The Geisha Boy
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| The Geisha Boy | |
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| Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
| Produced by | Jerry Lewis |
| Written by | Frank Tashlin Rudy Makoul |
| Starring | Jerry Lewis Marie McDonald Suzanne Pleshette |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 23, 1958 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Geisha Boy is a 1958 American comedy film starring Jerry Lewis. Filmed from June 16 to August 7, 1958, it was released on December 23, 1958 by Paramount Pictures. This film marked the film debut of Suzanne Pleshette.
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[edit] Plot
The Great Wooley (Jerry Lewis) is a magician who is entertaining GIs in Japan. Upon their arrival he causes a series of unfortunate mishaps for the headliner, actress Lola Livingston (Marie McDonald), including knocking her down a flight of stairs and rolling her up in the red carpet. An orphan, Mitsuo Watanabe (Robert Hirano) witnesses the spectacle and laughs for the first time since his parents died. When his aunt Kimi Sikita (Nobu McCarthy) brings the boy to Wooley to thank him, he and the boy become close, which irritates the aunt's boyfriend, a Japanese baseball player, as well as a stewardess (Suzanne Pleshette) who has fallen for Wooley.
Wooley continues to perform his act to large audiences in Japan, and not wanting to disappoint the boy by letting him find out that he is an unknown performer in the U.S., he tries to sneak away when it is time for him to return to America. The boy follows him, and Wooley must pretend that he no longer cares for the boy, which makes him cry. However, he still follows him to America by stowing away on the plane. Once in America, they are reunited and Wooley becomes a successful performer in America.
[edit] Paramount Pictures
At one point in the film, the boy and Wooley look at a mountain in the distance. The arc of stars as seen in the logo for Paramount Pictures (producers of the film) appears. Wooley turns away as if shocked.
[edit] Cast
- Jerry Lewis as Gilbert Wooley
- Marie McDonald as Lola Livingston
- Sessue Hayakawa as Mr. Sikita
- Barton MacLane as Major Ridgley
- Suzanne Pleshette as Sargent Pearson
- Nobu McCarthy as Kimi Sikita
- Robert Hirano as Mitsuo Watanabe
- Ryuzo Demura as Ichiyama
- The Los Angeles Dodgers as Themselves
[edit] References to other films
Sessue Hayakawa, playing the orphan's grandfather, reenacts a scene that he performed in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).
