The Crimson Kimono (1959)

Directed and produced by Samuel Fuller

A stripper (Gloria Pall) is chased from her dressing room and shot to death on a busy Los Angeles street. The detectives (Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta) assigned to the case find a few leads, but when one of them involves a young artist (Victora Shaw), the investigators’ partnership and friendship are endangered.

An intriguing movie, The Crimson Kimono is actually an examination of race-relations and personality, rather than a crime story, and in that regard may disappoint some viewers. The tale, written by director Fuller, is a good one, if not very good; the mystery of who murdered the woman, and why, is merely a frame for what Fuller clearly considers the more important element of the film. There are no real clues, and everything is pretty much solved when the main suspect is found.

The script is interesting for the angle that is taken: considering the hard edge of Fuller’s other condemnations of racism, the only person in the movie who comes across as racist is Shigeta. Perhaps the lack of animosity toward Japanese-Americans on the part of other characters was meant to accentuate Shigeta’s feelings on the matter.

The actors are good, for the most part. Fuller was what would now probably be called an independent film-maker, so he often cast unknowns. The Crimson Kimono was the first feature film for both the leads, while Shaw had had a few roles prior to it, which accounts for her billing above Corbett and Shigeta, who have more screen-time. Screen veteran Anna Lee has a good role as a semi-alcoholic painter and society-informant.

There are no stereotypes in the movie, and everyone comes across as an individual. Corbett is as good a practitioner at kendo (Japanese sword-play) as is Shigeta, and one of the latter’s friends, clearly a Japanese-American raised in the United States, remarks of a Korean immigrant that his Japanese is ‘as bad as mine’. The Japanese-Americans depicted take their American-ness for granted, but have a pride in and respect for, their ancestry.

Much of the interest may be derived from the setting in Little Tokyo, the Japanese district of Los Angeles. Fuller uses locations well, and knows how to film them.

As a character study, then, as a story about relationships, The Crimson Kimono is involving and entertaining. As a crime flick or film noir, it quickly stalls. Whether a viewer values the time he invests in it will depend on what aspect of the film he wants to see.