95 reviews
Gerd Oswald's excellent film was his first and perhaps his best, as well as arguably providing Robert Wagner's finest hour. Like Tony Curtis was to do a decade later in The Boston Strangler (1968), screen pretty-boy Wagner took the role of the cunning sociopath Bud Corliss partly in an attempt to prove he could act darker parts than his fans had been used to. Taken from a novel by Ira Lewin (whose work also inspired Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil) the film is a well mounted, taut B-movie, albeit shot widescreen in Deluxe Color by no less a talent than Lucien Ballard, who later went on to do sterling work for such directors as Sam Peckinpah. His crisp cinematography reveals a land dressed in bright open colours, where American meritocracy is secure and, on the surface at least, all seems right. As such, it carries echoes of contemporaneous romantic fluff such as Pillow Talk as well as some of the late, luscious films by Douglas Sirk.
Watching A Kiss Before Dying however is a wholly different experience from Sirk's ironic stagings of smug Eisenhower society, this despite the presence of a clean-cut, pipe smoking Professor Grant (Jeffrey Hunter). His academic character, perhaps the least convincing in the film, is more of a straightforward stereotype than the German director would ever manage, but acts as a counterweight to Corliss' callous misuse of his own good looks and intelligence. Self-satisfied and entirely free of remorse, the student is thus a much more modern figure than the academic, and his presence undermines Grant's rather ineffectual 1950s' decency. Oswald's minor classic focuses on this cold heart - an individual whose ambition, and eventual downfall, might have found its roots in such earlier films as Ulmer's Ruthless (1948), as well as it anticipates some of Hitchcock's work.
Although it is only mentioned briefly, Corliss has obviously been affected by his experience in the war ("It's my side where I was wounded," he says at one point, and one of the first things we see are military photographs.) The implication, typical of noir, is that the conflict has affected his mental state. Corliss is a promising student, who lives alone with his mother (Mary Astor). As the film begins he is learning of the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend Dorothy (Joanne Woodward). Despite his outward concerns and pledge to marry the woman, he secretly plots to dispose of her before moving on to her sister Ellen (Virginia Leith). At the same time Ellen suspects that her sister's eventual suicide was not entirely as it seemed and does some investigating with the help of the obliging Grant...
As others have noticed, there are certain intriguing similarities between A Kiss Before Dying and the plot of Psycho which came four years later: both films begin with furtive discussion of lovers discussing the implications of illicit sex, go on to feature the premature demise of a blonde and then, in a second half, the investigation of mystery by a determined female relative. There are echoes of Vertigo (1958) too in the dangerous heights of City Hall where Budd finally commits his heinous crime, and more than a taste of Hitchcock in some of the of the suspenseful machinations of the plot - most especially in the chemistry supply room scene where Corliss furtively steals his poisons, or during the tense roof scene. It's somehow apt that Mary Astor, who played the calculating Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), should be cast as Corliss' mother in the present film - although even she is much reduced and manipulated by him, facing a final humiliation on the doorstep of the Kingship residence. Her son is at heart a ruthless social climber, for whom the earlier 'problem' posed by Dorothy was just another obstacle to his inevitable rise to social success, just as his mother's dress sense is then another. As a schemer he leaves little to chance, as is evidenced by his careful arrangement of events in the first half of the film and detailed knowledge of the Kingship mining operation he casually reveals at the close. When he is undone, it is by misfortune rather than carelessness - a fact that makes his success all the more frightening as it is compromised by chain of chance more than anything else. As Corliss, Wagner is entirely convincing in a ruthless part that, at first sight, would have been ideal casting for Dennis Hopper. Beneath the familiar clean-cut image lies a calculating, black heart, and he suggests this by effective mannerisms, such as the throwaway, amoral shrug reflected in the jeweller's shop window at the end of his second meeting with Dorothy, or by holding his arms high and clear, as if in supplication to his own genius, as she makes her final descent. Years down the line, after the amiable dross of such later work as Hart To Hart (1980-5), it is a shock to see the actor create such an impact in what was a unique role for him.
Oswald's direction is frequently distinguished by the use of long takes: the first scene for instance, which contains a fair chunk of dialogue, consists just of a pan over some photographs and one other extended set up. Part of this can be put down to necessary economies of shooting. In some scenes, especially those alone between Corliss and Dorothy, the refusal to cut away acts as if to trap the participants in their own moral universe, while the unflinching lens demands that the viewer make judgement. (There are sly visual jokes contained within shots too, as when at the conclusion of Corliss' second meeting at the sports ground, after her 'trip' down the bleachers, he is framed under a 'speed kills' road sign, or when Corliss and Ellen later flirt and in the wrap up shot the camera reveals they have been chatting under a tombstone-shaped rock.) This is not altogether to the film's advantage; in the middle section of the film, when Corliss is largely absent, some scenes drag a little. Occasionally Oswald changes pace, such as when he uses a fast dolly-in on the suicide note. But one senses that here the exposition would have benefited from shorter cutting, as the earnest Ellen and nice-but-dull Grant are not a very dynamic couple when alone on screen. However this is a minor quibble in a film that relishes a broad mise-en-scène, typical of 1950s' melodrama.
