki entertainer. “Sayonara” (1957) is a romantic drama highlighted by Brando’s performance as a genial Southern officer, the Japanese culture & locations, plus the quaint conventions of the time period, not to mention Garner in one of his earliest roles. It’s similar to “The Ugly American” (1963), but arguably better. “Désirée” (1954) is another apt comparison, despite taking placing during the Napoleonic era. The film is a little long at 2 hours, 27 minutes, but I didn’t mind. It was shot in Japan with some stuff done in Burbank & Hollywood. GRADE: B
CinemaSerf2025-02-13
★ 6/10
Though it does try to deal with some quite poignant issues, I’m afraid it struggles to engage as it plods along a bit too sedately for 2½ hours. It’s set in an immediately post-war Korea and sees “Joe” (Red Buttons) fall in love with a Japanese gal. Now that’s strictly against the rules of fraternisation and he risks an immediate court martial. It’s only going to get more precarious when he decides to marry “Katsumi” (Miyoshi Umeki) and he asks his all-American boss “Maj. Gruver” (Marlon Brando) if he’ll be the best man. Things are further complicated because not only is “Gruver” the son of a commanding general but he also doesn’t really comprehend why his friend would be willing to surrender his US citizenship just to marry this girl. As the story develops, we discover that “Gruver” is slated to marry “Eileen” (Patricia Owens) who’s also the child of a general - but there is soon a fly in that particular ointment as “Hana-ogi” (Miiko Taka) comes onto the scene and fairly rapidly the major begins to understand his friend “Joe” an whole lot more. Perhaps a little surprisingly, “Eileen” isn’t entirely unsympathetic and it’s largely through her characterisation that a light is shone on the attitudes of the occupying administration to dalliances, even marriages, of their personnel with the indigenous population. In many ways it’s quite an effective invitation to look at one’s own attitudes and clearly with wounds from WWII still fresh in the minds of many Americans, it uses the extremeness of these scenarios to offer some hope of reconciliation rising from the hatred, brutality and mistrust that has been successfully nurtured by a series of rules and regulations that seem designed not with any ethnicity in mind, but more to avoid an influx of “new” citizens to the USA after the troops have returned home. James Garner’s “Bailey” adds to the conundrum as he, too, is enamoured of a young and popular dancer but his contribution is somewhat undercooked. There is one especially torrid scene with the young “Katsumi” so desperate to conform that she is considering paying a quack doctor for her eyes to be “reset” - an appalling proposition at any time, but also quite indicative of a situation where true love prevailed and not just convenient sex. Despite that compelling mix of topics and two strongly emotional efforts from both Buttons and Umeki, Brando and Garner just aren’t really at the races here and there’s simply too much dialogue as it takes an interminable time to make it’s point. It does look good, the aesthetic is vivid and the dance routines evocative of a Korean culture that has, for many, just swapped one invader for another. It’s worth a watch, but could have been more focussed.