The Crimson Kimono

Posted by keelsetter on May 29, 2008

Poster for foreign markets.

I recently saw an
archive 35mm print of The Crimson Kimono (1959), a film
directed by Samuel Fuller that is not yet available on dvd. It
was an absolutely beautiful, mint print, so I’d like to thank
Jared Sapolin at Sony Repertory and Kyle Westphal at
Doc Films at the University of Chicago for helping to make the screening
possible.

As a fan of Pickup on South Street
(1953), Shock Corridor (1963), and The Naked
Kiss (1964), I’m still trying to catch up with more of
Fuller’s work. I also have a soft spot for Film Noir in general,
so I couldn’t help but go in with high expectations. Despite this
recipe for disappointment, I’m happy to report that The
Crimson Kimono delivered the goods – it was a heckuva lot
of fun to watch, and full of surprises.

It’s a story
about two cops, partners on the same case, who fall for the same dame.
Boilerplate stuff, right? Not so fast… this is Sam
Fuller, after all. It starts out with a bang: bombastic title
sequences are followed by a half-dressed stripper getting chased out
into busy traffic where she is gunned down in the middle of the street.
Fuller called it “the most difficult and dangerous scene
I’ve ever shot,” (it was done on the sly around real traffic
and unsuspecting pedestrians). I’m guessing the stunt man who died
filming a scene in his film Shark! (1969), starring
Burt Reynolds, would probably voice a different opinion, if he
were still around, but I digress…

An uncomfortable threesome.

One of the
interesting things about The Crimson Kimono is that
it’s about race relations and, despite the film noir setting, the
melodramatic components are put in the foreground. The Japanese cop,
Detective Joe Kajuka (played by James Shigeta) is handsome,
smart, talented, worldly, desirable, strong, and charismatic – all
of which help him become the love interest of the leading lady, who is
also being courted by Kojaku’s partner (which is to say, in most
any other film of that time, the character that would normally get the
girl). And the love interest here (played by Victoria Shaw) is
no femme fatale. She’s just a bright and talented woman who knows
who she’s in love with. In other words; Fuller gleefully
shatters the stereotypes of race and gender normally associated with
Film Noir, and for good measure even retools the buddy-cop cliché
too.

Compositions are top notch: with great use of shadows
and reflections, not to mention really interesting reaction shots,
especially at the end, that have all the impact of an unexpected
tableaux.

Here’s the beauty of it all for any
interested readers; this great film that is not available on dvd can be
seen right here on TCM on June 24th. Cynics out there might accuse me of
being a pimp for my employer, but (I swear) I only now came across the
fact that The Crimson Kimono would be playing on TCM in
June when my efforts at searching for other reviews for the film on IMDB
came up with only TWO woefully short reviews (there was also a third
review, written in German, but it was nothing but a paragraph-long
synopsis). It was then that I searched the TCM site and there found a
very informative article by Jeremy Arnold, along with a link
for the TCM screening. See below, and don’t forget to program your
TIVO (or equivalent):

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=196855

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=27607&category=overview

7 Comments |

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7 Responses The Crimson Kimono

Posted By Al Lowe : May 29, 2008 10:56 am

I like Sam Fuller. But he is insane. It's a given.Who else
but a madman would have given us a bald lady of the night in "Naked
Kiss" and a Hollywood leading man as a disavory pickpocket in
"Pickup on South Street." He is not only nuts but humorless. I
think humor might have made him more popular.So…My question is:
What are you leaving out? There has to be more to this movie than an
Oriental-Caucasian attraction. What is Nutty Sam up to this
time?I guess we will have to wait until the 24th to find
out.Incidentally, "The Big Red One" is one of my
favorite movies.

Posted By antijap : May 29, 2008 3:05 pm

Dear Sir,Please forgive me Sir, to trouble you many times when
you are busy.Viva U.S.A.!!!Viva president Washington, …,
Lincoln, …., F.D.Roosevelt,…, G.H.W.Bush, Clinton, G.W.Bush!!!Viva General Motors! Viva Ford! Viva Chrysler! Viva Boeing! Viva
Lockheed Martin! Viva Northrop Grumman! Viva GOODYEAR! Viva
Motorola!I believe that U.S. needs Heavy Industries!!!Buy
American!Remember Pearl Harbor!"Air raid Pearl
Harbor!""This is not Drill!"Boycott Japanese
cars, capitals, products, and goods!!!Boycott Chinese
products!!!EU must have trade-surplus!Unite EU and US!!!Raise the Yen value and Chinese Yuan value!Very sincerely
yours,

Posted By Kjolseth : May 29, 2008 5:53 pm

Hmmm…. not sure how to respond to the ramble by
"anti-jap," so I'll skip over to Al's post. Al, you
raise an interesting point about Fuller being humorless because, at
least in relation to The Red Kimono, one thing I completely leave out is
any discussion about the role given to Anna Lee. Arnold's TCM
article mentions her and says: "Only Sam Fuller could have
convinced lovely Anna Lee (one of the few 'names' in the cast)
'to conceal her beauty and femininity' by playing a character
named Mac, a 'cigar-chomping female muralist on Skid Row' who
says memorably, 'Love is like a battlefield. Somebody has to get a
bloody nose.'The Crimson Kimono certainly has some weak
areas, and to me Lee's character was one of them. I felt her boozy
behavior was overplayed for laughs and ultimately felt out of place. But
I'd amend the notion that Fuller was "humorless" and
instead suggest that maybe, instead, his attempts at humor can fall
short of the mark or feel out of place. (But, I must say, I like
Lee's line about the bloody nose. So true!)Thanks for
recommending The Big Red One – I'm still holding out to see that one
on 35mm. Incidentally, Fuller's wife had very interesting things to
say about White Dog – the film that came out just after that.

Posted By Kjolseth : May 29, 2008 6:05 pm

Ahem: and by The Red Kimono I mean, of course, The Crimson Kimono. Guess
I'll count my blessings that I didn't write about The Big
Crimson One while I was at it.

Posted By linda cutlip : May 30, 2008 1:52 pm

I am THRILLED to see a James Shigeta film being shown on TCM!I
have been looking for Bridge to the Sun w/him and Carroll Baker for
years to no avail! This film is an important part of American and
Japanese history. I lived in Japan as a child, saw this film while
there (1960) and have never forgotten it and never seen it again.
Can you tell me where to find it or show it on TCM soon?Also,
I've been looking for Light in the Piazza w/Olivia de Havilland,
Yvette MIMIEUX, Marcello Mastroianni (also circa 1960.) This is
such a good film and it isn't even listed on any of TCM's DVD
lists, so I assume it isn't on DVD..I would love to see it or have a
copy of it. I believe it was a Daphne DuMaurier novel originally,
not sure…Thank you for your help..Linda Cutlip..Mrs.Dale Cutlip
Globeworks,International

Posted By Kjolseth : May 30, 2008 4:52 pm

Hi, Linda - If you act quickly you can get LIGHT IN THE
PIAZZA on ebay right now:http://www.sell.com/23GTQCAnd
there seems to be a way to get BRIDGE TO THE SUN via:
http://www.wings.to/rarevid/btts.htmGood
luck!pk

Posted By Phil : June 25, 2008 1:05 am

I just saw this movie. It’s a real rarity. Not to give anything away, but you can probably guess what’s going to happen, if the romantic trio is a white woman, white man and asian man. In that it’s so rare it never happened before-and hasn’t happened since! Another Fuller movie I’m dying to see is the Steel Helmet.

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