Y'all know that I'm always down for a bath scene in any movie or television show. Sometimes a sudsy still photo will lead me to a film and I'll watch the whole dang thing, just waiting for the bath sequence to appear. Today's movie is one I wouldn't ordinarily pick, but the
poster was so focused on bath time that I had no choice but to check it out and see what's up. In true publicity form, the suggestions made on the poster did not come to complete life in the actual movie, but a certain amount did nevertheless. As I am a completist, I now share my findings with you. The movie
Cry for Happy (1961) brought two of the actresses from
Sayonara (1957) - Miiko Taka and Myoshi Umeki - back together for another look at US servicemen becoming involved with Japanese females. It's a light, situational comedy that is rather forgettable, but may be of interest to those who like Joe Flynn (of
McHale's Navy) or Harriet MacGibbon (Mrs. Drysdale of
The Beverly Hillbillies), both of who have supporting roles in it.
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The gents here are in the US Navy and are played by Chet Douglas, James Shigeta, Donald O'Connor and Glenn Ford.
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Douglas is so tall that the only way he can stand with his buddies in Ford's downstairs photo developing studio is to stick his head into an opening in the ceiling, ala Dino in The Flintstones' car! (Suspiciously, Douglas isn't QUITE this much taller than his buds later in the film...)
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Due to a post WWII housing shortage, Ford and his men take lodging in a secluded home which they believe belongs to the relative of a friend, but is, in fact, a Geisha training site! As Ford tours the home, he finds the lead instructor and three of her charges bathing together in a large tiled tub.
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Umeki, Michi Kobi, Tsuroko Kobayashi and Taka are glimpsed, ostensibly nude, by Ford, who is in disbelief at what he's seeing. (For 1961 studio cinema - filmed the prior year, actually - this brief moment was pretty racy.)
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It's a really quick bit and moments like the one depicted here, used in publicity pics, did not wind up in the final cut...
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Likewise, the melee shown in the poster's artwork, didn't show up precisely in the manner depicted. It's close, but not entirely accurate. Here, we see O'Connor in the tub and Ford on his belly on a table.
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In the actual scene, O'Connor is in a large robe (being massaged by an older attendant, not one of the Geisha girls.)
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This benign image hardly lives up to what the artist drew for the movie's poster.
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In the movie, Ford is in the tub. Way down in the tub!
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The actor, then in his mid-50s, seems to be angling to show as little chest (or anything else) as possible.
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This was still, nevertheless, a slightly racy set up for the era... a man taking a bath in full view of an attending female.
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And, again, this imagery was used to promote the movie. The angle of this shot shows more than we ever see in the finished picture.
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Meanwhile, the other guys' scenarios match up to the poster's artwork. Douglas is draped in a towel as one of the gals (Kobayashi) walks on his back.
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If you don't know Chet Douglas, you may be forgiven for he only made a handful of films with mostly minor roles. One was Two Rode Together (1961) and his fifth and final one was Requiem for a Gunfighter in 1965.
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Shigeta's situation does compare to the poster's artwork. He's in a towel being washed and rinsed off by Kobi.
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This is probably among the most skin-baring scenes from his career, which was just getting started at this point. It's his third movie.
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So, while it remains a little edgy that this foursome of US navy men are bathing en masse with the Geisha girls, it's hardly a baby oil freak-off or anything.
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Bath time draws to a fast close when the sailors' friend Bob Okazaki comes darting in with some news for them.
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The camera obscures our view as the "naked" Ford emerges from the tub into a waiting robe. But notice how all the others peer on! No one turns his or her head.
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And that's a wrap on this movie bathtub sequence.
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But wait! Loyal readers who made it through this post can now see a bonus bath.
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I've idiotically gone and forgotten the name of the movie, but I was watching this sword and sandal Italian-made epic last fall and stopped in my tracks when it came to this segment. A pair of weary travelers are given a bath and a rubdown.
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I was taken with the furry friend in the water, but was also intrigued by the burly hands, which were hungrily grasping at the shoulders of the muscled hunk...
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...but as the camera drew back, it was revealed to be a female attendant.
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It also amused me that the guy in the tub seemed to have a bird's eye view of what's under his friend's wrap - and seemed to like what he saw!
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And with that I'll pull the plug on this one. Here we see even more of Shigeta in Cry for Happy, but it's also evident that he was wearing little black briefs under his skimpy towel. He certainly looks to be having fun, in any case!
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9 comments:
I believe the peplum you posted is "Fury of Achilles" (L'ira di Achille, Mario Girolami, 1962) with Gordon Mitchell as Achille and Ennio Girolami as Patroclus, both in the bath scene. At least Mitchell is wearing the very same tunic, even though with peplums you might never know!
Ivan, that is EXACTLY it. And the reason I know is that when I looked it up just now, Jacques Bergerac was in the movie, and that's why I watched it to begin with. I was in my Jacques Bergerac phase. LOL Thank you SO much for the help! 'Course if I'd have only referenced my OWN BLOG I might have figured it out since the movie was mentioned, with pics of him in it, here: https://neptsdepths.blogspot.com/2024/11/a-case-of-jacques-itch.html
Alas, not a pic posted here that has me yearning to see this one. Seems to me there was an early 60s mini fad of movies set in Japan or featuring Japanese actors - Cary Grant’s last film, “Walk, Don’t Run”, had him at the 1964 Olympics there, and didn’t Elvis do something along that line?
And even Sean Connery as James Bond in "You Only Live Twice" (1967)
I love a good theme and really enjoy these bathing beauty photos. Recently watched a terrible film on TCM called Sayonara, ouch for the poor Japanese folks involved, looks like ditto for here. I like Glenn Ford but I think after "A Pocketful of Miracles" he was all washed up.
Dan, I understand. This was less a beefcake bonanza than a glimpse at movie marketing - the promise versus the reality. I never did see Cary's last movie and I can't recall Elvis doing Japan, but I concur that there was a trend towards movies set there for a while. Hong Kong, too, I think! Thanks.
Gingerguy... "all washed up!" LOL Apparently! I don't dislike Glenn Ford, but he did offend Bette during "A Pocketful of Miracles" and he's one of a teensy handful of actors who Eleanor Parker had some issues with, so I suspect he could be a real ass. Selfish, from the sound of it. I have never watched "Sayonara!" It was a big hit, I think?
"Sayonara" must have had something going for it - Miyoshi Umeki won an Academy Award for her acting in it...she later appeared as housekeeper Mrs Livingstone in TV's "The Courtship Of Eddie's Father."
I searched Gordon Mitchell and he looks kind of harsh, not as hot like in the bath pics. Hot bath scene. I can see why you remembered the scene and not the movie.
B Smith, I think one part of it is that in 1957, when TV was mostly black and white and there was no such thing as the Internet, the chance to see widescreen, color vistas of Japan at the movie theater, as well as glimpse Marlon Brando and others, was really a treat. Toss in the tragic story of Umeki (and her costar Red Buttons, who ALSO won the Oscar) and it was a real audience pleaser. It just may not resonate as profoundly now. Thanks.
Shawny, Gordon is the one on the edge of the tub getting rubbed down. The furball in the tub is Ennio Girolami, who was pretty cute in his day. ;-) Look HIM up as you'll find him on the beach in some brief trunks and so on. Thanks!
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