House of Bamboo (1955)

House of Bamboo (1955)

Tokyo, Sam. Yeah… different streets, same kind of trouble. Neon instead of rain, but it smells the same.

No, these guys don’t act like hoods back home. Too polite. Too organized. That’s what makes ’em spooky.

Robert Stack? Yeah, he’s walking around like he belongs there.

Funny thing is, the whole city feels calm. Trains running on time, people are polite… meanwhile somebody’s probably getting tossed off a rooftop.

Anyway… Bamboo.

Yeah… sounds nicer than it is.

Hello to all of the classic people who are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors and let you know there will be spoilers ahead. Today, on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on Film Noir House of Bamboo (1955).

This film was directed by Samuel Fuller, and you know I am a big fan of his work. He was also the co-screenwriter for the story along with Harry Kleiner. Set in post-World War II Japan, the movie is chock-full of 1950s tough guys. The criminal activities tie this film in with the Neo-Noir film The Yakuza (1974), which flashes back to this period.

This movie is rated a fair 6.8 on IMDb.com[1]. On Rottentomatoes.com, the critics loved it with 85 percent on the Tomatometer, but not so much the audience, with only 58 percent liking the film.[2] In a July 1, 1955, review, [quoted from Wikipedia] Variety magazine said:

“Novelty of scene and a warm, believable performance by Japanese star Shirley Yamaguchi are two of the better values in the production. Had story treatment and direction been on the same level of excellence, House would have been an all-round good show. Pictorially, the film is beautiful to see; the talk’s mostly in the terse, tough idiom of yesteryear mob pix.”[3]

Actors – House of Bamboo (1955)

Returning

The always great Robert Ryan was cast as Sandy Dawson, the head of the criminal empire. Ryan was first covered in the war film Battle of the Bulge (1965). We have covered him in Film Noirs Dead Reckoning (1947), The Set-Up (1949), The Woman on Pier 13 (1949), The Racket (1951), and the great war film Men in War (1957).

My favorite gruff uncle from “The High Chaparral,” from 1967 to 1971, Cameron Mitchell, played gangster Griff. Mitchell was first covered in the very good war film Command Decision (1948).

Sessue Hayakawa played Inspector Kito. Hayakawa, who played the Japanese commander in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), was first covered alongside Anna May Wong in Daughter of the Dragon (1931). Hayakawa’s voice was dubbed by a primary English speaker.

Other gangsters included Harry Carey Jr. as John. Carey Jr. was first mentioned in the campy Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966). John Doucette was Skipper and was first covered in the fun John Wayne Western adventure Big Jake (1971). Lastly, DeForest Kelley was Charlie. Kelly, who was covered in the very fun Night of the Lepus (1972), went on to be the great Doctor McCoy on “Star Trek” 1966-1969.

New

Robert Stack played determined investigator Eddie Kenner. Stack was born in Los Angeles in 1919. When his parents divorced, he moved to Europe with his mother and became fluent in French and Italian. He didn’t learn English until he was 7 years old on their return to Los Angeles.

Stack attended USC, where he studied drama. He was also a champion skeet shooter. Stack began working at the struggling Universal City Studios in 1939. His first film, as Deanna Durbin’s lover, was First Love (1939). Stack was convinced by the legendary, monster-famous makeup man Jack P. Pierce to dye his hair black and get rid of his curls. This worked, and Stack became a movie idol overnight.

One of the early films for Stack was To Be or Not to Be (1942), a comedy starring Jack Benny. Stack played Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski, a Polish pilot involved with an acting troop during World War II. Stack later starred as Vinger Joe Stillwell in 1941 (1979), in Animal House (1978) with actor Tim Matheson. Matheson played the Sobinski role in the Mel Brooks version of To Be or Not to Be (1983).

Like many, but not John Wayne, Stack served in World War II as a Navy gunnery officer. When filming John Wayne’s Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) in Mexico, Stack’s explanation of being a gunnery officer was mistranslated as “chinga,” or whore trainer.

Other Stack films include the first 3D film Bwana Devil (1952); he co-starred with John Wayne again in The High and the Mighty (1954); today’s film House of Bamboo (1955); and the historical John Paul Jones (1959). Stack also appeared in the World War II film Is Paris Burning? (1966).

Stack made his mark on television with his first popular series, “The Untouchables,” from 1959 to 1963, in which he played crimefighter Eliot Ness for 119 episodes. He played another crimefighter in “Most Wanted” from 1976 to 1977 for 23 episodes. His final popular series was “Unsolved Mysteries,” which ran from 1987 to 2010, totaling 299 episodes.

