A Majority of One (film)
| A Majority Of One | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
British quad poster by Tom Chantrell
|
|
| Directed by | Mervyn LeRoy |
| Produced by | Harry Stradling |
| Written by | Leonard Spigelgass |
| Starring |
Rosalind Russell Alec Guinness Ray Danton Madlyn Rhue Mae Questel Marc Marno Gary Vinson Sharon Hugueny Frank Wilcox Francis De Sales Yuki Shimoda Harriet MacGibbon |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
| Edited by | Philip W. Anderson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
156 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Majority of One is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Rosalind Russell and Alec Guinness. It was adapted from the play of the same name by Leonard Spigelgass, which was a Broadway hit in the 1959-60 season, starring Gertrude Berg and Cedric Hardwicke.
Bertha Jacoby (Rosalind Russell), a Jewish widow, is convinced by her daughter Alice Black (Madlyn Rhue) to move from Brooklyn, New York to Tokyo, in order for Bertha to be closer to her along with her husband, Jerry Black (Ray Danton), now stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Her feelings about the Japanese with regards to her son's death in World War II start to change on board the ship to Tokyo, where she meets Koichi Asano, a Japanese Buddhist businessman (Alec Guinness), who also lost a spouse and two children in the War. The two share a bond over lives, their families, and their faiths, which develops into a romance. When she announces to her family of Asano's courtship, her daughter and son-in-law object to the idea of an interracial marriage. The movie ends with the two enjoying a Sabbath dinner.
Guinness went to Japan days prior to production started to study the culture, the people and their customs. He went under heavy makeup to play the role. Russell had misgivings about the role due to her believing that Berg deserved the part (though studio head Jack Warner refused due to doubts over Berg's viability), but she decided to portray the role after hearing that she could co-star with Guinness. The two called each other and agreed mutually to do it. Both actors were Catholic, different from what they portrayed in the film.
...
Wikipedia