"The Crimson Kimono" is not one of Sam Fuller's better films, but leave it to Fuller to make a murder mystery thriller where the murder mystery becomes almost beside the point and the film instead becomes an examination of racial tension.
That tension doesn't even play a role in the crime at the film's center. It's between the two detectives assigned to solving the murder. And this isn't a whites-being-racist-against-minorities film either. It's the Japanese American detective (played by James Shigeta) who has the problem, seeing racism against himself where it doesn't exist and not able to get past his own insecurities about his heritage. This quality more than anything else makes the film unique and very Fuller-esque, but in all other ways it's a bit of a disappointment. It only has moments of that ragged, off-kilter quality that make Fuller's best movies -- movies like "The Naked Kiss," "Shock Corridor" and "The Big Red One" -- so damn good.
Grade: B-
That tension doesn't even play a role in the crime at the film's center. It's between the two detectives assigned to solving the murder. And this isn't a whites-being-racist-against-minorities film either. It's the Japanese American detective (played by James Shigeta) who has the problem, seeing racism against himself where it doesn't exist and not able to get past his own insecurities about his heritage. This quality more than anything else makes the film unique and very Fuller-esque, but in all other ways it's a bit of a disappointment. It only has moments of that ragged, off-kilter quality that make Fuller's best movies -- movies like "The Naked Kiss," "Shock Corridor" and "The Big Red One" -- so damn good.
Grade: B-