The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1956 American comedy film directed by Daniel Mann and starring Marlon Brando.

His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando), as interpreter.

Fisby gradually becomes assimilated to the local customs and mores with the help of Sakini and Lotus Blossom, a young geisha (Machiko Kyō).

The villagers distill a potent sweet potato brandy in a matter of days which finds a ready market in the American army.

When Purdy doesn't hear from either officer, he shows up in person and surprises Fisby and McLean, the latter wearing a yukata (summer-weight kimono).

[5] The role of Colonel Wainwright Purdy III was to have been played by Louis Calhern, but he died of a sudden heart attack in Nara early in production and was replaced by Paul Ford.

Like the psychiatrist Captain McLean, Eddie Albert's Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres (1965-1971) was a licensed professional with an advanced degree, who obsessed about the glory of farming and yearned to give up his practice in favor of tending the soil.

Machiko Kyō (Lotus Blossom) had won acclaim for her dramatic performances in Rashomon and Gate of Hell, so this lightly comedic part was a departure for her.

[7] In November 7, 2006, was released in DVD by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as part of The Marlon Brando Collection along with Julius Caesar, Mutiny on the Bounty and Reflections in a Golden Eye.