George Macreedy, who plays Leo Kingship, gives excellent, grouchy support. It is his character that undergoes the only real metamorphosis in the film. His daughter of course learns that things are not really what they seem, as she discovers what Budd is really like under the tailored surface. Kingship Senior's education is far more profound, as he almost loses her through his over-protectiveness and intransigence. In one respect he is like Corliss: both have seen the nexus of family ties fray, leading to personality problems. At the end of the film, as he escorts his daughter away from the last encounter, Kingship does so more in sorrow than with the anger he would have earlier displayed. Here, as events take a final turn, the desolation of the mines provides a physical corollary for the stark moral drama being played out between the principals.
A Kiss Before Dying was remade by James Dearden in 1991, an unsatisfactorily production that entirely missed the period intensity and compulsiveness of the original. The DVD offers little other but a trailer, although the widescreen transfer is splendid.
Watching A Kiss Before Dying however is a wholly different experience from Sirk's ironic stagings of smug Eisenhower society, this despite the presence of a clean-cut, pipe smoking Professor Grant (Jeffrey Hunter). His academic character, perhaps the least convincing in the film, is more of a straightforward stereotype than the German director would ever manage, but acts as a counterweight to Corliss' callous misuse of his own good looks and intelligence. Self-satisfied and entirely free of remorse, the student is thus a much more modern figure than the academic, and his presence undermines Grant's rather ineffectual 1950s' decency. Oswald's minor classic focuses on this cold heart - an individual whose ambition, and eventual downfall, might have found its roots in such earlier films as Ulmer's Ruthless (1948), as well as it anticipates some of Hitchcock's work.
Although it is only mentioned briefly, Corliss has obviously been affected by his experience in the war ("It's my side where I was wounded," he says at one point, and one of the first things we see are military photographs.) The implication, typical of noir, is that the conflict has affected his mental state. Corliss is a promising student, who lives alone with his mother (Mary Astor). As the film begins he is learning of the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend Dorothy (Joanne Woodward). Despite his outward concerns and pledge to marry the woman, he secretly plots to dispose of her before moving on to her sister Ellen (Virginia Leith). At the same time Ellen suspects that her sister's eventual suicide was not entirely as it seemed and does some investigating with the help of the obliging Grant...
As others have noticed, there are certain intriguing similarities between A Kiss Before Dying and the plot of Psycho which came four years later: both films begin with furtive discussion of lovers discussing the implications of illicit sex, go on to feature the premature demise of a blonde and then, in a second half, the investigation of mystery by a determined female relative. There are echoes of Vertigo (1958) too in the dangerous heights of City Hall where Budd finally commits his heinous crime, and more than a taste of Hitchcock in some of the of the suspenseful machinations of the plot - most especially in the chemistry supply room scene where Corliss furtively steals his poisons, or during the tense roof scene. It's somehow apt that Mary Astor, who played the calculating Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), should be cast as Corliss' mother in the present film - although even she is much reduced and manipulated by him, facing a final humiliation on the doorstep of the Kingship residence. Her son is at heart a ruthless social climber, for whom the earlier 'problem' posed by Dorothy was just another obstacle to his inevitable rise to social success, just as his mother's dress sense is then another. As a schemer he leaves little to chance, as is evidenced by his careful arrangement of events in the first half of the film and detailed knowledge of the Kingship mining operation he casually reveals at the close. When he is undone, it is by misfortune rather than carelessness - a fact that makes his success all the more frightening as it is compromised by chain of chance more than anything else. As Corliss, Wagner is entirely convincing in a ruthless part that, at first sight, would have been ideal casting for Dennis Hopper. Beneath the familiar clean-cut image lies a calculating, black heart, and he suggests this by effective mannerisms, such as the throwaway, amoral shrug reflected in the jeweller's shop window at the end of his second meeting with Dorothy, or by holding his arms high and clear, as if in supplication to his own genius, as she makes her final descent. Years down the line, after the amiable dross of such later work as Hart To Hart (1980-5), it is a shock to see the actor create such an impact in what was a unique role for him.
Oswald's direction is frequently distinguished by the use of long takes: the first scene for instance, which contains a fair chunk of dialogue, consists just of a pan over some photographs and one other extended set up. Part of this can be put down to necessary economies of shooting. In some scenes, especially those alone between Corliss and Dorothy, the refusal to cut away acts as if to trap the participants in their own moral universe, while the unflinching lens demands that the viewer make judgement. (There are sly visual jokes contained within shots too, as when at the conclusion of Corliss' second meeting at the sports ground, after her 'trip' down the bleachers, he is framed under a 'speed kills' road sign, or when Corliss and Ellen later flirt and in the wrap up shot the camera reveals they have been chatting under a tombstone-shaped rock.) This is not altogether to the film's advantage; in the middle section of the film, when Corliss is largely absent, some scenes drag a little. Occasionally Oswald changes pace, such as when he uses a fast dolly-in on the suicide note. But one senses that here the exposition would have benefited from shorter cutting, as the earnest Ellen and nice-but-dull Grant are not a very dynamic couple when alone on screen. However this is a minor quibble in a film that relishes a broad mise-en-scène, typical of 1950s' melodrama.
