History Film / Sayonara

-->"What would they be? They'd be half Japanese and half American. They'd be half yellow and half white. Half you and half me. And that's all it's going to be."

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Hana-ogi does not speak for the first part of her screen time. When she comes to Kelly and Katsumi's house for dinner, Gruver spends several minutes babbling in front of her before he realises he doesn't know if she can even understand him. But of course she speaks perfect English.

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: As pointed out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ihiB5o2YFs here]], the film's intention was to portray Lloyd Gruver as an everyman who starts off with the prejudices typical of a 1950s American alpha male - who then undergoes changes as he falls in love with a woman of a different race and abandons his prejudices in the name of love and loyalty to his friends.

A 1957 drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring Creator/MarlonBrando, ''Sayonara'' is the second most quintessential MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow film, after ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong''. It was adapted by screenwriter Paul Osborn from Creator/JamesAMichener's 1954 novel of the same name.

A 1957 drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring Creator/MarlonBrando, ''Sayonara'' is the second most quintessential MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow film, after ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong''. It was adapted by screenwriter Paul Osborn from James Michener's 1954 novel of the same name.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Late in the film the military reassigns all the men who are married to Japanese women to the United States. [[spoiler: Hana-ogi's relationship is discovered, and she's transferred to a revue in Tokyo]].

The film takes place in 1951 during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. Major Lloyd "Ace" Gruver (Brando), a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot stationed in Korea whose father is a four-star general and who is prejudiced against Asians, is irritated that many of his friends and associates are marrying Asian women (something that the Air Force, and the U.S. military as a whole, strongly disapproves of). Gruver is transferred to a desk job in Kobe, Japan under the command of his father's friend, Lt. General Mark Webster (Kent Smith). He is also engaged to marry Webster's daughter, Eileen (Patricia Owens), but doesn't seem particularly attracted to her. After reluctantly serving as best man at the wedding of his crew chief Joe Kelly (Creator/RedButtons) to local woman Katsumi (Creator/MiyoshiUmeki), Gruver finds his prejudices challenged when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka actress and dancer Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka)...

The film takes place in 1951 during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. Major Lloyd "Ace" Gruver (Brando), a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot stationed in Korea whose father is a four-star general and who is prejudiced against Asians, is irritated that many of his friends and associates are marrying Asian women (something that the Air Force, and the U.S. military as a whole, strongly disapproves of). Gruver is transferred to a desk job in Kobe, Japan under the command of his father's friend, Lt. General Mark Webster (Kent Smith). He is also engaged to wed Webster's daughter, Eileen (Patricia Owens), but doesn't seem to be particularly attracted to her. After reluctantly serving as best man at the wedding of his crew chief Joe Kelly (Creator/RedButtons) to local woman Katsumi (Creator/MiyoshiUmeki), Gruver finds his prejudices challenged when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka actress and dancer Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka)...

A 1957 drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring Creator/MarlonBrando, ''Sayonara'' is the second most quintessential MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow film, after ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong''.

Lloyd "Ace" Gruver (Brando), a U.S. Air Force major stationed in Korea whose father is a four-star general and who is prejudiced against Asians, is irritated that many of his friends and associates are marrying Asian women (something which the U.S. Military as a whole strongly disapproves of). He is transferred to a desk job in Kobe, Japan, under the command of his father's friend, three-star general Mark Webster (Kent Smith). Ace is also engaged to Webster's daughter, Eileen (Patricia Owens), but doesn't seem to be particularly attracted to her. After reluctantly serving as the best man at the wedding of his crew chief Joe Kelly (Creator/RedButtons) to local woman Katsumi (Creator/MiyoshiUmeki), Ace finds his prejudices challenged when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka actress and dancer Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka)...

* ActorAllusion: Director example. Both Gruver and Nakamura are fans of Marilyn Monroe. Joshua Logan had directed Marilyn in ''Bus Stop'' - released the previous year.
* AnAesop: The film pulls no punches when it comes to the anti-racism moral and is all the more effective for it. At the time, MoralGuardians kept invoking ThinkOfTheChildren when it came to interracial marriage - claiming it would be awful to 'doom' children to a life of being unable to fit into either race - which gets completely shut down in one of Gruver's speeches. Hana-ogi asks what would happen if they had children.
---> "What would they be? They'd be half Japanese and half American. They'd be half yellow and half white. Half you and half me. And that's all it's going to be."

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Gruver and Nakamura reference Creator/MarilynMonroe - who was famous at the time of the film's release. She was not however when the film is actually set (1951).

* FilmOfTheBook: Notably the director of the film Joshua Logan is responsible for getting the book written, and he had been intending to adapt it later.

Lloyd "Ace" Gruver (Brando), a U.S. Air Force major stationed in Korea whose father is a four-star general and who is prejudiced against Asians, is irritated that many of his friends and associates are marrying Asian women (something which the U.S. Military as a whole strongly disapproves of). He is transferred to a desk job in Kobe, Japan, under the command of his father's friend, three-star general Mark Webster (Creator/KentSmith). Ace is also engaged to Webster's daughter, Eileen (Patricia Owens), but doesn't seem particularly attracted to her. After reluctantly serving as the best man at the wedding of his crew chief Joe Kelly (Creator/RedButtons) to local woman Katsumi (Creator/MiyoshiUmeki), Ace finds his prejudices challenged when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka actress and dancer Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka)...

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''Sayonara'' is a 1957 drama film directed by Joshua Logan, starring Creator/MarlonBrando. It's the second most quintessential MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow movie, after ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong''.

Lloyd Gruver (Brando), a United States Air Force Major stationed in Korea whose father is a four-star general and who is prejudiced against Asians, is irritated that many of his friends and associates are marrying Asian women (something which the U.S. Military as a whole strongly disapproves of). He is transferred to a desk job in Kobe, Japan, under command of his father's friend--three-star general Webster (Creator/KentSmith). Lloyd is engaged to Webster's daughter, Eileen (Patricia Owens), but he doesn't seem particularly attracted to her. Reluctantly, he serves as the best man at the wedding of his crew chief Joe Kelly (Creator/RedButtons) to local woman Katsumi (Creator/MiyoshiUmeki). Gruver finds his prejudices challenged when he himself falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka actress/dancer Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka)...

Earned Best Supporting Actor for Red Buttons and Best Supporting Actress for Miyoshi Umeki--making her the first and only Asian performer to win said award. Creator/RicardoMontalban appears in {{Yellowface}} as Nakamura.

--> "There's only one person I want to talk to right now. And oddly enough, he's Japanese!"