I like his later comedies, such as Airplane! (1980), Caddyshack II (1988), and the surprisingly good Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).

Stack died in Los Angeles, the city where he was born, in 2003.

Shirley Yamaguchi was the love interest, Mariko Webber. She was born in China in 1920 to Japanese parents. This area fell under Japanese control following the 1931 invasion of Manchuria. In 1934, Yamaguchi began singing Chinese songs on the radio. She began making films in 1938 for a Manchurian studio.

When the war ended, she barely avoided trial and or execution for her activities. She had 47 films and television credits. Notable among these are Foghorn (1952) with Toshirô Mifune, today’s film House of Bamboo (1955), and Madame White Snake (1956). Her songs were featured in Gangster Squad (2013), The Grandmaster (2013), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018).

Yamaguchi died in 2014.

Story – House of Bamboo (1955)

The movie begins with a narrative introduction to give it a documentary feel. Farmers work in a snow-capped landscape, with Mt. Fuji dominating the background. The colors are muted towards black and white. A black train, identified as a military supply train, enters the scene. The year is said to be 1954. Since this film is set following the Korean Conflict, the train is guarded by US and Japanese soldiers. The train stops above a road bridge where farmers work in the foreground, because an ox cart is blocking the tracks.

The film then turns to full color as men dressed as farmers strangle the train engineer and assistant. They also strangle two Japanese soldiers before shooting the American soldier. A truck with more robbers arrives, and they unload military supplies from the train before speeding away.

A Japanese female farmer witnesses the carnage, and her scream triggers the credits.

Word of the robbery and murder reaches the police, where Inspector Kito (Sessue Hayakawa) is followed by news reporter Ceram (Sandro Giglio). US Army investigator Captain Hanson (Brad Dexter) joins the Japanese investigation. All the strangled victims survived their attack. The theft consisted of 30 and 50-caliber machine guns and ammunition, plus two boxes of smoke pots.

Five weeks after the train robbery, Captain Hanson gets word that an American civilian, Webber (Biff Elliot), was wounded during a payroll robbery. His fellow robbers shot him three more times and left him for dead. The bullets that killed Webber were from the same gun used to kill the American soldier during the train robbery.

Webber is barely alive when Captain Hanson and Inspector Kito interrogate him. Looking at a letter found on Webber, he asks who Eddie Spanier is. Webber says they were war buddies, and Eddie is innocent of this robbery. Eddie is to join Webber when he gets out of prison. They ask about a picture of a woman Webber had on him. He says it is his wife of two months, Mariko Webber (Shirley Yamaguchi), and she knows nothing about his criminal activities. Webber then dies.

Three weeks later, a steamer arrives carrying Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack), traveling under the name Eddie Spanier. In Tokyo, Eddie travels to the Kokusai Theatre. The dancers are rehearsing on the roof. It is a kabuki-style show. Eddie rudely asks the dancers about Mariko, but is told she no longer works at the theatre.

Eddie goes to a canal where a mass of boats are moored side by side. He makes it to a bathhouse and continues to rudely ask for Mariko. She is in the bath and hears Eddie. She dresses and runs out, but Eddie hears her and gives chase. Eddie stalks the young woman back to her dwelling.

Eddie attacks and subdues Mariko before saying he is looking for her husband, Webber. He shows her a picture of him and Webber together in the Army. Mariko is worried about the men who killed her husband. Eddie acts like he didn’t know and came all the way from the States to work with Webber.

Mariko is ashamed and afraid. She doesn’t know what to do.

Eddie goes to a Plinko gambling parlor. Plinko is a mechanical gambling machine that pays off in metal balls. While the balls cannot be exchanged for money, they can be exchanged for prizes, allowing illegal gambling to take place[4]. Most of this gambling is traditionally controlled by the Yakuza, a criminal organization that goes back at least to 1603.[5] These gangs flourished in the post-World War II era, and I doubt there would be any room for American criminals in the post-war era.

Eddie goes to the boss and tries to strong-arm the man for $25. Eddie says he will come every week to pick up $25 protection money. He then goes to another parlor to attempt the same thing. Eddie is grabbed by Griff (Cameron Mitchell) and punched before being thrown through a paper wall. Behind the wall are the manager of the first Plinko joint, two other gangsters, Charlie (DeForest Kelley), and the big boss, Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan).

Sandy interrogates Eddie, who says his name is Eddie Spanier and that he is working alone. Sandy thinks it’s funny that a man would try to pull off such an old scheme. Sandy warns Kenner to stay out of Tokyo.