George Macreedy, who plays Leo Kingship, gives excellent, grouchy support. It is his character that undergoes the only real metamorphosis in the film. His daughter of course learns that things are not really what they seem, as she discovers what Budd is really like under the tailored surface. Kingship Senior's education is far more profound, as he almost loses her through his over-protectiveness and intransigence. In one respect he is like Corliss: both have seen the nexus of family ties fray, leading to personality problems. At the end of the film, as he escorts his daughter away from the last encounter, Kingship does so more in sorrow than with the anger he would have earlier displayed. Here, as events take a final turn, the desolation of the mines provides a physical corollary for the stark moral drama being played out between the principals.
A Kiss Before Dying was remade by James Dearden in 1991, an unsatisfactorily production that entirely missed the period intensity and compulsiveness of the original. The DVD offers little other but a trailer, although the widescreen transfer is splendid.
- FilmFlaneur
- May 2, 2004
- Permalink
Set against the backdrop of the shiny 1950s, "A Kiss Before Dying" is a taunt thriller that can arguably be voted the predecessor of many modern thrillers.
When the film starts, it looks like a glamorous, teenybopper flick. The opening song compliments this heavily, as does the numerous logos and neon colours used in the opening credits. Thinking back on it now, I find it to be a very unusual, brilliant style of film-making that isn't seen very often. It tricks the viewer into something it is not. It is not a 1950s college comedy, but a relentless thriller with lots of unexpected twists and turns. I thought this movie was going to be tame, being a 1950s film and all, but I was pleasantly surprised in how raw the plot was in some places.
A young Robert Wagner portrays Bud Corliss, a darkly handsome college student with an obsessive taste for riches and fine dining. Bud is a trouble 25 year-old man who still lives at home with his aging widowed mother (Mary Astor). He feels unfulfilled in his life and a little uncertain about his future. Dorothy Kingship (Joanne Woodward), a girl with whom he is having a secret relationship with, may be the only glimmer of hope that will lift him up out of his bland, disappointing life. Dorothy's father is incredibly wealthy, and Bud knows this. However, Dorie falls pregnant and Bud is threatened with disinheritance and the inevitable prospect of working as a gas station attendant in order to pay the bills for his wife a baby. This is where the film really takes off and we get to see how dark, desperate and evil Bud really is.
Bud devises a plan: stage his girlfriends suicide. The plan seems simple enough and actually works in Bud's favour. He is free of Dorie and the prospect of disinheritance, and is now able to court Dorie's older sister, Ellen (Virginia Leith), who is totally oblivious of the fact that Bud is Dorie's old flame (and murderer). Enter rookie detective Gordon Grant (Jeffrey Hunter), an intelligent young man who questions the circumstances surrounding Dorie's death, as well as the integrity of Ellen's new lover, Bud. He just has to put the gruesome pieces together to solve the complex puzzle of deceit and murder.
I recommend this movie to fans of the thriller genre, as well as those who want to take a trip down memory lane. Great film with top performance by all. Kudos to Jeffrey Hunter.
When the film starts, it looks like a glamorous, teenybopper flick. The opening song compliments this heavily, as does the numerous logos and neon colours used in the opening credits. Thinking back on it now, I find it to be a very unusual, brilliant style of film-making that isn't seen very often. It tricks the viewer into something it is not. It is not a 1950s college comedy, but a relentless thriller with lots of unexpected twists and turns. I thought this movie was going to be tame, being a 1950s film and all, but I was pleasantly surprised in how raw the plot was in some places.
A young Robert Wagner portrays Bud Corliss, a darkly handsome college student with an obsessive taste for riches and fine dining. Bud is a trouble 25 year-old man who still lives at home with his aging widowed mother (Mary Astor). He feels unfulfilled in his life and a little uncertain about his future. Dorothy Kingship (Joanne Woodward), a girl with whom he is having a secret relationship with, may be the only glimmer of hope that will lift him up out of his bland, disappointing life. Dorothy's father is incredibly wealthy, and Bud knows this. However, Dorie falls pregnant and Bud is threatened with disinheritance and the inevitable prospect of working as a gas station attendant in order to pay the bills for his wife a baby. This is where the film really takes off and we get to see how dark, desperate and evil Bud really is.
