The Crimson Kimono (1959)

[moira finnie]

The Crimson Kimono (1959) is on tonight (6/24/08 ) on TCM at 8 sharp!

Even though watching some Sam Fuller movies is LIKE READING SOMETHING WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS for me, I'm willing to give it a go, especially since James *sigh* Shigeta is in this one, as well as ol' Glenn Corbett (remember him and his blue eyes?). I also loved Park Row, Fixed Bayonets, The Steel Helmet and The Big Red One, so maybe Sam can weave his sledgehammer magic once more, and lull this reluctant viewer into watching.

Any opinions or comments on this one? Thanks very much. Here's another TCM article on this entry in the Asians in Film series.

[MissGoddess]

I watched it and I did enjoy it for the most part, though maybe not
enough to see it twice. Shigata's "Joe" was the classiest character by
far in the whole shebang. Anna Lee, I just never saw her like that. She
was good but it was jarring to see her as a hard edged boozy floozy. She
had some of the best lines, though, and seemed to play a sort of
(intoxicated) "Greek Chorus" to the goings on.

I think the leading lady and Glenn Corbett are what held this movie back
from being better to me. He seemed to be trying too hard to come off
as hard boiled and the girl was just a bad actress in my estimation. She
also looked as though she wanted to be anywhere else but in Shigata's
arms in their tender scenes. That moment when she asks him to see the
love that was in her face was particularly uncomfortable because there
plainly was nothing to see on her face at all. Or was that the point?
That you can't tell just by looking at someone what they are thinking and
feeling? If so, then they certainly did choose the right actress.

I liked the ending the best. I thought the way Fuller showed the three
friends parting was very honest and very touching. I didn't like Corbett's
character very much at first, but after he was told the truth about
what was going on, suddenly I was on his side. He began to be more
human and I felt sorry for him.

[jdb1]

CAPITAL LETTERS is right, Moira.

I watched about half of it, and I got a cinematic headache. There was so much going on - so many little bits of camera business in practically every scene, such loud music, so many interwoven cuts. The movie seemed to have a noirish intent, but I didn't find it entirely successful in that regard.

I found the mise-en-scene (pardon my French, but I can't think of an equivalent phrase for what I mean) very uneven. Some scenes were put together to look first-rate, and some looked like the lowest budget indie, ever. And poor Anna Lee -- she was good, but all all that pouring booze into everything in sight, including herself -- it seemed more like something you'd see in a Carol Burnett movie parody. Victoria Shaw's on-again, off-again, Australian accent kept things interesting, too.

Glenn Corbett reminded me of Sgt. Joe Friday (but then, Corbett always had that stiff-backed military bearing), and James Shigeta looked a bit nervous in some scenes, I thought. But I could listen to that dreamy voice of his all night.

[ChiO]

Are you intimating that sometimes Samuel Fuller LACKS SUBTLETY?!?!!! IS A FIST TO THE GUT OF A COMPLACENT AMERICA SUPPOSE TO BE SUBTLE?!?!!!

No surprise here, but I love THE CRIMSON KIMONO. It ranks with his best...which, of the 19 Fuller films I've seen (12 of which I possess in one form or another), is all of them except HELL AND HIGH WATER (argh!), SHARK! (not as bad as I feared) and, perhaps, THE BARON OF ARIZONA.

Here's Sam's rendition of how it came about:

I told [Sam Briskin, new head of Columbia] about a murder yarn that had been bouncing around my head for years. I called it THE CRIMSON KIMONO. Two cops in charge of a murder investigation fall for the same gal. One of the detectives is white and other is a Nisei, a Japanese American. The two men have been inseparable since their tour of duty in Korea. The girl goes for the Nisei cop, not the white one.

"Well, Sam, can't you make the white guy a sonofabitch?" asked Briskin, a little worried. "We've got to market your movie all across the country, including the Midwest and the Bible Belt."

"The girl chooses the Japanese guy because he's the man for her," I said. "Not because the white guy's a sonofabitch. The whole idea of my picture is that both men are good cops and good citizens. The girl just happens to fall in love with the Nisei. They've got chemistry."

"That's gonna be hard for average American audiences to swallow, Sam. We've got to sell'em tickets. Look, can't you make the white guy a little bit of a sonofabitch?"

"No, I can't! A girl can't be a little pregnant! She is or she isn't. My white cop is a regular guy."

For Chrissakes, we were supposed to be living in a "modern" age.

. . . .

I was trying to make an unconventional triangular love story, laced with reverse racism, a kind of narrow-mindedness that's just as deplorable as outright bigotry. I wanted to show that whites aren't the only ones susceptible to racist thoughts. Joe is a racist because he transfers his fears to his friend.

Samuel Fuller, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking (pp. 375-76)

Interestingly, THE CRIMSON KIMONO and HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR were released in the same year, 1959.

Love is like a battlefield: somebody has to get a bloody nose.

