The story revolved around a United States Air Force Air Rescue Service mission to save Japanese civilians stranded on a lifeboat. This time the crew traveled to Rome, Italy, where Hecht and his new bride Martine Millner were to have a limited honeymoon squeezed between the shooting schedule. Most of the filming subsequently took place in Japan, in Kyoto, Tokyo, Tachikawa and Osaka. The film starred Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark and George Chakiris, who was reluctant to take the role after winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "West Side Story". It also featured Suzy Parker, Shirley Knight, who had been nominated for Best Supporting Actress the year prior for "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs", Danielle Gaubert and Eiko Taki, whom Hecht signed to a non-exclusive, three-picture contract with Harold Hecht Productions (the other two films on her contract were never made). "Flight from Ashiya" was released in the spring of 1964 to limited success.