The Crimson Kimono

Trailer—The Crimson Kimono

The Crimson Kimono

I was truly surprised by this movie - I expected a basic potboiler, with a random collection of Japanese and/or Chinese stereotypes... but what I got was a potboiler (sorry, the plot's pretty basic) AND an interesting set of insights into Japanese-American culture. I'm trying to picture a 1959 audience attending this movie... were they expecting an Oriental thriller? Or perhaps a pseudo-noir detective movie? (I'm also trying to resist comparing this to the last half-dozen episodes of Law & Order I've seen) Meanwhile, this movie has no sense of "outsider's look at foreigners," no sense of "those people are strange," just a lot of "here's what they do, and here's what their daily life includes." All wrapped up in... a B-grade movie. But that just means that the cultural pieces lift up the otherwise-average quality of the rest of the movie!

I first saw this film on television really, really late one night... At first glance it is a crime melodrama involving downtown Los Angeles, jealouys lovers and strippers... However what Fuller has done is show a member of the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles that is rarely seen on film...that of the role of the Japanese-American in society and that alone makes it worth seeing the film... However does anybody know if the film is available on any format? DVD? VHS?

Caught this late one night on a cable station, and went out of my way to watch it a second time sober. Then watched part of it again just to be sure I liked as much as I thought I did. What surprised me more than anything was how the movie portrayed Asian-Americans during a time period when they were usually marginalized or ignored in other movies. This film also subtly mocks the prevalent stereo-type of the standard studly handsome action-hero. OK. Not really so subtle, but still enjoyable without being too horribly trite. All that combined with a rather scrumcious detective plot makes this a mystery movie definitely worth tracking down and watching. Had this movie been done in the late 90s as a small, indie film, it probably would have done extremely well. At least 30 years ahead of its time.

Simon Fuller (The Big Red One, White Dog) opens his film with Sugar (Gloria Pall) running away from a gunman, her 39 inch chest bouncing in a bra. Too late, he is successful, and so begins a film noir with two detectives Charlie (Glenn Corbett) and Joe (James Shigeta - Takagi in Die Hard) in hot pursuit. Both Corbett and Shigeta made their acting debuts in this film. This is Fuller in his prime, and it makes for an exciting detective story, mixing Japanese and Korean cultures and customs in Los Angeles in the period. Anna Lee, who played Lila Quartermaine on "General Hospital" and "Port Charles," really stole the show when she appeared on screen. In the midst of the investigation, both detectives fall in love with the same woman (Victoria Shaw). Race comes to the forefront in a dramatic way. Filmed against the backdrop of Little Tokyo and a Japanese street festival, it was an excellent film.

"The Crimson Kimono" is not one of Sam Fuller's better films, but leave it to Fuller to make a murder mystery thriller where the murder mystery becomes almost beside the point and the film instead becomes an examination of racial tension. That tension doesn't even play a role in the crime at the film's center. It's between the two detectives assigned to solving the murder. And this isn't a whites-being-racist-against-minorities film either. It's the Japanese American detective (played by James Shigeta) who has the problem, seeing racism against himself where it doesn't exist and not able to get past his own insecurities about his heritage. This quality more than anything else makes the film unique and very Fuller-esque, but in all other ways it's a bit of a disappointment. It only has moments of that ragged, off-kilter quality that make Fuller's best movies -- movies like "The Naked Kiss," "Shock Corridor" and "The Big Red One" -- so damn good. Grade: B-

What a film! A tender-hearted love story from Sam Fuller. It may look like a detective movie but it's just a cover to disguise a really well told and well acted tale about two cops who love the same woman. You'll see very real characters who feel real emotions - "Honest, dirty, jealousy," to paraphrase. Wonderful use of JAPANtown, in downtown Los Angeles, and a good L.A. movie in general. Make note of this real interracial relationship movie from 1959. You gotta see it.