Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

bkoganbing I remember seeing The Crimson Kimono when I was 12 years old when it was playing on the bottom half of a double bill back in the days they had those. I cannot remember the feature film, but this independent production distributed by Columbia never left my mind.It was the civil rights era so the time was right for one of the first interracial love stories to reach the screen. Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta are a pair of LAPD homicide detectives on the trail of a murderer who shot stripper Gloria Pall right in the middle of the street after running her down.This film is set in the art world, art of many kinds and a key witness played by Victoria Shaw is an artist who gives a better than normal police sketch of a man who was associated with Pall. Problems arise when both these cops fall in love with Shaw. Corbett assumes a kind of proprietary claim, but she wants Shigeta.As for Shigeta he's a tormented soul because he and Corbett go back to the Korean War and a blood transfusion from Shigeta saved Corbett's life. He also suspects prejudice for the first time in Corbett and the racial barriers loom in size for him. No doubt during World War II his family may well have been interred and that has to play into his psyche as well. There's a nice performance by Anna Lee in this as a rather worldly sophisticated member of the arts community who looks on Shaw as a kind of protégé. Lee was a member in good standing of the John Ford stock company, but he never cast her in a role like this.Samuel Fuller directed this on a dime, but he made that dime count with some nice location shooting in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. There are some nice glimpses of the Japanese-American culture that most of us rarely see.The Crimson Kimono is a fine piece of work and Fuller and his cast deserve all the kudos we can muster.

JohnWelles "The Crimson Kimono" (1959), directed by "cult" filmmaker Samuel Fuller, comes from the tail end of the film noir period; a year later it would have been classed as a neo-noir. As it is, it's an excellent little thriller, well acted and bolstered by a particularly good script, courtesy of Fuller himself.This screenplay is also among the oddest in the dark world of noir: after an exhilarating opening scene detailing the killing of burlesque queen Sugar Torch, the story of the hunting down of the murder takes a backseat to a (for then) ground breaking inter-racial love triangle, with American LAPD cop Charlie Bancroft (Glenn Corbett) and Japanese LAPD Detective (James Shigeta) falling for Christine Downes (Victoria Shaw). There is no negative stereotypes here and of the three Shigeta gives the best performance, however all the acting is to an admirably high standard, as is Fuller's characteristically brilliant use of long takes, aided by Oscar winning cameraman Sam Leavitt.Fuller's movies always had an extra vibrancy to them, and this no different with surprisingly modern feeling editing by Jerome Thoms and sharp direction. A classic noir that deserves to be as well as known as Fuller's other crime greats, this one not to miss.

sharlyfarley This starts out as a lurid thriller - probably what the studio demanded, and Fuller had fun with - the murder of a stripper on a crowded street. Then we get the two detectives, and we think, "Ah, a buddy film." Our first tip that something fresh is afoot is Joe's visit to the cemetery of the 442nd Battalion - the most decorated group of soldiers in WWII. These were Nisei (Americans of Japanese descent) who were often fighting in Europe while their relatives were in internment camps in California. We also get a brief tour of "Little Tokyo" in Los Angeles. Ah, exotic atmosphere. Our buddies - the handsome winsome Charlie (Glenn Corbett) and nisei Joe (James Shigeta) have a wisecracking patter that covers their deep friendship. Then the case leads them to Chris, played by Victoria Shaw - not only beautiful, but possessing a dignity rare in fifties actresses. We take for granted that Charlie's going to fall for her, and expect her to fall for Charlie...Then there is The Conversation. We learn that Joe has a sensitive side, he plays a nice piano and his father was an artist. Chris is an artist, and they have something to talk about. Shigeta's so charming, we're not surprised that Chris is drawn to him, we're surprised the picture allows it. That's the flip: that this interracial love story is allowed to proceed on its own terms. From that scene on, nobody cares who killed the stripper. We want to see how Joe can resolve stealing his best friend's girl, or whether Chris will react to being treated like something that could be stolen. When Joe finally tells Charlie that he loves her, Charlie reacts "You mean you're going to MARRY her?" Joe responds, "You wouldn't have said it that way if I was white!" Huge blowup. Racism has been thrown into the mix. As it would have been, and probably would be still. Or is it the perception of racism? My only problem was that Joe says the racism is new to him...Impossible. He'd have been called a "dirty Jap" at least a dozen times before he was ten years old. He'd have heard it in the army - that's why the 442nd was sent to Europe, after all. He'd've heard it on the police force. His reaction to Charlie should have been, 'Not you, too!." But nevertheless, it all works pretty much as life does. He gets the girl, but his friendship with Charlie is damaged forever.

bob the moo When stripper Sugar Torch disturbs a murder in her dressing room she is chased into the street and gunned down by an unknown assailant. Detectives Charlie Bancroft and Joe Kojaku investigate the only leads they have – the new men in Sugar's life who were to be involved in her new act, embracing teasing, karate and doomed love. Bancroft goes after artist "Chris" who had painted Sugar in full kimono while Kojaku goes after the men who were to be involved in her act. It turns out Chris is Christine and that she is more valuable than they had hoped – problem is, main suspect Hansel knows this too and soon the detectives are guarding her from attempts on her life.A strange film this one. It opens in the sordid world of striptease, continues with the murder of a young woman and leads straight into a police investigation. This suggested it would be a gritty and tough thriller which at times it is, but at other times it plays up the love triangle aspect and then at others seems interested in just showing us a little bit of Asian-American culture. This individual sections do bump up against one another uncomfortably at times but mostly they sit reasonably well as part of the film. The effect is to produce a really interesting film, partly because the mix is unusual and well delivered. The mystery aspect of the plot keeps the narrative flowing along well enough and engaged me even if the ending was a bit convenient and easy.The love triangle part works better than I expected mainly because it uses it to compliment the male characters rather than being about the love part. This allows the two actors (Corbett and Shigeta) to deliver solid characters and play off one another really well. They are not brilliant in regards range but both more than meet the requirements of the material – Shigeta being a bit more able to convince in the love regards as well as the conflict side while Corbett does an all-round solid turn as a tough but friendly cop. As writer Fuller mixes the various aspects really well while also producing a bit of cultural significance in the way that the Asian-American thing is merely a trimming and not the whole show.Overall then a solid film that blends mystery, love, grit and conflict into one story. It doesn't flow perfectly but it is engaging for what it does well and not bad for those aspects it does less well.