The Crimson Kimono (1959)

Two detectives seek a stripper's killer in the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles, but a love triangle threatens their friendship.

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller

Stars:

Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Victoria Shaw	...	Christine Downs
Glenn Corbett	...	Det. Sgt. Charlie Bancroft
James Shigeta	...	Det. Joe Kojaku
Anna Lee	...	Mac
Paul Dubov	...	Casale
Jaclynne Greene	...	Roma
Neyle Morrow	...	Hansel
Gloria Pall	...	Sugar Torch
Pat Silver	...	Mother (as Barbara Hayden)
George Yoshinaga	...	Willy Hidaka
Kaye Elhardt	...	Nun
Aya Oyama	...	Sister Gertrude
George Okamura	...	Charlie, karate teacher
Ryosho S. Sogabe	...	Priest (as Reverend Ryosho S. Sogabe)
Bob Okazaki	...	George Yoshinaga (as Robert Okazaki)

Storyline

Classic, hard-to-find Sam Fuller pic is intriguing noir about two detective partners, one caucasian and one Japanese, who try to solve a complicated murder case. Unfortunately, trouble arises when along the way, both of them fall in love with the key witness!

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Plot Keywords:

stripper | partner | murder case | little tokyo | painting | 

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Taglines:

Yes, this is a beautiful American girl in the arms of a Japanese boy!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

5 May 1960 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

El kimono escarlata

Filming Locations:

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Globe Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Only one Nisei received a Medal of Honor in the Korean War, Hiroshi H Miyamura. None of the 21 Nisei who received their Medal of Honor awards for heroism in World War II had received them by the time the film was made; the awards were granted in 2000, after a study revealed discrimination that caused them to be overlooked during the war.

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Goofs

In the military graveyard, a grave marker says that the Nisei soldier had been awarded the "Congressional Medal of Honor". The name of the medal is properly named the "Medal of Honor"; the word "Congressional" is informal usage and would not appear on a grave marker in a military graveyard.

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Quotes

Mac: [said to Chris, as she puffs on a cigar] Smoking a cigarette is like drinking beer out of a thimble. A man is only a man, my dear, but a good cigar is a smoke.

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Connections

References Danryû (1957)

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Soundtracks

Akatombo
Music by Kôsaku Yamada

User Reviews

Detective movie AND cultural lesson!

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!