This review is for the Blu-Ray version of Kiss Me Deadly released by Criterion in 2011.
This is an excellent release and highly recommended for fans of Mike Hammer, film noir and even science fiction.
This movie also serves as a kind of a time capsule for old Los Angeles.
BLU-RAY: The picture is excellent. It is presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Inside the booklet that comes with this release there is information on the film transfer. It says that on a standard tv that it will appear letterboxed and that there will be bars if on the side if you watched on a wide screen tv as I did. The HD digital transfer was made from a 35mm master positive. Dirt, debris, scratches, etc. were manually removed. The monaural soundtrack was remastered.
PLOT/SUMMARY: The movie opens with a naked girl running out onto a road that Mike Hammer is driving on one evening. Mike drives off the road and gives the girl a ride. She tells Mike that she was put in a mental institution and to "Remember Me." Shortly they are stopped by some thugs. They kill the girl and beat up Mike and send him and his car over a cliff. Mike survives and wakes up in a hospital. He is now determined to find out why the girl was killed and go after the girl's killers.
From here the story takes several turns. Mike follows up leads throughout Los Angeles and eventually comes across a glowing case. It is implied that the case is the material for a nuclear bomb. Velda ends up getting kidnapped and Mike goes after Velda.
EXTRA'S: There are plenty of extra's with this release. This is a strong point of this release. They are as follows:
1) Double sided cover sleeve with the chapters on the reverse.
2) 20 page booklet - There are two articles, "The Thriller of Tomorrow" by J. Hoberman and "You Can't Hang Up the Meat Hook" by Robert Aldrich, the director. There is also information on the restoration and credits and photographs.
3) Audio Commentary by film noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini.
4) Video tribute by director Alex Cox - This was quite entertaining to listen to. Cox has that sarcastic humor that so many of the British have.
5)The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides, a documentary on the screenwriter of Kiss Me Deadly.
6)Mike Hammer's Mickey Spillane - This is a documentary made in 1998 of Mickey Spillane. Spillane is his usual entertaining self in his interview. He tells lots of stories and elaborates on his feelings about the Mike Hammer films. He did not like Kiss Me Deadly when it came out and he says he left the theater half way though the movie.
7)Film's Locations - You get to see comparisons of all the locations when filmed and how they look today.
8) Altered Ending - Self explanatory. The altered ending is not a different ending, it just cuts out the final minute of the movie and places 'The End' over the burning house.
9) Theatrical Trailer
All in all, some excellent extra's!
PRODUCTION: The movie had a budget of around $400,000 and was filmed in locations around Los Angeles in 1955.
There are two different endings to this movie. There had been rumors that the original has Mike Hammer die in the house at the end as the house burns down....or at least he isn't shown escaping so you can assume that. It is true that this version exists but it is not the original ending. The original ending is the one presented in this release where Mike and Velda escape to the beach. The alternate ending is the one that was shown sometime after the first release that shows the house burning with the words The End superimposed over it. This one has the last minute cut from it showing Mike and Velda running away.
This movie was not easy to get made. At the time, Mike Hammer had a reputation for being extremely violent and the censors didn't want to approve the movie. One of the ways that they got the movie approved was by Mike Hammer not using his gun. His gun is taken away by Pat early on in the movie.
There are distinct differences between the book and the movie. The most obvious difference is that in the book the 'bad guys' are the mafia not some guys (terrorists?) trying to get their hands on a nuclear bomb.
Also, Mike's main occupation is basically catching cheating spouses in the act. He uses Velda to set up the husbands.
The title's meaning was changed with an ever so slight change. The book has a comma in it's title after Kiss Me. So it reads Kiss Me, Deadly. This movie does not, thus changing the message of the title.
THOUGHTS/COMMENTS: I agree with most critics who say that Ralph Meeker was the best Mike Hammer. While he didn't have the rough look you might imagine from the books, he is a large guy and has a tough demeanor.
I loved the fact that this movie was not shot in a studio and that most of the locations are filmed in old Los Angeles. You get to see many locations that don't exist in the same state anymore, most notably, the Bunker Hill scenes.
This story, like many detective stories gets a bit confusing if you don't really pay attention. I had to go back a few times because I couldn't remember who all the people named were.
I did not like the casting of Maxine Cooper as Velda. I've read all of the Mike Hammer books and Cooper is just not what I had pictured in my head as Velda. I always imagined a more glamorous looking girl.
While Mike Hammer's violent nature was toned down for this movie by necessity in order to get it made, he does exhibit some violent behavior in other ways than shooting people. He uses his fists to beat up a mugger before throwing him down a long staircase. He smashes a collector's valuable record and he slams a drawer shut on an old man's hand.
I liked the implication that the glowing case was Pandora's Box and the very creepy noise it made when opened.
RECOMMENDATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: I think that this is an excellent release by Criterion. I'm giving it 5 stars based on the excellent picture and excellent extra's.
Highly recommended for fans of Mike Hammer and also for fans of science fiction films of the 50's. The movie is included in Bill Warren's excellent 'Keep Watching the Skies,' a book on all science fiction films from 1950-1962. It is included for the reason that the Pandora's Box in the movie sort of allows this movie to be called science fiction. If they had stuck to the book's story line then this would not be so.
Top reviews from other countries
cinwdr
Great movie fully restored at last.
Reviewed in Australia on February 4, 2021