House of Bamboo (1955)

Japanese Story

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy House of Bamboo on DVD.

Always insisting on realism, Samuel Fuller traveled to Japan to shoot this crime thriller so that his locations and details would not seem fake. As a result, it's one of Fuller's most opulent films, taking full advantage of the different kinds of atmosphere Japan offered. This effect is intensified by the fact that Americans had generally shied away from Japan in the years after World War II. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck offered Fuller a remake of Street with No Name (1948), which Fuller took and re-wrote almost completely, hence the credit "written by Harry Kleiner with additional dialogue by Samuel Fuller." It begins when a supply train -- guarded by both Japanese and American soldiers -- is hijacked and an American is killed. Police have no idea where to look for the culprits until an unrelated incident turns up a matching bullet. Army cop Robert Stack goes undercover and joins Robert Ryan's gang to flush out the murderer. The dead man's Japanese wife (Shirley Yamaguchi) helps. Fuller's masterful use of natural locations within the Cinemascope frame drives the film, especially the climactic shoot-out on a giant, spinning globe at a carnival. Ryan is especially good, simmering with sinister lunacy just below his character's civilized surface. DeForest Kelley, later known as Dr. "Bones" McCoy on "Star Trek," turns up in a supporting role, and the great Sessue Hayakawa, who was a famous star during the silent era in both Japan and America, plays Inspector Kito.

DVD Details: Fox's House of Bamboo DVD comes with a playful commentary track by historians James Ursini and Alain Silver (accompanied by much unwanted nose whistling). Other extras include a trailer, and Fox Movietone News footage of Fuller, Yamaguchi and Stack in Japan.

Starring: Robert Stack, Robert Ryan, Shirley Yamaguchi, Cameron Mitchell, Brad Dexter, DeForest Kelley, Sessue Hayakawa
Written by: Samuel Fuller, Harry Kleiner
Directed by: Samuel Fuller
MPAA Rating: NR
Running Time: 102 minutes
Date: June 24, 2005