House of Bamboo

House of Bamboo (1955)

  • 92% of critics liked it
    (13 reviews)

  • 61% of users liked it
    (962 ratings)

Samuel Fuller directed and cowrote this typically hard-boiled drama set in Japan following World War II. Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack) is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan), a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese… More

Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
Samuel Fuller, Harry Kleiner
Genres
Drama, Classics
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1955 Wide

Critic Reviews

  • David Fear, Time Out New York

    A masterpiece that pinpoints the sublime in Fuller's sensationalism and earns every inch of its widescreen real estate.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Novelty of scene and a warm, believable performance by Japanese star Shirley Yamaguchi are two of the better values in the production.

  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times

    A lean, hard-boiled, sharp detective thriller with just a light touch of Madame Butterfly.

  • , Time Out

    House of Bamboo offers all Fuller's key themes and motifs in a characteristic thriller form: dual identities, divided loyalties, racial tensions, life (and cinema) as war.

  • Don Druker, Chicago Reader

    One of Samuel Fuller's best, a tough, sometimes nasty, but always exciting 1955 effort in 'Scope and color that unites three of his favorite topics: military comradeship, the underworld, and the Far East.

Read all 13 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Randy T


    This could have been a credible film noir piece were it not for the inept dialog, the brightly lit sets and the insistence that Japanese people are merely movie props to be placed here and there throughout the film like houseplants.

  • Bruce B


    January has been the month of House movies. That is watching movies with house in the title. This one filmed in 1954 in Japan a time when the United States had very little culture influence on that country and this film shows the old beauty of Japan. Loaded with a host of stars. Its… More

  • Michael G


    Even though the director is amazing, this movie could double for a torture device were it not for the beautiful Japanese setting.

  • Walter M


    In "House of Bamboo", ex-soldier Eddie Spannier(Robert Stack) arrives in Japan looking for a friend of a his who had promised him work. His widow, Mariko(Shirley Yamaguchi), informs him that he was shot by his cohorts during a robbery. Spannier wants answers but the only… More

  • Brian R


    A commercial picture directed by Sam Fuller. "House of Bamboo" reminds me a bit of "The Departed" but on a lighter scale(probably for commercial reasons). I admire the locations, Robert Stack as the undercover agent, Shirley Yamaguchi as the "Kimono girl"… More

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Cast

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