Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit."

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Mickey Spillane (novel), A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)

Stars:

Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Meeker	...	Mike Hammer
Albert Dekker	...	Dr. G.E. Soberin
Paul Stewart	...	Carl Evello
Juano Hernandez	...	Eddie Yeager
Wesley Addy	...	Lt. Pat Murphy
Marian Carr	...	Friday (as Marion Carr)
Marjorie Bennett	...	Manager
Mort Marshall	...	Ray Diker
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Carmen Trivago
Strother Martin	...	Harvey Wallace
Mady Comfort	...	Nightclub Singer (as Madi Comfort)
James McCallion	...	Horace
Robert Cornthwaite	...	FBI Agent
Silvio Minciotti	...	Mover
Nick Dennis	...	Nick

Storyline

Tough L.A. private eye Mike Hammer gives a ride to Christina, a frightened young woman he finds running along the road one night. His car is run off the road by unseen thugs. Hammer is knocked out and Christina is tortured in an unsuccessful attempt to get information from her. They are put back into Hammer's car which then is forced off a cliff. Hammer wakes up in the hospital. Velda, his trusty secretary, informs him that Christina is dead. Pat Chambers, Mike's policeman friend, tells him to stay off the case, but Mike thinks it might be a big story--meaning big money for him--because the FBI is interested. He, Velda, and Nick, his garage mechanic friend, start investigating in hopes of finding out why Christina was killed.

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Plot Keywords:

mike hammer | mechanic | hitchhiker | hospital | cliff | 

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Taglines:

Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane's latest H-bomb!

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Spanish

Release Date:

18 May 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mickey Spillane's Kiss Me Deadly

Filming Locations:

The Castle - 325 Bunker Hill Avenue, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$410,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$214 (USA) (2 May 2008)

Gross:

$882 (USA) (13 June 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parklane Pictures Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 104 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Theatrical film debut for Maxine Cooper.

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Goofs

At the beginning, Christina (Cloris Leachman's character) is shown running at the side of the highway, but the shots of only her feet show her running along the painted center line of the highway.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mike Hammer: You almost wrecked my car! Well? Get in!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits scroll backwards (down instead of up).

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Connections

Referenced in One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

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Soundtracks

"String Quartet No. 1: 1st Movement"
(uncredited)
Music by Johannes Brahms

User Reviews

Tough and surreal Noir classic gets better and better with age.

'Kiss Me Deadly' is an overlooked crime gem that has proved to be a major influence on subsequent film makers from the French New Wave to cult classics 'Repo Man' and 'Pulp Fiction'. It's a movie which gets better and better with age. Director Robert Aldrich manages to put lots of style and interesting touches which sometimes border on the surreal into this toughest of tough guy movies. Ralph Meeker ('Paths Of Glory', 'The Dirty Dozen', 'The Anderson Tapes') is well cast as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Meeker's Hammer is brutal and his performance really makes this one work. The supporting cast are all very good too, especially Albert Dekker ('The Wild Bunch') as Dr Soberin and Maxine Cooper as Hammer's "assistant" Velda. Also keep an eye out for the debut of Cloris Leachman is the striking opening sequence. The "great whatsit" which Hammer searches for is one of the great movie gimmicks, and the ending will blow you away - literally. I loved this movie from beginning to end. I think it ranks alongside 'Out Of The Past' (Tourneur), 'The Asphalt Jungle' (Huston), 'Double Indemnity' (Wilder), 'The Killing' (Kubrick) and 'The Killers (Siegel)' as one of the greatest and most influential American crime movies, and I'm sure Scorcese and Tarantino would be the first to agree. Highly recommended.