''Cry for Happy'' is a 1961 American

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

and starring

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...

and

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His b ...

. It is a service comedy set in Japan and largely filmed there. The title song is sung during the opening credits by Miyoshi Umeki, who has a major role in the movie.

Plot

During the Korean War, Andy Cyphers (

), a Navy photographer and his three-man team occupy a Tokyo geisha house, though it is off-limits and four girls are living there. At first, the men misunderstand the geishas' occupation. Later, romance develops. Complications ensue when a tongue-in-cheek remark made to the press by Cyphers saying he was fighting in the Korean War to help Japanese orphans gets publicity in the United States, and the Navy starts to look into the situation. The sailors and the geishas decide to quickly convert the geisha house into a temporary orphanage with local children agreeing to pose as orphans in exchange for ice cream. Surprisingly, the ruse is successful and thousands of Americans donate money, leading to Cyphers establishing a legitimate orphanage. A double wedding is held between two of the sailors and two of the geishas, while the other two men consider following suit.

Cast

as CPO Andy Cyphers *

as Murray Prince * Miiko Taka as Chiyoko * James Shigeta as Suzuki *

Miyoshi Umeki was a Japanese-American singer and actress.Bernstein, Adam ''The Washington Post''. 5 September 2007. Umeki was a Tony Award- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and the first East Asian-American woman to win an Academy Award for acting. Life Bo ...

as Harue *

Michi Kobi Michi Kobi (2 November 1924 – 1 March 2016), born Machiko Kobinata Okamoto, was an American actress. Life Kobi was born 2 November 1924 in Sacramento, California as Machiko Kobinata Okamoto. Her father, Rikikazu Okamoto, came to America at ag ...

as Hanakichi * Howard St. John as Vice Adm. Admiral B. Bennett * Joe Flynn as MacIntosh * Chet Douglas as Lank * Tsuruko Kobayashi as Koyuki * Harriet E. MacGibbon as Mrs. Bennett * Robert Kino as Mr. Endo *

Bob Okazaki Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

as Izumi *

Harlan Warde Harlan Warde (born Harlan Ward Lufkin; November 6, 1917 – March 13, 1980) was a character actor active in television and movies. Career Warde showed up in supporting roles as detectives, doctors, and ministers. Warde made five guest appearan ...

as Chaplain * Nancy Kovack as Camile Cameron *

Ted Knight Ted Knight (born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka; December 7, 1923August 26, 1986) was an American actor well known for playing the comedic roles of Ted Baxter in ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', Henry Rush in ''Too Close for Comfort'', and Judge Elihu ...

as Lt. Glick *

Bill Quinn William Tyrell Quinn (1912 – April 29, 1994) was an American film actor. Quinn was born in 1912 in New York. He performed with his older brothers in a children's act in vaudeville. Quinn began working on radio around 1934. He starred as a de ...

as Alan Lyman * Ciyo Nakasone as Keiko

Reception

Reviews from critics were mixed to negative; one commonly noted aspect of the film was the bawdiness of the humor which pushed the limits of what was permitted on the screen at the time.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that "a great deal of nonsense" took place in the film—"nonsense of the sort that betokens a desperate scriptwriter at work ... Don't be surprised, indeed, at anything that happens in this knockabout film, derived from a novel by George Campbell, which must have been better, at least. And don't be disappointed, since you have been solemnly warned." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film a "disappointment," with humor that was "uneven and largely low, exaggerated or obvious, and the stars have little to sink their thespic teeth into." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' rated the film, "Good," with "some of the raciest lines we've heard yet in the new 'adult' wave of American films. This approach to burlesque comedy is going to bring new cries from censors and those demanding that pictures here be classified."

Roger Angell Roger Angell (September 19, 1920 – May 20, 2022) was an American essayist known for his writing on sports, especially baseball. The only writer ever elected into both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Baseball Writers' Associa ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called the film an "irritating work, which made me want to cry, all right, but not for happy." Charles Stinson of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called the film "a moderately amusing effort — even if you've seen all its gags three dozen times before, which you certainly have." Stinson added that the one thing which distinguished ''Cry for Happy'' from the many other service comedies was Irving Brecher's dialogue, which was "professionally trim and bright but he could not resist lacing it with some of the stiffest shots of double-entendre heard on screen in a long time. Half a dozen lines are more than risque and at least one is far too raw even for a service comedy. This is enough to mark this film off the family list." ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote, "Any film which expends most of its energies on a protracted joke about how far you can go with a geisha could hardly fail to be as charmless and witless as this."

References

External links

* * * * {{George Marshall 1961 films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by George Marshall 1961 comedy films Korean War films Films about geisha American comedy films Films based on American novels Films with screenplays by Irving Brecher Films set in Japan Films scored by George Duning Japan in non-Japanese culture 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links