IMDb RATING
6.5/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
An actress disguises herself as a geisha in order to land the lead role in her director husband's film version of 'Madam Butterfly'.An actress disguises herself as a geisha in order to land the lead role in her director husband's film version of 'Madam Butterfly'.An actress disguises herself as a geisha in order to land the lead role in her director husband's film version of 'Madam Butterfly'.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Robert Cummings
- Bob Moore
- (as Bob Cummings)
Tatsuo Saitô
- Kenichi Takata
- (as Tatsuo Saito)
Ichirô Hayakawa
- Hisako
- (as I. Hayakawa)
Junko Aoki
- Geisha
- (uncredited)
Nobuo Chiba
- Shig
- (uncredited)
Marion Furness
- Bob's girlfriend
- (uncredited)
Kazue Kaneko
- Geisha
- (uncredited)
Satoko Kuni
- Maid
- (uncredited)
Mayumi Momose
- Geisha
- (uncredited)
Nariko Muramatsu
- Head waitress
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShu Uemura took over the makeup for MacLaine's Geisha role after Michael Westmore fell ill. The international recognition Uemura received for his work enabled him to launch his own cosmetics company.
- GoofsA huge premiere is planned for the movie Lucy is working on mere days after the final scene is shot; in reality, a major film of the magnitude she's starring in would take months for editing and other post-production work.
- Quotes
Kazumi Ito: No one before you, my husband, not even I.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 54th Annual Academy Awards (1982)
- SoundtracksMADAMA BUTTERFLY
Sequences
Written by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa
Performed by Shirley MacLaine (dubbed by Michiku Sunahara) and Robert Cummings (dubbed by Barry Morell)
Conducted by Franz Waxman
Featured review
A Practical Joke Goes Too Far
My Geisha is a film that I'm not sure why it is overlooked. Essentially Shirley MacLaine plays two roles in this film. One she's Lucy Dell, a Hollywood Actress not unlike Shirley MacLaine. But with a lot of heavy makeup she's also playing a geisha girl who husband/director Yves Montand picks to star in a film version of Madame Butterfly.
Shirley at that time was married to Steve Parker who lived and worked in Japan and they had one of the weirdest marriages on record. They stayed together almost thirty years, basically because they only saw each other once or twice a year with her living in Hollywood. But this film with Steve Parker producing it for his wife brought them together for a much longer sojourn.
Montand directs his wife's films and she's known as a good comic actress in the profession. He and her perennial leading man Bob Cummings want to do a serious drama, Madame Butterfly, film the Puccini opera with dubbed in singers.
MacLaine and producer Edward G. Robinson go to Japan, Shirley in secret and for a lark she puts on geisha makeup and outfit. Montand and Cummings are so taken with her that Montand hires the geisha that Shirley is pretending to be as the lead in Madame Butterfly.
The masquerade is kept going, but the joke runs into some unforeseen complications for all concerned.
My Geisha glides effortlessly from comedy to drama when the careers and egos of both MacLaine and Montand are on the line. It works out in a highly unusual way. Both Montand and MacLaine do very well by their lead parts with Bob Cummings portraying a wolfish leading man and Edward G. Robinson to dispense wise counsel for all.
It's a very good part for Shirley MacLaine. She summons some hidden depths for the film in portraying the tragic geisha of Madame Butterfly. It's one of her best films.
Shirley at that time was married to Steve Parker who lived and worked in Japan and they had one of the weirdest marriages on record. They stayed together almost thirty years, basically because they only saw each other once or twice a year with her living in Hollywood. But this film with Steve Parker producing it for his wife brought them together for a much longer sojourn.
Montand directs his wife's films and she's known as a good comic actress in the profession. He and her perennial leading man Bob Cummings want to do a serious drama, Madame Butterfly, film the Puccini opera with dubbed in singers.
MacLaine and producer Edward G. Robinson go to Japan, Shirley in secret and for a lark she puts on geisha makeup and outfit. Montand and Cummings are so taken with her that Montand hires the geisha that Shirley is pretending to be as the lead in Madame Butterfly.
The masquerade is kept going, but the joke runs into some unforeseen complications for all concerned.
My Geisha glides effortlessly from comedy to drama when the careers and egos of both MacLaine and Montand are on the line. It works out in a highly unusual way. Both Montand and MacLaine do very well by their lead parts with Bob Cummings portraying a wolfish leading man and Edward G. Robinson to dispense wise counsel for all.
It's a very good part for Shirley MacLaine. She summons some hidden depths for the film in portraying the tragic geisha of Madame Butterfly. It's one of her best films.
helpful•172
- bkoganbing
- Mar 2, 2007
- How long is My Geisha?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 59 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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