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Japanese War Bride

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Japanese War Bride
Promotional release poster
Directed byKing Vidor
Written byAnson Bond (story)
Catherine Turney (screenplay)
Produced byJoseph Bernhard
Anson Bond
StarringShirley Yamaguchi
Don Taylor
CinematographyLionel Lindon
Edited byTerry O. Morse
Music byArthur Lange
Emil Newman
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • January 1952 (1952-01)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Japanese War Bride (also known as East is East) is a 1952 American drama film directed by King Vidor. The film featured the American debut of Shirley Yamaguchi in the title role. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.[1]

Plot

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A wounded Korean War veteran, Jim Sterling, returns to his California home with his Japanese wife. The couple had met and fallen in love in a Japanese hospital where Tae Shimizu was working as a nurse. Back in America, the couple face racism and bigotry from their neighbors and family, particularly their sister-in-law, Fran.

Cast

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Impact and legacy

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The widespread publicity surrounding the film's launch made Japanese wives increasingly visible in the United States. Along with The Teahouse of the August Moon and the more successful film Sayonara, Japanese War Bride was argued by some scholars to have increased racial tolerance in the United States by openly discussing interracial marriages.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Berlinale 2020: Retrospective "King Vidor"". Berlinale. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  2. ^ Sarah Kovner (2012). Occupying Power: Sex Workers and Servicemen in Postwar Japan. Stanford University Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-8047-8346-0.

Sources

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  • "Story of a Japanese War Bride", The New York Times, January 30, 1952.
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