Kiss Me Deadly
Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!
Country
Production
Budget
$410 000
Box office
$726 000
Director
Actors
Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernández, Wesley Addy, Marian Carr, Maxine Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers, Nick Dennis
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Ernest Laszlo
Composer
Frank De Vol
Artist
Audition
Editing
Michael Luciano
Whole Team (12)
Whole Team (12)
Short description
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
What's left behind the scenes
- The girl on the highway and the hero's secretary were played by debutantes.
- Filming took place in Los Angeles, and many of the neighborhoods and establishments that appeared in the film were already slated for demolition. Thus, the film can serve as a guide to the Californian metropolis at the intersection of different eras.
- Before the film's release, Aldrich published an article in the New York Herald Tribune in which he attempted to reassure fans of Mike Hammer, who were alarmed by the careless attitude towards the literary source. The film's road to wide release was a thorny one. Guardians of public morality sent the director a petition demanding more than 30 changes to the film.
- In 1999, the film was added to the National Film Registry.
- The screenplay was based on Mickey Spillane's novel about detective Mike Hammer (1952). However, due to the novel's subject matter involving drugs, it was officially deemed unsuitable for adaptation. To circumvent this difficulty, screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides completely transformed the plot, saturating it with noir tropes and fears of the atomic age. He came up with the hot “nuclear briefcase” and the apocalyptic finale, and also moved the action from New York to California.
- The screenplay was based on Mickey Spillane's 1952 novel about detective Mike Hammer. Since the novel dealt with drugs, it was officially deemed unsuitable for adaptation. To bypass this obstacle, screenwriter A.I. Bezzereides completely transformed the plot, filling it with noir clichés and Atomic Age fears. He invented the 'hot' nuclear briefcase and the apocalyptic finale, while also moving the setting from New York to California.
- Ahead of the film's release, Aldrich published an article in the New York Herald Tribune attempting to reassure Mike Hammer fans who were troubled by the careless treatment of the literary source material. The film's path to a wide release proved to be thorny. Guardians of public morality sent the director a petition demanding more than 30 changes to the film.
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