Bud devises a plan: stage his girlfriends suicide. The plan seems simple enough and actually works in Bud's favour. He is free of Dorie and the prospect of disinheritance, and is now able to court Dorie's older sister, Ellen (Virginia Leith), who is totally oblivious of the fact that Bud is Dorie's old flame (and murderer). Enter rookie detective Gordon Grant (Jeffrey Hunter), an intelligent young man who questions the circumstances surrounding Dorie's death, as well as the integrity of Ellen's new lover, Bud. He just has to put the gruesome pieces together to solve the complex puzzle of deceit and murder.
I recommend this movie to fans of the thriller genre, as well as those who want to take a trip down memory lane. Great film with top performance by all. Kudos to Jeffrey Hunter.
He may not have been James Dean, but Robert Wagner delivers a career performance in this sorely neglected sleeper from 1956. The first half is a beautifully shaded dance of death as Wagner plots to rid himself of the inconveniently pregnant Joanne Woodward. He's all sincere insincerity from one rendezvous to the next, while she wants desperately to believe, even against all odds. Has there ever been a more cold-hearted manipulator of vulnerable feminine desires. Dory (Woodward) is all whiney expectations, while Wagner conceals ruthless ambition behind a pretty boy mask.
Director Gerd Oswald's staging of the first half is little short of brilliant, and had the filming been in appropriate black and white, a latter day noir classic would have resulted. Notice how subtly Woodward expects to be kissed atop the municipal building, the pinnacle of her girlish dreams, while Bud (Wagner) callously lights a cigarette, defiant of normal expectations. And what a gripping piece of morbid psychopathology is Wagner's slip-sliding through the chemistry lab as he prepares a toxic.potion for his lady love. Maybe in the last analysis, Bud's problem lies with his mother. The fixation is certainly not normal, as she senses in putting off his request for a "date". Yet Bud's social climbing ambitions are made tellingly clear that they are for mom as well as for himself.
Unfortunately, the second half reverts to standard Hollywood convention, the suspense subsiding along with the first-rate mood music. Putting a pipe in the callow Jeffrey Hunter's mouth and making him a college professor amounts to a crippling miscalculation on someone's part. Hunter's simply not the type, nor does he have the gravitas to carry the plot forward. The end result is a hybrid of first-half brilliance and second-half mediocrity. Too bad. The ending is appropriate, however, as the monster truck bears down like the hand of pre-destination that Bud should have taken note of in that literature class. There is a point to Dory's unfortunate life, after all.
Director Gerd Oswald's staging of the first half is little short of brilliant, and had the filming been in appropriate black and white, a latter day noir classic would have resulted. Notice how subtly Woodward expects to be kissed atop the municipal building, the pinnacle of her girlish dreams, while Bud (Wagner) callously lights a cigarette, defiant of normal expectations. And what a gripping piece of morbid psychopathology is Wagner's slip-sliding through the chemistry lab as he prepares a toxic.potion for his lady love. Maybe in the last analysis, Bud's problem lies with his mother. The fixation is certainly not normal, as she senses in putting off his request for a "date". Yet Bud's social climbing ambitions are made tellingly clear that they are for mom as well as for himself.
Unfortunately, the second half reverts to standard Hollywood convention, the suspense subsiding along with the first-rate mood music. Putting a pipe in the callow Jeffrey Hunter's mouth and making him a college professor amounts to a crippling miscalculation on someone's part. Hunter's simply not the type, nor does he have the gravitas to carry the plot forward. The end result is a hybrid of first-half brilliance and second-half mediocrity. Too bad. The ending is appropriate, however, as the monster truck bears down like the hand of pre-destination that Bud should have taken note of in that literature class. There is a point to Dory's unfortunate life, after all.
- dougdoepke
- Nov 30, 2007
- Permalink
If you're looking for an adaptation of the Ira Levin book--this isn't it. Also the book would be impossible to film. That aside this is OK murder mystery-thriller. I was lucky enough to see it letter-boxed on TCM--it looks great! However a film dealing with a psycho and murders he commits does NOT need a theme song! Acting is OK--not good, not bad, just OK. The cast is attractive, the film is beautiful to look at and it's an interesting diversion for 1 1/2 hours. So, an OK thriller--nothing really inventive or different about it. At all costs, AVOID the terrible 1991 remake! That one is a TOTAL waste of time!
I read Ira Levin's book when I was young, sometime in the 1960s, and loved it. It's very chilling, and I think as good as Rosemary's Baby. Better than the Stepford Wives and Boys from Brazil.
This film is a quite bizarre mixture of the chilling and the comical. Someone above has mentioned the scene where Bud and Dorie are having an intense conversation when suddenly a middle-aged woman in a completely see-through blouse with a great big bra underneath walks between them and halts the conversation; she has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, and when it happened I literally burst out laughing at the incongruousness of it. I also laughed at Jeffrey Hunter's ridiculous attempts to manipulate heavy Clark Kent spectacles and an unlit pipe in a vain attempt to appear mature.
The good points about the film are the plot, which is gripping even though it's been shortened markedly from the book, and some of the acting, particularly Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward -- and I also enjoyed George Macready as the father of Dorie and Ellen.
