O Beijo da Morte

"The Death Kiss" has been played up in recent years as a suggested horror film starring Bela Lugosi. In fact it is an interesting little murder mystery with Lugosi playing only a supporting role. Directed by first time director Edwin L. Marin, it contains many little plot twists to keep the viewer's interest.

In the opening scene for example, a man is shot down as he leaves a posh night club following an unsolicited "death kiss' from an attractive woman. It turns out that we were in fact watching the shooting of a movie. It also turns out that the actor who was "shot", Myles Brent (Edmund Burns) was really killed. So we are introduced to another of those Hollywood "behind the scenes" stories.

Detectives Sheehan (John Wray) and Sgt. Hilliker (wade Boheler) arrive on the scene. Turns out that Brent had been shot with a .38 caliber pistol while the props used in the scene were .45 caliber containing blanks. And, the actress who administered the "death kiss", Marcia Lane (Adrienne Ames) had been married to Brent.

Studio mystery writer Franklyn Drew (David Manners) takes it upon himself to investigate the case. He discovers where the shot came from and reports it to the cops. With the help of bumbling stdio guard "Gully" Gulliver (Vince Barnett) he continues his investigation.

Several suspects including Studio Boss Leon A. Goldsmith (Alexander Carr), Studio Manager Joseph Steiner (Lugosi), Director Tom Avery (Edward Van Sloan) as well as, Marcia Lane are investigated. Circumstances point to the guilt of Marcia and Drew, who has a romantic interest in her, works to find the real killer.

Needless to say, director Marin throws in several red herrings along the way. In the process he gives us an entertaining little (though low budget) mystery thriller.

As I mentioned earlier, Bela Lugosi is restricted to but a few scenes, most of which have him glaring at the other characters with those piercing stares. Manners and Ames make an attractive hero and heroine respectively. Its hard to believe but Lugosi, Manners and Van Sloan had appeared together a year earlier in Lugosi's signature film, "Dracula". Lugosi you would have thought, would have gone on to bigger and better things, however, he chose to appear in several low budget poverty row quickies in the years following his success in "Dracula".

Not bad for a poverty row thriller.

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.

Here's another important early detective movie. It is important because it is early in the life of talkies (just two years after, really); it is a mystery (which was just being invented cinematically); and it is "folded."

That last means that it is a movie. And it is about a movie. All the characters except the hapless police detective are part of the movie within, which is also called "The Death Kiss." That designated detective is our usual surrogate: in the outer film trying to suss out the inner.

The murder in question is a murder in the movie within that is "real," meaning it is also in the outer movie. The real detective turns out to be the writer of the inner movie. I am not sure if this is the first appearance of this particular device. I would appreciate hearing if it is not. If it is, this film is of enormous importance. If not, it is still important, though for enjoyment purposes, well its pretty far down the list.

I'm tentatively making this a "worth watching," but if I confirm that it is the first talking with a movie with written by the same guy that writes the outer movie, I'll elevate it to a four.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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" (Tiffany, 1932), directed by Edwin L. Marin, might have been a very interesting vampire movie, but instead, the director fools his movie audience by revealing, from the very first few minutes into the story, to be an inside study at the behind the scenes look in movie making, combining murder mystery with comedy, but not all too successfully. The main interest is not in the "who done it" plot itself, but on its three major actors, David Manners, Bela Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan, better known today for their performances in director Tod Browning's thriller, "Dracula" (Universal, 1931), with Lugosi as the title-role character-star with Manners and Van Sloan in support. In this reunion, Manners takes center stage over Lugosi and Van Sloan in smaller roles. Although Lugosi is not in every scene, he does make his presence felt throughout its 70 minute venture.

The fade-in of "The Death Kiss" opens outside a ritzy nightspot where a woman is to mark a certain man for death by kissing him in the lobby of a fashionable apartment building. Moments later, gun shots are fired by passing mobsters, killing the man in question, followed by a crowd gathering. Then the camera pulls away, revealing the sound stage and focusing on the behind-the-scenes crew consisting of a script girl, cameramen, assistant director, and director (Edward Van Sloan) who wants to have a retake, feeling that the death scene did not look realistic enough. Hollywood realism sets in when moments later, it is revealed that the actor, Myles Brent (Edmund Burns), the doomed character in the production of THE DEATH KISS, has actually been shot and killed. Top-billed David Manners as Franklin Drew, a mystery writer, steps into the picture trying to solve the murder in order to prevent the leading lady, Marcia Lane (Adrienne Ames), whom he has become interested, from becoming the prime suspect. Detectives are called in, and after a few more murders at the movie studio, Drew draws to his own conclusions as the detectives (and the viewers) become baffled before the killer is revealed.

The supporting cast includes Bela Lugosi as Joseph Steiner, president of the Tonart movie studio; Edward Van Sloan as Tom Avery, the film director; John Wray as Detective Sheehan; Vince Barnett as Officer Gulliver, affectionately called "a Keystone Cop" due to his buffoonery; Alexander Carr as the accented Leon A. Grossmith; with Barbara Bedford as the script girl; and Harold Waldridge as Charlie, the bellboy, among others.

A rediscovered "poverty row" mystery that enjoyed frequent revivals during the early years of cable television in the 1980s, "The Death Kiss" recently has been restored with hand-tinted red color sequences used in parts with studio lights and gun shots, but otherwise a routinely old-fashioned mystery from the short-lived Tiffany Studios and not by Universal. A public domain title, "The Death Kiss" has been available on video cassette by numerous distributors in the 1980s. Currently, the best clear and sounding print can be found on both restored video copies and/or from Turner Classic Movies where it airs in October in honor of Halloween.

Although the storyline can be confusing at times, with director Edwin L. Marin continuing to play tricks on his movie audience (as with his opening scene and movie title) by keeping them guessing, with the "comedy relief" turning out not to be all that amusing, "The Death Kiss" in turn is a likable little time filler from the bygone days of Hollywood.(*1/2)