House of Bamboo (1955)

[David]

There's something about Samuel Fuller's HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955).

It isn't the greatest hardboiled crime story ever filmed; it isn't even the greatest ever filmed in 1955 (that honor belongs to Aldrich's corrosive, hugely influential & still brutal KISS ME DEADLY). But it's one of the most enjoyable American movies of the 1950s.

Pros: Joe Macdonald's cinematography (seminal use of CinemaScope) & Fuller's direction, Robert Ryan's performance, Harry Kleiner's (& Fuller's) screenplay, & punchy, vivid use of an unfamiliar locale (postwar Japan, mobbed with optimism).

Cons: Robert Stack's performance (you wouldn't mind it if the police lieutenant suggested that Eddie take a few acting lessons on his way over to Dawson's pad or at least in time for his lead role in Sirk's WRITTEN ON THE WIND), Leigh Harline's score (sweeping strings & Americana melodies instead of sinewy, spidery jazz -- like the score of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS or A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE).

On a scale of 1 to 10, BAMBOO gets a 7 from me, which is good.