House of Bamboo (1955)

After viewing Pickup On South Street, Mr Pinky has been on high alert for other Sam Fuller films. One such flick House Of Bamboo was always high on his must see list mainly due to one evocative still he spied in a film noir book featuring the movie's main characters shooting it out atop a Japanese rooftop funpark.

Set in Tokyo during the mid 1950’s, this colorful Cinescope noir tells a tale of corrupt Americans running rackets and bank heists. Into this scenario arrives Eddie Spanier (Robert Stack) an undercover army cop whose mission is to infiltrate and dismantle a gang led by the cool yet murderous Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan).

I love Sam Fuller's no holds barred approach to filmmaking. He had a terrific ability to fill the frame with beautifully constructed shots that constantly hold one's attention. Most directors when confronted with the 50’s fad of cinemascope balked at the ultra widescreen challenge. I read that Fritz Lang once said that cinemascope's extreme width was "only good for filming snakes". Well, Fuller proved that wrong. Every scene is shot with style and at times an amazing dexterity.

Filming on location in Japan, Fuller was able to depict a realism seldom seen in Hollywood studio bound films. I think that is what appealed to me most about House of Bamboo. It looks totally amazing! As is the attention to detail. The Tokyo docks and gaming houses are full of vibrant colorful imagery. The streets echo with the percussive sounds of Japanese ladies wooden footwear. Groups of children abound everywhere being entertained by curbside entertainers while traditionally garbed citizens shop in the busy downtown marketplaces.

In complete contrast to this are the cocky and arrogant gunslinging Americans creating havoc and shedding blood wherever they go. One scene involving the death of an informer in a bathhouse is quite amazing in its brevity and violence. I don’t think many people know of this flick but it’s well worth discovering. Just as 1950’s American audiences must have been amazed by this peek into Japanese culture, House of Bamboo leaves this viewer from 2008 just as impressed.