Marlon Brando stars in one of his more likable (if minor) mid-career performances as an American ambassador to a mythical Asian country called Sarkhan, which resembles Thailand, in a very loose adaptation by Stewart Stern of William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick’s novel. An earnest if muted and halfhearted attempt to say something about U.S. foreign policy in Asia, directed only adequately by George Englund. Kukrit Pramoj, who plays the premier of Sarkhan and served as the film’s technical consultant, later went on to become Thailand’s real-life premier. With Eiji Okada, Pat Hingle, Sandra Church, and Jocelyn Brando (1963). (JR)