The Scarlet Kimono (USA, 1959)

Director Samuel Fuller was a very prolific screenwriter. Unfortunately, his career as director did not quite stood up. Although he is considered an excellent film director, his few films are unknown to movie fans. In this particular one, Sugar, a nightclub stripper, is brutaly assassinated one night. Police detectives link her murder to a criminal organization. Apparently, Sugar used to buy oriental style paintings from a local artist (junkie I would say). The local artists falls in love with both police detectives who are investigating the case, and a moral dilemma ensues. Meanwhile, we are led to believe that Mr. Shuho, a sumo wrestler, is behind the murder, and he runs back and forth trying to escape the law. A lot of Japanese traditional ceremonies are shown, but at the end, the real murderer is not the one we thought. A surprising twist gives this film an interesting approach, but there is also a lot of blah blah blah in between, which could have been cut.