The fact is that I was consistently interested or amused or gripped by something or other for the whole of the film. You can't really ask for much more from a film.
This film is a quite bizarre mixture of the chilling and the comical. Someone above has mentioned the scene where Bud and Dorie are having an intense conversation when suddenly a middle-aged woman in a completely see-through blouse with a great big bra underneath walks between them and halts the conversation; she has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, and when it happened I literally burst out laughing at the incongruousness of it. I also laughed at Jeffrey Hunter's ridiculous attempts to manipulate heavy Clark Kent spectacles and an unlit pipe in a vain attempt to appear mature.
The good points about the film are the plot, which is gripping even though it's been shortened markedly from the book, and some of the acting, particularly Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward -- and I also enjoyed George Macready as the father of Dorie and Ellen.
The fact is that I was consistently interested or amused or gripped by something or other for the whole of the film. You can't really ask for much more from a film.
- lynpalmer1
- May 30, 2020
- Permalink
A scheming college guy, played by a youthful Robert Wagner, tries to marry into wealth. Complications result in murder. Because of the murder angle, and because the plot centers on Wagner's sly and cunning character, the film reminds me a little of "Dial M For Murder". But, to its credit, "A Kiss Before Dying" has a darker, more brooding, noir-like quality, helped along by a 50's music score that is jazzy and slightly mournful.
Wagner's acting, if not Oscar-worthy, is at least acceptable. But Jeffrey Hunter is miscast, and therefore not convincing, as the pipe-smoking professor/detective. And Joanne Woodward gives a clinging, and altogether too whiny, performance, as the damsel in distress. A couple of interesting, if somewhat implausible, plot twists add impact to the screenplay. The film's conclusion, however, is predictable and just a tad melodramatic.
Overall, "A Kiss Before Dying" comes across as a stylish, very 1950ish, wanna-be classic. It doesn't quite succeed, but is nonetheless worth watching at least once, especially for viewers who like dark, brooding, twist-laden thrillers.
Wagner's acting, if not Oscar-worthy, is at least acceptable. But Jeffrey Hunter is miscast, and therefore not convincing, as the pipe-smoking professor/detective. And Joanne Woodward gives a clinging, and altogether too whiny, performance, as the damsel in distress. A couple of interesting, if somewhat implausible, plot twists add impact to the screenplay. The film's conclusion, however, is predictable and just a tad melodramatic.
Overall, "A Kiss Before Dying" comes across as a stylish, very 1950ish, wanna-be classic. It doesn't quite succeed, but is nonetheless worth watching at least once, especially for viewers who like dark, brooding, twist-laden thrillers.
- Lechuguilla
- Dec 30, 2004
- Permalink
According to Alicia Malone, the beautiful and intelligent host at tcm, "A Kiss Before Dying" is considered by Joanne Woodward to be not only her worst picture but the worst picture ever made by Hollywood. Oh c'mon, Joanne, considering some of the turkeys that I have seen with you and your late husband, Paul Newman, you can't possibly be serious. Don't get me wrong. Everyone is entitled to a living, and it's nice work if you can get it. At any rate, considering that Dore is supposed to be a bit of a whining nebbish, Joanne plays the part quite well.
I couldn't help from comparing this story, originating from Ira Levin's novel, to that of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" which was adapted to the silver screen as "A Place in the Sun". While Levin's and Dreiser's stories both center on the very determined ambitions of two young men from very modest, if not impoverished, backgrounds, the big difference is that George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) in "Place in the Sun" does not deliberately kill the woman he impregnates. He only WANTS to kill her in the worst way and then does nothing to help her when she, herself, manages to overturn their rowboat on Loon Lake. This significantly distinguishes Eastman from Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner), who, to me, is far less sympathetic and far more depraved than George. The scenes at the closed marriage license offices in both films are also very similar.
The entire cast is excellent, and I would argue that this is among Mr. Wagner's best roles as an unlikely psychopathic murderer. Noteworthy is his brief scene with Mary Astor when he scolds her, his mother, for her wardrobe choice moments before he introduces her to his wealthy girlfriend's family. This one scene defines his character and gives us an important glimpse of at least some of the circumstances behind his motivation. Are the short haircuts of both Mom and Dore a mere coincidence, or is there much more lurking behind that similarity? Mary Astor, an outstanding actor, has always contributed greatly to all of the movies in which I have seen her, including "Act of Violence", "Dodsworth", and "The Maltese Falcon", only a few that immediately come to mind. George Macready, including his distinctively resonant voice, is another seasoned professional whose appearance is a very welcome bonus here. I thought that Virginia Lieth acts very decently, and she looks beautiful, so I don't know why I have never seen her in any other film.
