The Death Kiss

Despite its low-budget look, "The Death Kiss" is a solid mystery, and it does a good job of creating a believable movie studio atmosphere as the background to the main story. It's also interesting to see Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan, and David Manners reunited in a setting so different from "Dracula". While some of its limitations are rather obvious, it's a pretty good effort for a low-budget feature from the early sound era.

The opening sequence might be the best part of the movie, as it cleverly sets up the mystery, introduces most of the characters, and illustrates the movie's themes. In the main part of the movie, it generally follows convention, with Manners as an eager amateur who is usually a step ahead of the police. The pace is also a little uneven at times, which was relatively common in the early 1930s, but there are always some interesting details and developments that keep it together.

Van Sloan, as a movie director, gets some pretty good opportunities. Lugosi is always a welcome addition to any suspense or mystery story, and he makes the most of a character who doesn't really get all that much to do. As the lead, Manners is likable, though often a bit bland. Adrienne Ames is adequate as the heroine, and the minor characters are given some occasional moments of their own.

The result is a decent mystery that keeps you guessing. It will probably be of interest mainly to those who are already fans of the era and genre, but with that in mind it's not bad.

"The Death Kiss" (1933) should be a nice surprise for those who like traditional murder mysteries. It's a movie within a movie and both have the same title, which refers to the on- screen murder of movie star Myles Brent during the filming of the last scene of a film called the "The Death Kiss". He is shot while playing a scene in which he is shot, a development that was about to be written off by the police as a prop man's accident until they discovered that the bullet was a different caliber than the guns being used in the production.

The police then turn their attentions to his co-star and ex-wife Marsha Lane (Andienne Ames) which inspires her boyfriend (David Manners) to do some amateur sleuthing to track down the real murderer.

"The Death Kiss" could qualify as the first buddy picture as he is closely assisted by his friend Officer 'Gully' Gulliver (Vince Barnett), a bumbling studio security guard who provides the film's comic relief. The mix of serious murder mystery and comedy is in perfect proportion and Barnett gives a truly exceptional performance. Much of the humor comes from the pair's ability to stay just ahead of the police, much to the irritation of the detectives doing the investigation and to the crowing delight of Gully.

There are an array of suspects (Brent would not have won a popularity contest) besides Miss Lane including studio executives Joseph Steiner (Bela Lugosi), Leon Grossman (Alexander Carr) and Tom Avery (Edward Van Sloan). Lugosi's name and likeness headline the DVD package and while his part is substantial, it is still just that of a supporting character.

There are enough red herrings to keep the viewer guessing and the pacing is quite fast even with limited action sequences. There are significant advantages associated with setting a screenplay in a movie studio. The cost savings in set design, the appeal of the movie industry to viewers, and the fact that the writer can draw upon occupations with which he is familiar to give the script convincing authenticity.

One thing to watch for is the use of color in a few sequences in this otherwise black and white film. When there is a fire in the projection booth and later a chase scene with flashlights, the producers enhanced the effect with an amber tint. This was applied to the prints (at least some of them) by stencils, which masked the majority of the frame so artists could color in the portion that was to be amber. Since there are 24 frames per second it was only necessary to apply this process to every other or every third frame to get the effect, but it was still an extremely labor-intensive process. "The Death Kiss" was not the first time this was done but it was the most effective because the cinematography made excellent use of light and shadow, with the contrast nicely enhancing the effect of the amber frames. Technically this gimmick was a forerunner of stuff like "Smell-o-vision", "Emergo", "Illusion- o", and "Sensurround".

The DVD and TMC prints are serviceable but obviously worse for the wear. There are a number of audio and video dropouts but the story seems to be complete.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Although it reunites Bela Lugosi, David Manners, and Edward Van Sloan, the noted stars of Universal's hit DRACULA from the year before, this Edward L. Marin picture shot at the Tiffany Studio for World Wide Pictures is not a horror film. Instead it is a nifty, fast-paced little murder-mystery set in a movie studio, with decent production values including exemplary cinematography and editing for such a low-budget ($50,000) production, along with competent, effective performances from a cast of a few name stars and countless Hollywood veterans, including a number of former silent stars past their prime who had become reduced to character roles and bit parts after the coming of sound. Showing up in notable bits are King Baggot, Ralph Lewis, Barbara Bedford, Spec O'Donnell, Mona Maris, and more

The plot gets off to an intriguing start with the sequence responsible for the film's title. In a fancy car outside a swanky hotel as people exit in dressy evening attire, a classy, attractive woman (Adrienne Ames) tells some gangsters that their mark is the man she's about to kiss. It all looks like an energetic Precode gangster film is about to begin. When the woman kisses the pleasantly confused man and walks off, he's immediately gunned down and the camera pans over to the director and crew filming the scene. The director (Edward Van Sloan) says it looked awful and needs a retake, but they quickly discover that the actor is actually dead from a gunshot wound and the mystery begins.

A young scenario writer who specializes in detective stories (David Manners) is eager to try solving the crime himself, especially since he's in love with the actress, who happens to be the main suspect because she's the ex-wife of the not very well-liked dead actor and is still his life insurance beneficiary. The police (John Wray and Wade Boteler) arrive and get on the case but naturally the screenwriter is always a step ahead of them, often assisted by the comical studio security cop (Vince Barnett). Bela Lugosi gets a chance for a straight dramatic role as a studio executive who like several other studio personnel and/or their spouses, also has motives for getting rid of the actor, a notorious ladies' man.

While it may often seem a routine who-done-it, the script cleverly sets up numerous red herrings and misleading clues, and provides enjoyable moments of Pre-code Prohibition-era banter, satiric Hollywood in-jokes, and cutesy comic shtick. Also, the location filming gives a revealing glimpse behind the scenes inside a real movie studio, not only sound stages but screening room, projection booth, dressing rooms, bungalows, garage, makeup and electrical departments, etc., that raise it above average interest for any film buffs.

I've got to admit my initial attraction to this movie was the fact that Bela Lugosi was in it...going in for that reason, this film will prove a disappointment as Bela's role is a relatively short one.

Despite this, I have to admit to enjoying this somewhat fanciful murder mystery which has the detective writer as the hero and ultimately a more competent detective than the real thing. This story about a murder on a movie set still feels more like a movie than real life..but the murder mystery does keep you guessing and interested which means it's certainly worth a watch.

Another pleasant surprise from a 50 set Mystery Classic DVD package put out by Treeline Films. The Death Kiss is a diverting early 30's murder mystery set against the backdrop of a Hollywood studio movie production.This viewer enjoyed the knowing glimpse of the inner workings of a studio...the "Old Country" Jewish studio boss(with the fractured English and acute cost consciousness),the Big Star actress with a rocky private life,and the amateur sleuth screen writer.The whole cast , in this not exactly big budget film, is first-rate(a little too broad on the comedy relief). Good looking. likable chap David Manners plays the writer, and seems to be having a lot of fun doing so(what's with these David Manners bashers? My God, you'd think he was as bad as George Raft -The All-Time Worst "actor").) Bela Lugosi is earnest but somewhat out of place here.The Death Kiss keeps you guessing and is a nice flash-back to "Talkies" and actual "ice" in the ice box. Take a look....