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 Va Va Voom

Storyline

A frightened woman is running barefoot on a highway, trying desperately to flag a car. After several cars pass her by, the woman sees another car approaching, and to make sure either the car stops, or, she's killed, she stands in the path of the oncoming car. Private Investigator Mike Hammer is the one at the wheel, and after almost hitting the woman, he tells her to get in. The woman's name is Christina Bailey. She is obviously on the run, being barefoot and wearing nothing but a trench coat, and the scent of fear. Whoever was after her eventually catches up with them. Christina has information they want, but dies while being questioned. The killers fake an accident by pushing Hammer's car off the road, but he survives, waking up in hospital two weeks later. As Mike starts to investigate Christina's death, he's told by the police to stay out of it, but, the hard-nosed private investigator proceeds anyways. Little did he know that Christina's secret would lead to death and destruction.

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Plot Keywords:

femme fatale | atomic bomb | kiss | suitcase | macguffin | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Spanish

Release Date:

July 1955 (UK)

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 USA:

$214, 4 May 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$726,000, 31 December 1955

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$952,000, 31 December 1955

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parklane Pictures Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 104 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Glen Glenn Sound)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Albert Dekker and Jack Lambert appeared in similar bad guy roles in The Killers (1946).

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Goofs

About halfway the movie, Mike checks his answering machine. A running tape on a tape recorder tells him 'There have been no calls during your absence.' How could this be on the tape? Even a modern answering machine would not know that I've been absent.

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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

Featured in The Many Faces of Mike Hammer: A Personal Recollection by Larry Cohen (2013)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 8: Unfinished
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Schubert

User Reviews

What an utterly bizarre film...

Man, I saw this movie for the first time a few years ago and I still don't know what to think about it. Ralph Meeker as a fascistic Mike Hammer, a crazy hitch-hiker, an opera fan and a box that can destroy the world. I dunno.

From what I understand Alderitch (the director) hated Mikey Spillane's story (which was about a briefcase full of drugs or money or something else), thought Mike Hammer was an image of brutality and fascism and made a film that reflected it. He makes Hammer out to be some kind of sadist and makes the suitcase out be some kind of nuclear device. The movie turns from a simple detective story to some wierd-ass, sci-fi cold war parable.

It's sort of like the X-Files meets film-noir PI, or something to that effect.

All that being said, this is a GREAT film and is well worth watching by anyone who like apocalyptic film-noir (in fact, this may be the only film in that sub-genre). Anyone who is a fan of bizarre camera work, weird symbolism and a stranger storyline, should really check this out.

Observe the many bizarre inconsistencies (clocks that jump ahead and back, screams that don't jibe right with the soundtrack, camera angles that jump mysteriously) and keep in mind that these were INTENDED! When you get a feel for this film and start noticing what the director was attempting to do with this bizarre film I think that you will enjoy it even more. Truly a unique piece of film making.