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The Barbarian and the Geisha actor John Wayne despised the project for several reasons. However, they often referred to director John Huston. Audiences recognized them both for their individual talents, but they didn’t work so well together that they rejected the film. Huston once went so far as to call Wayne “vain” and the decision to call him a “terrible mistake”.
John Huston to Play John Wayne in ‘The Barbarian and the Geisha’ for ‘Red River’ and ‘The Searchers’
The Barbarian and the Geisha followed Townsend Harris (Wayne) on the eve of the Meiji Restoration in Japan. The US government sent him to Shimoda as US consul. However, the village opposes him, as well as his interpreter, Henry Heusken (Sam Jaffe). Townsend meets a beautiful geisha named Okichi (Eiko Ando), who tries to help him overcome the cultural barrier.
According to Michael Munn John Wayne: the man behind the myth thought why Huston threw Wayne? The Barbarian and the Geisha start with.
“I thought Wayne was the right actor to play Townsend,” Huston said. “He had proven that he could act” red river and ResearchersAnd I wanted to tap into that talent.
John Huston called John Wayne Vain and the decision to call him a ‘terrible mistake’
Huston told Munn he liked the idea of Wayne in The Barbarian and the Geisha because of his posture. He towered over his co-stars in a way that pleased the filmmaker. Still, Huston came to completely regret this situation.
“I thought to myself, ‘Who best symbolizes the vast, clumsy country that the United States was then?'” Huston said. “I was sure Wayne was the right choice. I made a terrible mistake.”
The filmmaker and actor continued to argue on set. They bickered over the movie, but they also had an intense personality conflict that didn’t create a very positive working relationship.
“I had no idea Wayne would have any vanity,” Huston explained. “But he kept saying, ‘My best side is on the right,’ so I photographed his left profile whenever I could. A movie should be a collaboration between director and actor. But we disagreed. almost from the start.
From Wayne’s perspective, Huston was never able to give him a straight answer when it came to character development. As a result, he resorted to his movie star persona as he did not receive the direction he was used to from his frequent collaborators, such as John Ford.
The film was a box office disappointment.
Despite Wayne’s cashier’s call, The Barbarian and the Geisha was a cash register disaster. Critics and audiences loved the photography, but hated the way the film enforced negative stereotypes. Additionally, they pointed out that the actor felt pretty woodsy in the role. The Barbarian and the Geisha only brought in about $2.5 million in rent against a negative budget of over $4 million.
Wayne made a lot of bad movies and he was the first to admit it. As a result, it makes sense that Huston and the Western movie star never worked together again.
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