5. The Teahouse Of The August Moon (1956)
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a much more gentle look at Japanese culture, with some riveting satirical comedy and light historical elements. Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) is a bumbling officer of the U.S military who's failed to be of any use. As a last ditch effort Col. Purdy sends him to the small little known-village Tobiki along with translating toerag Sakini (Marlon Brando). The idea is Captain Fisby is supposed to colonize and modernize the village by building a school, and teaching the villagers the 'American way'. The inhabitants of Tobiki have other ideas... It's satire is mainly aimed at the U.S military's seemingly misguided ideas of post-war recovery. Marlon Brando steals the show as lazy translator Sakini (who rarely translates) as he generally misleads his friend Captain Fisby into a series of awkward situations. The satire is mostly for the sake of comedy, but does seem to legitimately critique military procedure. Teahouse of the August Moon is a zany satirical comedy, that ages incredibly well, and is worth watching for those with a sharp wit.