Centering on an interracial romance between a middle-aged Jewish widow living in Brooklyn and an older Japanese businessman, “A Majority of One” is one of Mervyn Le Roy’s weakest flms.
Adapted to the big screen by Leonard Spigelgass from his stage play, the film is thetarical, overblown, overlong (two and a half hours).
While Rosalind Russell overacts, Alec Guinness is totally miscast as the Japanese gentleman who courts and falls for her.
Lest we miss the message, the tale begins with a title card: “A person who feels more right than his fellow constitutes a majority of one.”
The movie was praised when it was released, in 1961, for probing seriously into the nature of prejudice, racism, nationalism, and stereotyping.
Russell, in the same year she made “Gypsy,” plays Mrs. Jacoby, a Jewish widow living in Brooklyn. She lost her son in WWII, a traumatic event about which she was informed by a brief, official telegram. Her daughter Alice (Madlyn Rhue) is married to Jerome (Ray Danton), a U.S. diplomat, newly assigned to serve in Japan.
Because of Jerome’s new post, Mrs. Jacoby is asked to join the young couple and visit Japan, which for her is still the enemy.
Aboard the ship, she meetss Koichi Asano (Alec Guinness), a suave, sophisticated, and wealthy man with an big, impressive Tokyo home. WE learn that he is a widower too and has lost both son and daughter (the latter was a victim of the atomic bomb).
When the two first meet, Russell is prejudiced, reserved, and suspcious, but, gradually she begins to warm up, and a romance of sorts starts to blossom.
“A Majority of One” has another distinction: It is one of the few films of the era geared to the older crowd, though even during this period, Hollywood could npt be courageous enough to cast a Japanese actor in the role in the role of Asano.
(In the same year, 1961, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” also suffered from similar, terible miscasting: Mickey Rooney as Audrey Hepburn’s noisy and obnoxious Asian neighbor?)
Despite shortcoming of miscasting and overacting, on the page, the characters that Russell and Guinness play are far more sympathetic and appealing than their younger counterparts.
Oscar Nominations: 1
Cinematography (color): Harry Stradling, Sr.
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context:
The winner was Daniel L. Fapp for West Side Story
Credits
Running time: 149 Minutes.
Dircted by Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay by Leonard Spigelass
Released: December 27, 1961.
Cast
Rosalind Russell as Mrs. Jacoby
Alec Guinness as Koichi Asano
Ray Danton as Jerome Black
Madlyn Rhue as Alice Black
Mae Questel as Mrs. Rubin
Marc Marno as Eddie
