Directed by Samuel Fuller and screenplay by Harry Kleiner with additional dialogue by Fuller, House of Bamboo is the story of an American military official who goes to Japan to learn about a former GI who has formed a gang with former soldiers and Japanese locals to steal weapons and such from the military. A loose remake of The Street with No Name that was co-written by Kleiner, the film is a noir-inspired film set in the world of American bases in Japan following the post-war years as it play into corruption from the military and a man trying to comprehend what is going on. Starring Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi, and Cameron Mitchell. House of Bamboo is a riveting and compelling film from Samuel Fuller.
The film explores a series of incidents that involve the robbery of military weapons, ammunition, and smoke bombs that belonged to the U.S. army as well as the death of a few American soldiers prompting an undercover military official to go to Japan and infiltrate this gang led by a former GI. It’s a film that has a man hired by the U.S. army after a thief had been killed by one of the men in the gang as he is revealed to have married a Japanese woman who reluctantly agrees to help the undercover agent. Harry Kleiner’s screenplay that would feature additional dialogue by Samuel Fuller is an exploration of a man trying to figure out what this outfit led by this American GI and other Americans with Japanese locals wanting to make lots of money as much of the motives from its leader Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan) who was dishonorably discharged from the U.S. military and wants to stick it to the U.S. army and Japanese authorities.
Dawson’s actions forced the Army to bring in Eddie Spanier (Robert Stack) who had just been released from prison to infiltrate Dawson’s gang since Spanier was a friend of a man who was killed by one of Dawson’s men during a botched heist. Spanier would get into contact with the Japanese wife of one of the thieves who was killed during the botched heist in Mariko (Shirley Yamaguchi) as she is reluctant to help but wants to know who killed her husband and why as they form a relationship of sorts despite the fact that interracial marriages/relationships remain taboo from both the Americans and Japanese. Even as Mariko makes some chilling discoveries that would have her help Spanier as well as uncover some dark truths into Dawson’s criminal empire.
Fuller’s direction is definitely wondrous in not just capturing post-war Japan life through the gorgeous usage of the Cinemascope as it captures the growing prosperity of the country as it is shot on locations in Tokyo, Yokohama, and various countryside areas. In wanting to get a sense of realism in the film and to capture post-war life, Fuller would use hidden cameras with wide and medium shots to get a glimpse of this life in Japan where people go into parks, temples, and anywhere else in the cities. Fuller would also showcase a world where there is still this post-war tension between the Americans and Japanese as it relates to how some the locals react towards Americans though American military officials and Japanese police officers try to maintain a sense of peace despite Dawson’s activities where it’s only the Japanese workers that are often injured in these heists unless guns are involved as they get killed. Fuller also maintains an intimacy in the medium shots and close-ups as it relates to Spanier and his growing friendship with Mariko that also include Mariko’s approach to creating poached eggs.
Fuller would also use crane and wide shots to get a scope of the locations as well as in some of the compositions that relate to the drama and suspense. Fuller also play into this air of taboo in how Japanese react to one of their own such as Mariko for her time with Spanier as if she had done something really offensive and dishonorable. Yet, Fuller show that Dawson is way crueler than the locals while he and a few of people in the gang will kill their own over something wrong as Spanier becomes concerned with Dawson’s increasing paranoia. The film’s third act has Fuller definitely take great usage of the locations in Tokyo as well as this attention to detail in the street corners as well as a rooftop theme park where Fuller creates some unique compositions and suspense to play into the intensity of the showdown. Overall, Fuller crafts a gripping and thrilling film about a U.S. military officer infiltrating a gang of former American soldiers engaging themselves in thievery and corruption.
Cinematographer Joseph MacDonald does brilliant work with the film’s colorful cinematography with its usage of DeLuxe Color to capture the beauty of the Japanese locations as well as creating some unique interior lighting for the scenes set at night as it is a highlight of the film. Editor James B. Clark does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense. Art directors Addison Hehr and Lyle R. Wheeler, along with set decorators Stuart A. Reiss and Walter M. Scott, do amazing work with the look of Dawson’s lavish yet traditional Japanese home as well as the look of the home that Spanier would live in. The sound work of Harry M. Leonard and John D. Stack do fantastic work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as the sounds of gunfire and smoke bombs. The film’s music by Leigh Harline is wonderful for its mixture of lush and bombastic orchestral music and traditional Japanese string music as it help play into the suspense and drama.
