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".
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
Marian Carr
- Friday
- (as Marion Carr)
Mady Comfort
- Nightclub Singer
- (as Madi Comfort)
- Director
- Writers
- 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.
- GoofsAt the beginning, Christina (Cloris Leachman) 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.
- 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]
Featured review
A genre-bending film so transcendent that it can be considered as an alien transmission.
Movies like "Kiss Me Deadly" are reassuring that there's more to each genre than meets the eye. "Kiss Me Deadly" is part hard-boiled detective story & part apocalyptic sci-fi horror film. The movie suspects its own plots and its conventions are ludicrous. The result is a highly inventive film with a ridiculous but highly enjoyable storyline and comically fascinating characters.
The basic plot, loosely adapted from Mickey Spillane's bestselling novel,is: after private-eye Mike Hammer picks up a hitchhiker who is later murdered, he becomes determined to learn the truth about her death. Although the plot becomes more and more insane, it's highly interesting. There are no empty twists, as each one leads to something larger and more confounding.
I've never had more fun with a film noir character than the aptly named character of Mike Hammer. He isn't intimidated by any man and denies the world's hottest women. If he holds the upper hand in a situation, he seems virtually impenetrable. This characteristic leads to the ever-prevalent theme in film noirs of men vs. women and their places in relationships and society.
The film is a masterpiece of cinematography, exhibited in the disorienting camera angles and unique and unconventional compositions of Ernest Laszlo. In fact, Ernesto Laszlo's cinematography is so apt with the film's randomness that it made me giddy.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Kiss Me Deadly is the outrageousness of its final few seconds: the movie doesn't conclude, it detonates. In the hands of the director Robert Aldrich, the film becomes a starting point for a delirious expression of 1950s anxiety and paranoia, starting with opening credits that run backwards and ending with an atomic explosion.
The basic plot, loosely adapted from Mickey Spillane's bestselling novel,is: after private-eye Mike Hammer picks up a hitchhiker who is later murdered, he becomes determined to learn the truth about her death. Although the plot becomes more and more insane, it's highly interesting. There are no empty twists, as each one leads to something larger and more confounding.
I've never had more fun with a film noir character than the aptly named character of Mike Hammer. He isn't intimidated by any man and denies the world's hottest women. If he holds the upper hand in a situation, he seems virtually impenetrable. This characteristic leads to the ever-prevalent theme in film noirs of men vs. women and their places in relationships and society.
The film is a masterpiece of cinematography, exhibited in the disorienting camera angles and unique and unconventional compositions of Ernest Laszlo. In fact, Ernesto Laszlo's cinematography is so apt with the film's randomness that it made me giddy.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Kiss Me Deadly is the outrageousness of its final few seconds: the movie doesn't conclude, it detonates. In the hands of the director Robert Aldrich, the film becomes a starting point for a delirious expression of 1950s anxiety and paranoia, starting with opening credits that run backwards and ending with an atomic explosion.
- dormantbae
- Nov 10, 2016
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mickey Spillane's Kiss Me Deadly
- Filming locations
- Clay Street, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(Mike parks his Corvette and takes the back steps up to the Hillcrest Hotel)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $410,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $726,000
- Gross worldwide
- $952,000
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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