Una ragazza chiamata Tamiko

Miyoshi Umeki playing a prostitute? I had to see it to believe it. In A Girl Named Tamiko, she's unfortunately not the title character, but she does indeed play a hooker. Her favorite client is Laurence Harvey, an English photographer who lives in Japan, and she doesn't make him pay for his visits.

Miyoshi is definitely the supporting character, as you might guess from the "and" she received in the opening credits. Although, she may have had that stipulation in her contract, since she played the lead in Flower Drum Song and still was billed with an "and". The bulk of the story focuses on a ridiculous and highly confusing relationship between France Nyugen and Laurence Harvey. In one scene, they don't even like each other and aren't in a good place for a new relationship. In the next, they're in each other's arms claiming they can't bear to be parted. And what about Miyoshi Umeki? How can he be such a cad and break her heart? Maybe because he's Laurence Harvey, and heartbreaking cads are all Hollywood allowed him to play. Still, I felt sorry for her.

You'll also see Michael Wilding, Martha Hyer, Gary Merrill, Ray Teal, and Philip Ahn in the supporting cast if you choose to rent this "romantic" drama. It's not my favorite, since it's one of the pigeon-holed Laurence Harvey flicks that make him out to be a heartless womanizer only out for himself. He's constantly after a traveling Visa so he can leave Japan, but when he starts seducing Martha and France, he's hoping one of them can help him. Not too romantic is it?