The film’s superb ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Elko Hanabusa as a screaming Japanese woman in the film’s opening sequence, Sandro Giglio as a corrupt cop in Ceram, Biff Elliot as the wounded thief Webber who is also Mariko’s husband, Brad Dexter as the American official Captain Hanson whom Spanier reports to, Sessue Hayakawa as the Japanese police investigator Kitz who works with Hanson, and DeForest Kelley as one of Dawson’s top goons in Charlie. Cameron Mitchell is terrific as Dawson’s right-hand man Griff who is suspicious about Spanier as he is also ruthless towards those who screw things up during a heist.
Shirley Yamaguchi is amazing as Mariko as a Japanese woman who had married an American soldier only to die due to his involvement with Dawson as she is reluctant to help out Spanier while also learning more about Dawson as she becomes close to Spanier. Robert Stack is excellent as Eddie Spanier as a U.S. army official who goes undercover as he copes with his job while dealing with the corruption that Dawson has created while becoming close with Mariko whom he wants to protect. Finally, there’s Robert Ryan in an incredible performance as Sandy Dawson as a disgraced American soldier who teams up with Japanese locals and other disgraced American soldiers as a way to stick it to the army as well as make money.
House of Bamboo is a phenomenal film from Samuel Fuller that features great performances from Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, and Shirley Yamaguchi. Along with its gorgeous cinematography, wondrous music score, and its mixture of noir, suspense, and drama set in post-war Japan. It is a film that explores post-war Japan as relations with Americans remain tense with some wanting to create chaos and mistrust prompting a few to do what is right for both countries. In the end, House of Bamboo is a sensational film from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill's Marauders - Shock Corridor - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) – The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2020
Based on the novel by Robert Wilder, Written on the Wind is the story of a woman who marries into an oil family as she would fall for her husband’s best friend. Directed by Douglas Sirk and screenplay by George Zuckerman, the film is an exploration of a woman who becomes part of a very dysfunctional and decadent family as she tries to make sense of the family she‘s married to while dealing with her feelings for husband‘s best friend. Starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. Written on the Wind is a sensational yet wild film from Douglas Sirk.
Based on a real life incident involving the tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds and torch singer Libby Holman, the film is an exploration into the chaotic world of a Texan oil family whose adult children are spoiled and troubled as they besmirch the reputation of the family as an heir’s wife and his best friend are caught in the middle. Much of which play into an heir trying to find happiness in his life as he meets an executive secretary in New York City as he woos her into marrying him. Though it seems to be a major change and a step into maturity for Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) as he would introduce his new wife Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall) to his father Jasper (Robert Keith). Trouble would brew due to the presence of Kyle’s younger sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone) who has gained a reputation for being a nymphomaniac as she also wants longtime childhood friend Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) who secretly has feelings for Lucy.
George Zuckerman’s screenplay doesn’t just explore the desires of what Kyle and Marylee Hadley want in their very lavish but often empty lives. The script also explores Lucy and Mitch being in the middle of this chaotic world where Lucy was reluctant to be wooed by Kyle yet finds him fascinating as he was very honest about his alcoholism and such. While Mitch would watch Kyle be with Lucy as he would suck it up and accept it, he becomes overwhelmed by Kyle and Marylee as he wants to leave the entire world of the Hadleys though he still has some loyalty to Japser. While he knows about Kyle’s alcoholism and does pity him, Lucy has no clue on how severe it is as she and Kyle try to start a family only for things to not go as quickly as Kyle wanted. Adding to Kyle’s already fragile state is Marylee whose desire to want Mitch would have her be manipulative to Kyle over the idea that Mitch and Lucy are having an affair which isn’t true. It would add to the heightened sense of drama that would play out as it would be very sensational but also lurid considering the kind of behavior that Marylee has.
Douglas Sirk’s direction is very stylish as well as being a bit over-the-top of times since it does play into his sensibilities on melodrama. While he keeps much of it restrained and somber early on though the film begins with Kyle driving very fast to his home as a gunshot is then heard. It then flashes back to something less dramatic when Kyle meets Lucy for the first time where he’s about to have lunch with Mitch as it starts off as this very straightforward romance with some very lovely compositions in its use of medium shots and close-ups along with a few low angle shots. The film becomes more stylized in its compositions once the film is set in Texas where Sirk adds something that is very dark once Marylee comes into the picture as she is this firecracker that likes to push buttons. While she may have some air of innocence over what she wants to have with Mitch, there is that layer of darkness about her that does drive the film. Especially where it would have this soaring and sensational idea of drama where it is very strange at times but also offbeat considering how over-the-top it can be. Overall, Sirk crafts a very mesmerizing yet visceral film about two people caught up in the world of a very dysfunctional family.