Eddie wanders around randomly, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, a bunch of Japanese men in suits grab Eddie and drag him to the police. They say he stole pearls, and they discover that his passport is missing. The Japanese police call the Americans and are told of Eddie’s criminal record.

The owner of the pearls comes in and stops the arrest, saying it was a misunderstanding. Eddie chases the pearl man but is stopped by Griff outside a palace. Griff takes him to Sandy.

Sandy lives in a huge compound. Sandy runs his criminal empire, and Griff is his second-in-command. Sandy has Eddie’s passport and offers him a job. Eddie says his mother didn’t raise him to be a dog robber. You may remember from The Americanization of Emily (1964) that a dogrobber is a derogatory military term for an officer’s orderly or a scrounger.

Sandy lures him in with the possibility of committing crimes bigger than those found in the Plinko parlors. Charlie doesn’t like Eddie right off the bat. Sandy is very impressed with Eddie’s criminal record while in the military, especially a murder rap that he beat.

Eddie finally understands that he was arrested so Sandy could check his criminal record. Sandy gives him money to get a good suit and return directly immediately. Eddie goes to a park where there is a giant Buddha. Inside the building, Eddie meets with Capt. Hanson and Inspector Kito, showing that he is actually working undercover. Eddie reports what he knows and asks a few questions about Sandy.

When Eddie gets back to the compound, he is in trouble for taking so long to return. Eddie says he went to see a girl. He is forced to give the name Mariko. Sandy and Griff give her a visit, and they drag Eddie inside. She says she doesn’t know him. Eddie slaps her, and she admits that he was there.

That night, Mariko finds out where Eddie is staying. She wants to help, but Eddie thinks that this crew are the men who killed her husband. Eddie tells Mariko to stay and pretend to be his kimono girl. She decides to stay and rolls out her bed before lowering the curtain between them. In the morning, she assumes the role, feeding and caring for Eddie. She is giving him almost the full treatment.

At the market, Mariko gets the stink eye from some church ladies. More of the community gives her grief. She decides to back out of the arrangement. Eddie accepts her departure with grave concern. She leaves but runs back into Eddie’s arms. It is because Griff has come to pick Eddie up, and she doesn’t want to blow their scheme.

Sandy has the crew assembled, and he is giving a military-style briefing on their next robbery. He has glossy photos with letters and arrows showing what they are. That’s an Alice’s Restaurant reference in case you missed it. They are going to rob a gravel and cement works in Tokyo Bay. Isn’t that the location of the dump in Isle of Dogs (2018)?

Sandy says that if anyone is shot, the others will kill them to prevent the wounded person from giving information to the police if they are captured.

They head to the bay where they meet John (Harry Carey Jr.), who issues weapons. Sandy is given a P38, which is the gun used in the two previous murders. They travel to the island by a small boat. Most of the crew unloads smoke pots while the others rob the payroll guards. A couple of guards fire at the robbers. Willy (Peter Gray) gets hit and falls. Griff executes his former comrade.

Eddie gets hit and goes down. Sandy won’t let Griff kill him, and they take the wounded Eddie to the boat. The smoke pots are working and provide cover as they escape.

Back at the compound, Sandy tries to explain why he protected Eddie. He can’t really. Could be man love. Mariko is brought in to care for Eddie at the compound until he heals. Griff is burning with hate.

Eddie wants to send her away for her safety. Eddie tells Mariko that he is undercover and the photo of him and her husband was fake. She is shocked to find that her dead husband was a criminal. Eddie also tells her that he is a sergeant in the Army. They are already in love.

Charlie breaks in on the tender moment. Charlie invites the couple to a party Sandy is throwing that night. Sandy and Eddie talk about Willie, who was killed during the robbery. Sandy drops the information about Webber’s shooting, but still believes he never talked. Griff tries to put the moves on Mariko. Sandy shuts him down hard. A swinging jazz band gets the party hopping.

Mariko is upset after hearing about her husband’s murder. But she and Eddie talk about what first attracted them to each other.

After Eddie is healed, Sandy outlines another job. This time, they plan to knock off an armored bus. Griff doesn’t have a role in the new operation. Sandy says that Griff has battle fatigue. Griff is hot about Eddie taking his place.

Eddie sneaks the robbery plans to Captain Hanson via Mariko. She is more worried about Eddie than about herself, and in most Film Noirs this would be a death sentence. Mariko calls Hanson from a payphone.

