The Sweet and the Bitter (1967 film)

• Yōko Tani as Mary Ota
• Paul Richards as Rob MacRoy
• Torin Thatcher as Duncan MacRoy
• Jane Mallett as Mrs. MacDonald
• Dale Ishimoto as Dick Kazanami
• Teru Shimada as Tom Hirata

In 1962 Clavell signed a two picture deal with Panorama, a Canadian company, to produce and direct Circle of Greed in April and The Bitter and the Sweet in June. The former was not made.[2]

The film was the first production from a Canadian Company, Commonwealth, established by Oldřich Václavek, a Czech immigrant to Canada. The budget of CA $325,000 was raised from Canadian sources.[3]

Filming started 4 June 1962 in Vancouver at Commonwealth's Hollyburn Studios (later known as Panorama Studios).[4]

"I want to tell a story," said Clavell at the time. "If my story doesn't hold people, doesn't touch their emotions, then it is of no use. I go to the theatre and watch the reactions of the audience to my lines. They are quick to respond if a line is right. If they don't, I know something is wrong. King Rat is my first published novel and to write it I used what I had learned."[5]

Clavell enjoyed Vancouver and bought a house there. It was there he wrote King Rat.[6]

The film was a "production nightmare". The producers and the studio owners wound up in a five year legal battle that resulted in RCA stripping $350,000 worth of sound equipment from the dubbing stage. The studio would be barely used over the next few years, making only The Trap (1966) and The Littlest Hobo.[7]

The film was not released until 1967.[8]

• The Sweet and the Bitter on IMDb