A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
21K
YOUR RATING
- Mickey Spillane(novel "Kiss Me, Deadly")
- A.I. Bezzerides(screenplay)
- Stars
- Mickey Spillane(novel "Kiss Me, Deadly")
- A.I. Bezzerides(screenplay)
- Stars
Marian Carr
- Friday
- (as Marion Carr)
Mady Comfort
- Nightclub Singer
- (as Madi Comfort)
- Mickey Spillane(novel "Kiss Me, Deadly")
- A.I. Bezzerides(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Kefauver Commission, a federal unit dedicated to investigating corrupting influences in the 1950s, singled this out as 1955's number one menace to American youth. Because of this, Robert Aldrich felt compelled to conduct a writing campaign for the free speech rights of independent filmmakers.
- Goofs(at around 1h 10 mins) The singer is shown standing with both hands on the microphone stand. When Hammer is sitting at the bar, during the same song, the singer is shown in a reflection playing a piano and not singing, though she is still heard singing.
- Quotes
Mike Hammer: You're never around when I need you.
Velda: You never need me when I'm around.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits scroll down instead of the usual up, resulting in needing to read them bottom to top.
- Alternate versionsUntil 1997, all known copies in circulation of "Kiss Me Deadly" ended rather abruptly: the wounded Mike Hammer stumbling through the beach house looking for his partner Velda, and then there's a couple of brief shots of the house exploding and burning, with "The End" superimposed on the final shot. The music is cut off instead of fading out, and the screen turns black; it looks like Mike and Velda died in the blaze.
- ConnectionsEdited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)
- SoundtracksRather Have the Blues
Sung by Nat 'King' Cole
Written by Frank De Vol (uncredited)
[Played on the car radio during the opening title card and credits]
Review
Featured review
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.
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.
helpful•12138
- A-Ron-2
- Jul 6, 2000
Details
Box office
- 1 hour 46 minutes
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
