dir. Samuel Fuller
1959 // 1 hr 22 min // Digital Projection
Starring: Jean Harlow, John Barrymore
Samuel Fuller’s “The Crimson Kimono” is a bold entry into the film noir genre that collides the police procedural with social taboos. Set in postwar Los Angeles, the film follows two detectives - one white, one Japanese-American - whose partnership is tested by a murder investigation and a shared romantic interest. Progressive, provocative, and emotionally raw, Fuller’s film confronts race, masculinity, and desire with an honesty that was startling for its time, and still relevant today.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOODLAND... is a series hosted and programmed by KCAI lecturer Kara Heitz looking at classic Hollywood films and history from the advent of sound to the birth of New Hollywood.