The technicolor photography of cinematographer Lucien Ballard on location in and around Tucson, Arizona, including the campus of the University of Arizona, is exceptional. There is a noticeable crispness to it as it captures the unique architecture and natural surroundings of 1956 Tucson, days that only survive as they are archived by films such as this. Note the copper colored Thunderbird that Dore Kingship drives as well as the corded telephone and the swimming pool ladders of the same color. Someone had a barrel of fun making this picture.
As is the case with any film, there are some peculiar instances, including the reluctance of Dwight Powell at least to attempt to fight for his life. And where is the truck driver at the end? I expected him to appear immediately at the scene instead of hiding in his cab until the police arrive. And does Bud actually push Ellen out of the path of danger, as I believe he does? Also, if Bud's service during the Korean War is a factor behind his behavior, this should have been developed more as it should have but wasn't in the case of George Loomis (Joseph Cotton) in "Niagara", another favorite of mine from the same era.
I couldn't help from comparing this story, originating from Ira Levin's novel, to that of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" which was adapted to the silver screen as "A Place in the Sun". While Levin's and Dreiser's stories both center on the very determined ambitions of two young men from very modest, if not impoverished, backgrounds, the big difference is that George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) in "Place in the Sun" does not deliberately kill the woman he impregnates. He only WANTS to kill her in the worst way and then does nothing to help her when she, herself, manages to overturn their rowboat on Loon Lake. This significantly distinguishes Eastman from Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner), who, to me, is far less sympathetic and far more depraved than George. The scenes at the closed marriage license offices in both films are also very similar.
The entire cast is excellent, and I would argue that this is among Mr. Wagner's best roles as an unlikely psychopathic murderer. Noteworthy is his brief scene with Mary Astor when he scolds her, his mother, for her wardrobe choice moments before he introduces her to his wealthy girlfriend's family. This one scene defines his character and gives us an important glimpse of at least some of the circumstances behind his motivation. Are the short haircuts of both Mom and Dore a mere coincidence, or is there much more lurking behind that similarity? Mary Astor, an outstanding actor, has always contributed greatly to all of the movies in which I have seen her, including "Act of Violence", "Dodsworth", and "The Maltese Falcon", only a few that immediately come to mind. George Macready, including his distinctively resonant voice, is another seasoned professional whose appearance is a very welcome bonus here. I thought that Virginia Lieth acts very decently, and she looks beautiful, so I don't know why I have never seen her in any other film.
The technicolor photography of cinematographer Lucien Ballard on location in and around Tucson, Arizona, including the campus of the University of Arizona, is exceptional. There is a noticeable crispness to it as it captures the unique architecture and natural surroundings of 1956 Tucson, days that only survive as they are archived by films such as this. Note the copper colored Thunderbird that Dore Kingship drives as well as the corded telephone and the swimming pool ladders of the same color. Someone had a barrel of fun making this picture.
As is the case with any film, there are some peculiar instances, including the reluctance of Dwight Powell at least to attempt to fight for his life. And where is the truck driver at the end? I expected him to appear immediately at the scene instead of hiding in his cab until the police arrive. And does Bud actually push Ellen out of the path of danger, as I believe he does? Also, if Bud's service during the Korean War is a factor behind his behavior, this should have been developed more as it should have but wasn't in the case of George Loomis (Joseph Cotton) in "Niagara", another favorite of mine from the same era.
- frankwiener
- Oct 31, 2019
- Permalink
This Cinemascope Technicolor murder drama from 1955 is a great looking film with perfect 50s visuals to carry it well in 2008. In retrospect, I can see the source for both PEEPING TOM and PSYCHO both in 1960 offering the 'shocking' image of a square cut handsome young man as a cruel killer. Of course that idea alone is really a flip on MONSIEUR VERDOUX with Chaplin as the ageing dandy/ dapper killer and even the comedy ARSENIC AND OLD LACE again with the least suspecting type as killers. This version of KISS now-days is reflected in MR RIPLEY too. While it is not up the caliber of that film either, these films all form a group of murder mysteries depicting unassuming types revealed to be murderers. A KISS BEFORE DYING has the very handsome Robert Wagner and equally good looking Jeffrey Hunter pitched front and center for what must have been wild female audience reaction. One scene late in the film set in the desert features Wagner in the tightest jeans imaginable looking like a gay denim version of James Dean. It is all a bit silly in its storyline (university campus killer and rich girl family dramas) but visually it is a real 50s treat. Remade clumsily as a Matt Dillon thriller in 1991, this really is the better version completely because of the great looking cast (incl Joanne Woodward and Mary Astor) and the immensely enjoyable Cinemascope 50s set design and art direction.