Mariko goes to a hotel to meet Hanson, but Charlie is drinking in the hotel bar and sees her enter. She delivers the message to Hanson. Charlie sees Mariko leaving, followed closely by Hanson.

Back at the compound, Sandy calls Mariko over for a talk. It seems like he is just generally concerned about her welfare, but he soon snaps about Charlie seeing her at the hotel with another man. He thinks Mariko is two-timing Eddie, and that’s why Eddie is acting weird. They never make the connection that Hanson is undercover.

The gang members head to their assigned positions for the robbery. Meanwhile, at  the Japanese police headquarters, news reporter Ceram has sniffed out that the police are tracking the robbery. He has been the rat all along and rushes to get the word to Sandy.

Eddie makes contact with Hanson and Inspector Kito.

Ceram gets the information to Sandy, who is in the red follow bus. He plays music over the bus’s loudspeakers to let the gang know something is wrong and that they should pull out. Sandy goes directly to where Griff is taking a bath. Sandy fills him with lead without a single word. He then tells the dying or maybe dead Griff that he ratted them out because he had no control over himself.

When Sandy gets back to the compound, Ceram is waiting to see him. They begin talking about the informer, but each man is talking about someone else. Finally, Ceram says Eddie was the informer, and he works for Army intelligence. Ceram says he saw Eddie on the street talking to two cops.

Sandy is crushed by his misjudgment. He goes into the billiards room where Eddie and the remaining gang members are waiting. After a long silence, Sandy begins talking about the rat, then tells everyone that Griff was the rat.

Sandy puts a played pearl robbery into action and takes Charlie and Eddie with him. John arms the three gangsters outside the office. They meet with the manager and pretend to be interested in buying pearls. Sandy and Charlie knock out the two men inside the office. They begin packing the pearls, but Sandy tells Charlie to put his gun on Eddie.

Sandy calls the Japanese police to report the robbery. He tells the dispatcher that the robber will fire on sight. The police head towards the robbery. If Sandy can get the police to shoot Eddie, he thinks he can’t be blamed for the killing.

Charlie knocks Eddie out. The lean him against a counter and load him with jewels. However, Eddie falls over. The police arrive and gun down Charlie through the paper wall. Sandy escapes upstairs. Never run upstairs. You’ll end up trapped on the roof.

Sandy ends up at the rooftop playground of the Matsuya department store. There are families and cops everywhere. A cop fires at Sandy, and he climbs higher up the building. There is a rotating ride that wobbles up and down. Sandy kills a couple of cops before Eddie arrives to save the day.

Eddie has the cops turn the ride on, trying to expose where Sandy is. It’s a pretty well-filmed gunfight. I guess Fuller had seen a few by this time. Eddie climbs up the back stairs and guns down Sandy as the criminal turns towards him, leaving the dead man going round and round on the ride. A path to nowhere.

In a long shot, Eddie, now back in uniform, and Mariko head towards a temple. I guess they live happily ever after.

Conclusion – House of Bamboo (1955)

This movie is a remake of the Film Noir The Street with No Name (1948), also co-screenwritten by Harry Kleiner. The Street with No Name (1948) starred Richard Widmark and Mark Stevens, who we covered in Between Midnight and Dawn (1950).

For a color film, this movie had a tiny budget of $1.38 million. The meager returns from this film essentially ended Fuller’s time as a major director and launched his independent movie phase. House of Bamboo (1955) is often erroneously stated to be the first major US studio filmed in Japan. However, it seems that the first was the Humphrey Bogart Santana Pictures Corporation film Tokyo Joe (1949) or Film Noir Tokyo File 212 (1951).

In director Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), Robert Stack played Gen. Stilwell and Samuel Fuller played the Interceptor Commander. Fuller was a major influence on Spielberg and other contemporary directors. In Spielberg’s Minority Report (2002), House of Bamboo (1955) is being projected onto a wall in one of the apartment scenes.

While it was not well-received in Japan, Fuller was very proud of House of Bamboo (1955). Fuller allowed the interracial love affair to proceed without a contrived tragic ending. Fuller’s genius as a filmmaker was evident in the film’s opening sequence. Fuller explained that he began with white-on-white, with Mt. Fuji in the background. He slowly added the black train. The entire scene feels cold.

World-Famous Short Summary – Gang boss is a little too fond of a new hire.

Beware the moors.

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048182/

[2] House of Bamboo | Rotten Tomatoes

[3] House of Bamboo – Wikipedia

[4] Pachinko – Wikipedia

[5] Yakuza – Wikipedia