Kiss Me Deadly

We wanted to watch this movie, because  it was produced by United Artists, and  because it is known for pushing the conventions for movies of the 1950s with its violence and sexuality. There is even a scene of implied vaginal torture with pliers, and a woman on fire. It wasnt the freshest or most suspenseful movie, but it had its merits, a rather interesting film noir plot complete with anti-hero and attractive floozies.

United Artists was essentially the first "independent" film studio, established by actors and directors in 1919 as a way to better control their artistic expression and their salaries. In the 1950's in an attempt to increase profits, United Artists began giving money to independent producers rather than working as a consolidated studio. This allowed the producer of Kiss Me Deadly, Robert Aldrich, who was also the director, to have more freedom over his picture than he would at a large, controlling studio much like what United Artists has become today under the iron fist of Mr. Tom Cruise. This film fits into our project as a independent counterpart to All About Eve with a relatively unknown cast.

Filmed in 1954, of course during the cold war, the theme of nuclear apocalypse is shocking. Tellingly, in the scene where the FBI agent tells Mike Hammer, the main character, that the much ado is over something having to do with the "manhattan project," Mr. Hammer, usually combative with cops, calmly cooperates.

Kamala: Kiss Me Deadly is also interesting because it influenced some independent cult films we will watch later in our project. The glowing suitcase filled with "the great whatsit" device shows up in Pulp Fiction, and Repo Man. Raiders of the Lost Ark too.

Emily: I thought the camera angles were fantastic. Very unconventional.

Robert Aldrich produced this film through his own studio, not completely under the wing of United Artists, giving him a little more freedom.

The female character Mike encounters in the beginning refers to women as "the incomplete sex," paralleling Bette Davis' speech on how women aren't women until they have a man. Clearly, this was a prominent theme in the 1950's.

Emily: This film was replete with semi-offensive caricatures of immigrants, incoherent street lingo (va-va-VOOM was one of my favorites) and tough-guy violence. It's great pulp cinema, even if it takes a while to figure out what's going on.