Oh, how to resolve the age-old problem of accidentally getting your girlfriend preggers? Well, if you're a good-looking, psychopathic college boy, as portrayed by Robert Wagner in the 1956 thriller "A Kiss Before Dying," the answer is fairly simple: Just knock her off and hope for the best...and pray that her snoopy sister won't start nosing around! Anyway, that's the setup for what turns out to be in essence a poor man's "A Place in the Sun" (1951), but nevertheless a film that remains quite entertaining in its own right. Based on an Ira Levin novel, directed by cult favorite Gerd Oswald, and featuring beautiful, wide-screen color filming (shown to good advantage on the DVD that I just watched), the film certainly does impress. Joanne Woodward comes off very sympathetically here in her third film, and supporting players Mary Astor (a 50-year-old redhead in this picture), George Macready (less hissable than usual) and Jeffrey Hunter (who will ALWAYS be Capt. Pike to me!) are all very fine. But Wagner certainly does steal the show as the pretty-boy whacko. Storywise, I'd say that the plot is a wee bit on the far-fetched side, but never absurdly so, and that most viewers will easily foresee how Wagner will slip up in the end. Still, the film remains suspenseful throughout and concludes most satisfactorily. Strange that the "abortion" word is never brought up, though. Could Wagner's character be a pro-lifer who's into murder? He wouldn't be the first!
Young woman attempts to solve the mysterious death of her sister, which was ruled a suicide. Adaptation of Ira Levin's twisty, far-fetched pulp novel has the ingredients for a delicious Nancy Drew-styled mystery, but the picture's budget seems cramped and the acting is stiff and awkward. As for the sleuthing, it's mostly done off-screen, and the details we're privy to (such as the sister wearing something old-new-borrowed-and-blue when she died) are skimmed over second-hand. The focus is on Robert Wagner's sociopath, but we don't get much background information on him. Director Gerd Oswald sets up a long sequence in a college chemistry supply lab which goes no place, skirting major plot-issues and personality points in the meantime. Lawrence Roman's screenplay--which eliminates a third sister--rushes through Levin's carefully-mounted scenario until the movie's narrative becomes nothing more than a summary of the book. The small town college landscape is vividly captured, however, and Lucien Ballard's cinematography is handsome. Remade in 1991 with Sean Young--whom Virginia Leith (here playing Ellen) eerily resembles! ** from ****
- moonspinner55
- Jan 31, 2004
- Permalink
An evil young man resorts to murder in his efforts to get his hands on an heiress's fortune. Unluckily for him, the heiress's sister and a smart young college lecturer smell a rat ...
This is a sumptuous mid-50's all-American movie, set in a world of sorority houses, open-top cars and drug stores. The boys have shiny, well-oiled hair and the girls wear big skirts. Courting couples meet on the bleachers at the football field between classes.
Shot in cinemascope, the film's aspect ratio means that television (where I saw it) does it a disservice: all too often, dialogues are conducted between two noses at either extreme of the screen. The colour is 'de luxe', so the credits tell us, and indeed the look of the film is rich and bright.
The film is a standard thriller, based on an Ira Levin novel. It is well put together, and has a nice, slinky jazz score, including the theme song (playing on the juke box during one of Bud's dates with Dory).
The opening is impressive. The camera pans around a student's bedroom, neatly setting the scene for us. We hear (but do not see) a girl crying. Gradually, as the characters are revealed, we get the message - Dory has found out that she is pregnant by Bud. She has a wealthy father, but is prepared to forego comfort if the man she loves will marry her. Bud is much more interested in the family money.
Even though Bud is despicable, we find ourselves wanting his scheme to succeed, so cleverly are we drawn into his plan. He surreptitiously studies poisons in the university library, then by a cunning ploy gains access to the chemistry lab. He composes a note in Spanish, ostensibly a piece he needs to translate for his class, then gets Dory to write out the English for him. She doesn't realise it, but she is writing her own 'suicide note'. Gerd Oswald's direction is strong on body language throughout the movie, and we cannot help but see the significance when Dory (played by Joanne Woodward) goes to kiss Bud, and he flinches.
A very young Robert Wagner portrays Bud as a slick, incredibly handsome villain with no feelings. He feigns affection for women, but is capable of none. When he cajoles his mother (Mary Astor) into choosing a tie for him, he craftily changes it for a preferred one when her back is turned.
The director is adept at conveying information without words. When Bud looks at the municipal building and marvels at its height, we know straight away what he is planning. When he is on the roof, the tension is sustained commendably.
Victoria Leith plays Ellen, Dory's sister. In another fine 'body language' moment, we see her subtly shrugging off her father's attempt to comfort her. We gather from this that Ellen blames him for what happened to Dory.
The plot contains some elements which stretch our credulity. If the ending is contrived and highly improbable, at least the incremental steps by which doubt invades Ellen's awareness are cleverly done.
Is it a coincidence that Jeff Hunter (Gordon Grant) and Robert Wagner look so alike? Or are they meant to represent two facets of intelligence - one cold and selfish, the other beneficent and altruistic? In the scene just before the engagement party, they are even dressed identically.
Verdict - A cleverly-executed murder flick.
This is a sumptuous mid-50's all-American movie, set in a world of sorority houses, open-top cars and drug stores. The boys have shiny, well-oiled hair and the girls wear big skirts. Courting couples meet on the bleachers at the football field between classes.
