Maybe it's just me, but only a short time into this film I was already wondering just WHO acts like these characters?! For instance, there is a stripper (sugar Torch) who was planning a classy(?) striptease act where she would dress as a Japanese woman in a crimson kimono and two men would fight over her--one with a kitana (Japanese sword) and the other using his bare hands and karate. Another woman is a bohemian painter who talks in a very broad style and throws beer on canvases and seems a bit like Maynard G. Krebs. So, at the onset I was taken out of the moment because the film was trying too hard to be different. While director Sam Fuller's films usually excel at realism, this one just didn't quite make it. It's a shame, as I've loved many of his films and from this point on, it would be hard to sell me on THE CRIMSON KIMONO.
The film begins with some maniac chasing Sugar Torch out of the theater after she finishes her act. She is gunned down in the middle of the street AND the killer takes the time to shoot a painting of her in the kimono in the throat that is in the dressing room. Two police detectives, Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta are sent in to investigate this murder in the Japanese section of Los Angeles. Naturally, with the bullet in the painting they think that there is something more to it. It's even MORE so when someone tries to shoot the artist ("Chris") next--though HOW the killer could have missed when he shot at her is beyond me.
Now I noticed that some call this movie an example of Film Noir. However, I really didn't see that. Part of this was because the music was heavy on violins and sounded more akin to the soundtrack from PEYTON PLACE, the camera angles and darkness of typical Noir is missing and the characters are just too pretty--particularly the men, Shigeta and Corbett. When I think Noir, I think snappier and grittier dialog and ugly guys like John Ireland, Edmond O'Brien or Broderick Crawford. Plus, there is an interracial love interest that I liked...but it just didn't seem like Noir. Noir is NOT just a cop film but a style and attitude this one lacked--not that it was badly directed or produced. At heart, it's much more of a romance film.
As for the interracial love interest, BOTH cops fall for Chris (the woman painter; had it been some other Chris, this might have been REAAAALLLY interesting and daring). And, Chris is feeling very strong feelings towards Shigeta. Eventually, the two men come to blows over this woman during a kendo match. Shigeta is convinced that his partner is a racist, though he seems to be reading something into his partner's (and long-time friend) thoughts and actions. However, Corbett is feeling normal jealousy...and still cares about his friend deeply. And, it turns out that the motivation for the killing early in the film is related, in a way, with Shigeta's struggle.
Overall, despite a very rough beginning and it being incorrectly labeled 'Noir', the movie turned out to be pretty good and daring for its interracial love story. Yes, it had been done before in movies such as SAYONARA, but it was still a tough sell in 1959. Well worth seeing.
The film begins with some maniac chasing Sugar Torch out of the theater after she finishes her act. She is gunned down in the middle of the street AND the killer takes the time to shoot a painting of her in the kimono in the throat that is in the dressing room. Two police detectives, Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta are sent in to investigate this murder in the Japanese section of Los Angeles. Naturally, with the bullet in the painting they think that there is something more to it. It's even MORE so when someone tries to shoot the artist ("Chris") next--though HOW the killer could have missed when he shot at her is beyond me.
Now I noticed that some call this movie an example of Film Noir. However, I really didn't see that. Part of this was because the music was heavy on violins and sounded more akin to the soundtrack from PEYTON PLACE, the camera angles and darkness of typical Noir is missing and the characters are just too pretty--particularly the men, Shigeta and Corbett. When I think Noir, I think snappier and grittier dialog and ugly guys like John Ireland, Edmond O'Brien or Broderick Crawford. Plus, there is an interracial love interest that I liked...but it just didn't seem like Noir. Noir is NOT just a cop film but a style and attitude this one lacked--not that it was badly directed or produced. At heart, it's much more of a romance film.
As for the interracial love interest, BOTH cops fall for Chris (the woman painter; had it been some other Chris, this might have been REAAAALLLY interesting and daring). And, Chris is feeling very strong feelings towards Shigeta. Eventually, the two men come to blows over this woman during a kendo match. Shigeta is convinced that his partner is a racist, though he seems to be reading something into his partner's (and long-time friend) thoughts and actions. However, Corbett is feeling normal jealousy...and still cares about his friend deeply. And, it turns out that the motivation for the killing early in the film is related, in a way, with Shigeta's struggle.
Overall, despite a very rough beginning and it being incorrectly labeled 'Noir', the movie turned out to be pretty good and daring for its interracial love story. Yes, it had been done before in movies such as SAYONARA, but it was still a tough sell in 1959. Well worth seeing.