Watching Black Lizard (1962)

Almost exactly thirty years ago, I saw the 1968 version of Black Lizard on the big screen at the Detroit Film Theater. Last night, I watched the earlier 1962 version on the Criterion Channel. The movie is a noir thriller, among other things. Here are some things I thought when the picture was done.

• Yukio Mishima wrote the original play and the screenplay. In this picture he has a small part as a human statue.
• The movie is a noir thriller, but, at times, it turns into a musical and even has a bit of dancing.
• The plot has several twists and turns including characters in disguise. At the end of the movie there are doubles of several characters.
• In addition to characters in disguise throughout the movie, it turns out that the father figure in the picture, a wealthy jewelry dealer, is, himself, a fake. It turns out he has been selling fake jewelry. So, the father is also, in some ways in disguise.
• There are several times when the picture uses a color filter leading to scenes entirely in purple, among other colors.
• To me, seeing the disguises, the dancing, and the general camp feel of the movie makes this a queer movie. Plus, we now have good reason to believe that Mishima was gay. However, I am not sure audiences in Japan in 1962 would have thought Mishima was gay or that this was a queer movie. 
• If you are in the right mood, Black Lizard is a fun movie.