American Geisha

• Director: Lee Philips
• Genre: Drama
• Main Cast: Richard Narita
• Release Year: 1986
• Country: US
• Run Time: 100 minutes

Plot

The made-for-television American Geisha was based on the published reminiscences of real-life anthropologist Liza Dalby. Pam Dawber stars as the Dalby counterpart, here renamed Gillian Burke. As part of the research for her Stanford University grad-school thesis, Gillian heads to the Japanese town of Kyoto, there to work as an authentic geisha girl. Richard Narita costars as the Japanese gentleman with whom Gillian falls in love. Less than a year before American Geisha's September 11, 1986 premiere, Narita essayed a similar role in the white-slavery melodrama Girls of the White Orchid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Pam Dawber - Gillian Burke; Stephanie Faracy - Katy; Takayo Fischer - Okaasan; Robert Ito - Mr. Hashimoto; Emily Kuroda - Kikusen; Lily Mariye - Shizue; Dorothy McGuire - Ann Suzuki; Richard Narita - Kangoro; Beulah Quo - Kangoro's Mother; Claire Nono - Yoshiko

Credit

Kinya Uchida - Art Director, Lee Philips - Director, George Jay Nicholson - Editor, Dick Berg - Executive Producer, Ted Field - Executive Producer, Miles Goodman - Composer (Music Score), Matthew Leonetti - Cinematographer, Richard L. O'Connor - Producer, Judith Paige Mitchell - Screenwriter, Liza Dalby - Book Author