[Addition: Oops. I posted this before I read the TCM article. Obviously that writer has a copy of A Third Face as well. Sorry for the redundancy.]

[MissGoddess]

Hey, ChiO! Thanks for including that background on Fuller's intentions. I agree he succeeded on his intentions for the film for the most part, but it sounded like Robert Osbourne's guest host didn't. But then, I think he was too "PC" to swallow it.

However I think Fuller did let Corbett play his role a little too much like he was uneducated and hard boiled next to Joe's almost regal sophistication. Any woman would have fallen for Joe after all those romantic things he said about painting and art and all. But after Joe tells Charlie the truth about him and the girl, suddenly my feelings changed and I felt more sorry for Charlie. Maybe because Joe was too busy feeling sorry for himself.

[moira finnie]

Oh pooh!! I had to run an imperative errand to help a family member around 8:30 last night, so merely saw the first half hour. Hope this one shows up on TCM On Demand or I can find a dvd-r somewhere, since this doesn't seem to be on dvd.

I thought that Anna Lee was some sort of comic relief, didn't you guys? She did look as though she was having a fine time as the souse/artist. I was interested in the mise en scene, especially since for once in a movie about LA, you had the feeling that there really were neighborhoods with distinctive characteristics in that city (sorry, Angelenos, I'm just reflecting an impression left by most movies, but not this one). While much of what I caught had that rawness favored by Sam Fuller, it also had some freshness, especially in the context of moviemaking from the late '50s, but I think I should wait to catch the whole thing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Miss G. & Judith. Hope others will jump in here too!

[vallo]

I really liked it also. True Fuller B-movie, with close ups and of course good dialog. ( We don't like to called "Cops" just like women don't like to be called "Broad's!") Glenn Corbett seemed to be yelling constantly at one thing or another. Anna Lee was quite a surprise, she couldn't get enough booze, really different from some of her other reserved roles. Not bad but not as good as Fuller's "House of Bamboo "


Bill

[mrsl]

My overall 'feel' of the movie was that I was about 12 years old, back sitting in my parents living room, watching a show on TV about detectives, somewhat similar to a 77 Sunset Strip (sans Kookie) episode. It had the lighting, bit players, and fade to black "commercial' breaks that all TV shows had.

Corbett (as usual) looked like he had his normal yardstick up his . . . ! Victoria Shaw played her normal vapid, insipid little 'how did I get here?' self. James Shigeta, not only because of his matinee looks, but because eventually he did become the true actor was the best thing in the movie. But just as they say 'Class will tell', so future promise will be seen. It really didn't show too much in last nights' offerings, you have to go back to things like Bridge to the Sun, or his hundreds of TV guest shots where most of his career lies. The plot was fairly good and a twist on the normal aspects of bigotry. I've seen it done with children, but not often with adults.

I stayed up and watched Flower Drum Song because I can never ignore it, I really love it. I guess throwing in at least one or two Karate movies in an Asian appreciation theme is necessary, but they are usually so laughable it's hard to keep your mind on the story. I still can't believe they've gone on to further versions of the Matrix - that premise was so nuts I laughed for hours after it was over.

Anne

[mahlerii]

I was very disapponted. I just thought it was boring. I actually thought that it could be more outrageous-it seemed really serious at times, but just not interesting. The murder at the beginning was the most interesting part. I just ended up changing channels and trying different parts of the movie, but I didn't really care in the end. This was my first Samuel Fuller film I have watched, but I would prefer exploitational pictures like "Women's Prison" or "Caged" (or many of the male equivalents) to this film. Perhaps I will try another one of Sam Fuller's films in the future.
I have about 8 films to watch from the festival that I haven't had time to watch yet, and I look forward to that!

[ChiO]

mahlerii said:

This was my first Samuel Fuller film I have watched, but I would prefer exploitational pictures like "Women's Prison" or "Caged" (or many of the male equivalents) to this film. Perhaps I will try another one of Sam Fuller's films in the future.

Although I certainly don't consider Samuel Fuller to be an exploitation filmmaker -- unless it is his EXPLOITATION OF THE HYPOCRISY OF AMERICAN SOCIETY!!! -- perhaps you should give SHOCK CORRIDOR (Criterion), THE NAKED KISS (Criterion), and WHITE DOG (coming to Criterion, I believe) a viewing, even though my recommendations for an introduction to his films would be THE STEEL HELMET (Eclipse/Criterion), FIXED BAYONETS! (20th Century-Fox), and PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Criterion).

[MissGoddess]

[quote="ChiO"]Although I certainly don't consider Samuel Fuller to be an exploitation filmmaker -- unless it is his EXPLOITATION OF THE HYPOCRISY OF AMERICAN SOCIETY!!! --

Dear General ChiO Your Honor Sir:

Did you find Shock Corridor realistic? I've never seen it so I'm
curious what an Expert thinks about it.