The disc: The Samuel Fuller Collection
The details: In the first few minutes of Sam Fuller’s The Crimson Kimono, a stripper finishes her act, walks into her dressing room and narrowly misses being killed. Running half-naked through the Los Angeles streets, she is finally shot by her unseen assailant, writhes and dies as the traffic screeches to a halt around her body.

It may be lurid, but I dare you to look away. The Crimson Kimono is part of The Samuel Fuller Collection, a seven-film set issued by the Film Foundation and Sony Pictures. As it turns out, the identity of the murderer is the least interesting thing about The Crimson Kimono, which is actually about the uneasy union between a Japanese-American homicide cop and his American partner. Uneasy because they fall in love with the same woman.

Fuller’s punchy style often has been relegated to the basement by use of the word “tabloid.” It’s not inaccurate, but it ignores the way Fuller often could reveal surprisingly poetic aspects of his characters, not to mention himself. But Fuller was indeed an old tabloid reporter, and he never forgot the central point of journalism, which is to be sufficiently interesting so that people will read your story … or, for that matter, watch your movie.

Of the films in the set, the best is Underworld U.S.A., about a man’s quest to exact justice from the mob for killing his father, although The Crimson Kimono is worth seeing for its anti-racist message and the location work around L.A.’s Little Tokyo.

The most surprising is It Happened in Hollywood, an early (1937) script by Fuller that turns out to be a charming — and surprisingly accurate — tale of the early days of sound movies.

The other films are Adventure in Sahara, Power of the Press, Shockproof (all written or co-written by Fuller) and Scandal Sheet (based on Fuller’s novel The Dark Page). The films look beautiful, and there are several documentaries featuring Fuller fans (Martin Scorsese, Curtis Hanson, Tim Robbins) and family (his widow, Christa; his daughter, Samantha).

Overall, an excellent set that pays justified tribute to a true American original.