Cinematographer Russell Metty does phenomenal work with the film‘s very rich and colorful Technicolor-based cinematography with its stylish approach to lighting for some of its nighttime interior scenes as well as the way some of the locations in Texas plus the old river that Kyle, Mitch, and Marylee used to play at. Editor Russell J. Schoengarth does excellent work with the editing as it‘s straightforward in terms of its cutting strategies while playing to the film‘s unique rhythm for its melodramatic moments. Art directors Alexander Golitzen and Robert Clatworthy, with set decorators Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron, do fantastic work with the design of Hadley mansion as well as the bar that Kyle likes to go as well as the posh hotel suites in Miami where Kyle hoped to woo Lucy at.
Costume designer Bill Thomas does amazing work with the design of the gowns that Marylee and Lucy wears as the former is very lavish and provocative while the latter is more classy as it both plays to their personalities. The sound work of Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard is terrific for the way the Hadleys‘ cars sound when they‘re speeding to the atmosphere of the parties they old. The film’s music by Frank Skinner is brilliant for its soaring and lush orchestral-based music as it plays to the melodrama while there‘s some jazz-based themes that play into the world of Marylee while music supervisor Joseph Gershenson brings in some jazz-based pieces into the music soundtrack plus a ballad written by Victor Young and Sammy Cahn that opens the film.
The film’s superb cast includes some notable small roles from Robert J. Wilkes as the bartender at the bar that Kyle likes to drink at, Harry Shannon as Mitch’s father, John Larch as one of Marylee’s lovers, Roy Glenn and Maidie Norman as the house servants of the Hadley home, and Edward Platt as the longtime family doctor who examines Lucy as he becomes concerned if Kyle is the real problem. Robert Keith is excellent as Marylee and Kyle’s father Jasper as an oil man who treats Mitch like a son as he watches the behavior of his children with great despair as he questions about his failings as a father. Dorothy Malone is amazing as the very lurid and slimy Marylee Hadley as this nymphomaniac who likes to cause trouble while wanting to pursue Mitch in every way she can.
Robert Stack is brilliant as the troubled Kyle Hadley as a playboy who wants to have the good things in life when he meets Lucy only to succumb to his own insecurities and alcoholism as he loses sight of everything as well as his friendship to Mitch. Lauren Bacall is incredible as Lucy Moore as this woman who is wooed by Kyle as she is baffled yet charmed by his personality only to deal with his alcoholism and insecurities as she wonders if she made the right decision as she starts to have feelings for Mitch. Finally, there’s Rock Hudson in a glorious performance as Mitch Wayne as this simple yet kind man who devotes his loyalty to Jasper Hadley while trying to deal with Kyle’s alcoholism as well as his own feelings for Lucy as it’s a role that has Hudson be tough but also be grounded as someone who had seen a lot and knows what is important as it’s one of Hudson’s finest performances.
Written on the Wind is a spectacular film from Douglas Sirk that is highlighted by the performances of Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. Along with the beautiful cinematography of Russell Metty and Frank Skinner’s lush score, it’s a film that is quite touching but also very intense in terms of its melodrama while not being afraid of being dark and be critical about rich American families. In the end, Written on the Wind is a remarkable film from Douglas Sirk.
Douglas Sirk Films: (t Was een April) - (The Court Concert) - (To New Shores) - (La Habanera) - (Boefje) - (Hitler’s Madman) - (Summer Storm) - (A Scandal in Paris) - (Lured) - (Sleep My Love) - Shockproof - (Thunder on the Hill) - (No Room for the Groom) - (Has Anybody Seen My Gal?) - (Meet Me at the Fair) - (Take Me to Town) - (All I Desire) - (Taza, Son of Cochise) - Magnificent Obsession (1954 film) - (Sign of the Pagan) - (Captain Lightfoot) - All That Heaven Allows - There's Always Tomorrow (1956 film) - (Never Say Goodbye) - (Battle Hymn) - (Interlude) - (The Tarnished Angels) - (A Time to Love and A Time to Die) - Imitation of Life
© thevoid99 2014
