The Crimson Kimono

The Crimson Kimono (1959) is an American crime film you can watch online on iFILM, written and directed by Samuel Fuller and shot on location in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo. Partners Charlie Bancroft and Joe Kojaku are hunting the killer of a burlesque dancer whose last steps led into the Japanese community. Straightforward enough — until both men fall for the same witness.

Fuller put the interracial romance front and center at a time when Hollywood still preferred to look away. James Shigeta as Joe landed one of the first genuine leading romantic roles given to a Japanese-American actor in a mainstream studio picture. The film is lean and direct, the way Fuller always worked. Stream The Crimson Kimono (1959) online on iFILM.