The Crimson Kimono

Plot

A stripper runs out onto a Los Angeles street in the Little Tokyo district, in a state of undress, mortally wounded by a gunshot. Police detectives Joe Kojaku and Charlie Bancroft, partners and bachelors who share an apartment, are assigned to the case. They find portraits of the stripper, known as Sugar Torch, dressed in a kimono as a geisha, apparently preparing a Japanese-themed act.

The cops search for a man who had been helping the stripper with her act. They interview a student artist, Christine Downes, who draws a sketch of the man for them, and Steve develops a romantic attraction to her. They meet a man named Hansel who did the portrait of the dead woman and a wigmaker, Roma, who provided the wig for the stage act.

Joe worries for Christines safety, that her sketch could result in the killer coming after her. He, too, begins to fall for Chris, and the interest is mutual. Steves reaction makes Joe believe that he resents the multi-racial nature of the relationship. He aggressively attacks Steve during a martial-arts competition, then quits the force, disillusioned after having felt for so long that his partner was free of this kind of racial bias.

A shot is taken at Christine, and it is assumed Hansel is the man behind the killings. It instead turns out to be Roma, who considered the stripper a threat to her relationship with Hansel. The case solved, Steve goes to Joe to convince him that he was simply jealous of the romance between Joe and Chris, not prejudiced in any way against it.

Cast

Critical response

The Crimson Kimono was met with critical acclaim. The film scored a perfect rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews.

The staff at Variety magazine said of the film, "The mystery melodrama part of the film gets lost during the complicated romance, and the racial tolerance plea is cheapened by its inclusion in a film of otherwise straight action...The three principals bring credibility to their roles, not too easy during moments when belief is stretched considerably. Anna Lee, Paul Dubov, Jaclynne Green and Neyle Morrow are prominent in the supporting cast."

The Critics of Time Out magazine wrote that of the film saying, "Fuller developing his theme of urban alienation: landscape, culture and sexual confusion are all juxtaposed, forcing the Japanese-born detective (who, along with his buddy, is on the hunt for a burlesque queen murderer) into a nightmare of isolation and jealousy. Some fine set pieces - like the disciplined Kendo fight that degenerates into sadistic anarchy - and thoughtful camera-work serve to illustrate Fullers gift for weaving a poetic nihilism out of his journalistic vision of urban crime."

More recently, Ed Gonzales of Slant Magazine liked the film and wrote, "The opening is a triumph of grungy lyricism achieved through snaky cutting and blunt compositions: Sugar Torch (Gloria Pall), a blond and bodacious piece of stripper meat, is shot to death in the middle of a Los Angeles street after witnessing a murder inside her dressing room. The tenor of the film oscillates between tight-fisted noir and chamber drama, but the theme is always the same: cultural and romantic unrest...Fullers feat is giving the films nonstop interrogations, meetings and confrontations profound racial and political meaning."