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:

"I don't care what you do to me, Mike - just do it fast!"

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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 Strother Martin appeared in Dekker's last screen appearance, The Wild Bunch (1969).

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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.

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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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Alternate Versions

Until 1997, all known copies in circulation of "Kiss Me Deadly" ended rather abruptly: we see 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.

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Connections

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

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Soundtracks

Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauss

User Reviews

Nasty stuff

So the big what'sit is what it's all about and this big what'sit is without a doubt, flat out phenomenal. Ralph Meeker snarls and sneers his way thru a bevy of sadism and selfishness in this superb, unflinching look at amorality beneath happy go lucky 50's sensibilities. Biting and wicked and never dull, and filled with more amazing characters than one movie deserves, this is a knock out classic that you will enjoy wallowing in repeatedly.