The Ugly American

The Ugly American (1963)

The most explosive adventure of our time!

An intelligent, articulate scholar, Harrison MacWhite, survives a hostile Senate confirmation hearing at the hands of conservatives to become ambassador to Sarkan, a southeast Asian country where civil war threatens a tense peace. Despite his knowledge, once he's there, MacWhite sees only a dichotomy between the U.S. and Communism. He can't accept that anti-American sentiment might be a longing for self-determination and nationalism. So, he breaks from his friend Deong, a local opposition leader, ignores a foreman's advice about slowing the building of a road, and tries to muscle ahead. What price must the country and his friends pay for him to get some sense?

Date of release
1963-04-02
TMDB
6.6 / 10 (37)
Runtime
1h 55m
Genres
Thriller, Drama
Director
George Englund

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: The Ugly American
  • Filmed in: Thailand

The Ugly American is a 1963 American political film directed by George Englund, written by Stewart Stern, and starring Marlon Brando, Sandra Church, Eiji Okada, Pat Hingle, Judson Pratt, Reiko Sato, and Arthur Hill. It is based on the 1958 novel The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. The film was released on April 2, 1963, by Universal Pictures.

Production and screenplay

The film version of the novel was made in 1963 and starred Marlon Brando as Ambassador Harrison Carter MacWhite. Reiko Sato was cast as Rachani at the urging of Brando, who had dated her years prior.

The screenplay was written by Stewart Stern, and the film was produced and directed by George Englund. The film was shot mainly in Hollywood, with Thailand serving as the inspiration for the background sceneries. Parts of the film were also shot on locations in Bangkok, Thailand, including at Chulalongkorn University, one of the leading institutes of higher learning of the country.

In its review of the film, The New York Times stated that the film bore little resemblance to the novel upon which it is based.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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