Shot in cinemascope, the film's aspect ratio means that television (where I saw it) does it a disservice: all too often, dialogues are conducted between two noses at either extreme of the screen. The colour is 'de luxe', so the credits tell us, and indeed the look of the film is rich and bright.
The film is a standard thriller, based on an Ira Levin novel. It is well put together, and has a nice, slinky jazz score, including the theme song (playing on the juke box during one of Bud's dates with Dory).
The opening is impressive. The camera pans around a student's bedroom, neatly setting the scene for us. We hear (but do not see) a girl crying. Gradually, as the characters are revealed, we get the message - Dory has found out that she is pregnant by Bud. She has a wealthy father, but is prepared to forego comfort if the man she loves will marry her. Bud is much more interested in the family money.
Even though Bud is despicable, we find ourselves wanting his scheme to succeed, so cleverly are we drawn into his plan. He surreptitiously studies poisons in the university library, then by a cunning ploy gains access to the chemistry lab. He composes a note in Spanish, ostensibly a piece he needs to translate for his class, then gets Dory to write out the English for him. She doesn't realise it, but she is writing her own 'suicide note'. Gerd Oswald's direction is strong on body language throughout the movie, and we cannot help but see the significance when Dory (played by Joanne Woodward) goes to kiss Bud, and he flinches.
A very young Robert Wagner portrays Bud as a slick, incredibly handsome villain with no feelings. He feigns affection for women, but is capable of none. When he cajoles his mother (Mary Astor) into choosing a tie for him, he craftily changes it for a preferred one when her back is turned.
The director is adept at conveying information without words. When Bud looks at the municipal building and marvels at its height, we know straight away what he is planning. When he is on the roof, the tension is sustained commendably.
Victoria Leith plays Ellen, Dory's sister. In another fine 'body language' moment, we see her subtly shrugging off her father's attempt to comfort her. We gather from this that Ellen blames him for what happened to Dory.
The plot contains some elements which stretch our credulity. If the ending is contrived and highly improbable, at least the incremental steps by which doubt invades Ellen's awareness are cleverly done.
Is it a coincidence that Jeff Hunter (Gordon Grant) and Robert Wagner look so alike? Or are they meant to represent two facets of intelligence - one cold and selfish, the other beneficent and altruistic? In the scene just before the engagement party, they are even dressed identically.
Verdict - A cleverly-executed murder flick.
Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner) comforts his girlfriend Dorothy "Dory" Kingship (Joanne Woodward) who is utterly distraught after discovering her pregnancy. He's the gold digger and concerned only about her father's mining fortune. Her disinheritance is guaranteed and he is pushed to marry her. He plans to stage her suicide to get rid of both of his responsibilities. Dory has a sister in Ellen (Virginia Leith) and nobody in the family has ever met Bud.
It's an interesting noir story of the 50's. The Kingship family is the new wealth of the country while Bud represents the growing greed. He is the maniac pushed over the cliff. Robert Wagner has the leading man looks and he reminds me of Charlie Sheen if he turned fully to the dark side of Gordon Gekko. If there is a weakness in the movie, it's Ellen. She needs to be a younger sister rather than an older sister. She needs to be more innocent than Dory. That would elevate the danger and her innocence would allow better for his deception. Also, I don't see any great acting from Leith. The movie gets handed to her after the turn and she doesn't have the big screen power. She has a good look but she never took over. Overall, I love the story and the early execution is great. Wagner does really good work here.
It's an interesting noir story of the 50's. The Kingship family is the new wealth of the country while Bud represents the growing greed. He is the maniac pushed over the cliff. Robert Wagner has the leading man looks and he reminds me of Charlie Sheen if he turned fully to the dark side of Gordon Gekko. If there is a weakness in the movie, it's Ellen. She needs to be a younger sister rather than an older sister. She needs to be more innocent than Dory. That would elevate the danger and her innocence would allow better for his deception. Also, I don't see any great acting from Leith. The movie gets handed to her after the turn and she doesn't have the big screen power. She has a good look but she never took over. Overall, I love the story and the early execution is great. Wagner does really good work here.
- SnoopyStyle
- May 30, 2020
- Permalink
Well worth a watch if you like a good classic thriller. A little slow in places and unconvincing in some parts, but overall it is stylish and very watchable.
It kicks off on a taboo note for the time with pre-marital pregnancy, and the immorality goes down fast from there.
Another unusual element (for the time) is the sociopathy of the central character, played with chilling believability by Robert Wagner.
The cinematography is lush, but I found the music disconcerting. The jaunty theme tune and romantic strings when the killer is having his twisted way does not convey the underlying menace of the plot - is this some post-modern joke or was the director just tone deaf?
Overall, worth a watch, if you enjoy a good 1950s thriller.
It kicks off on a taboo note for the time with pre-marital pregnancy, and the immorality goes down fast from there.
Another unusual element (for the time) is the sociopathy of the central character, played with chilling believability by Robert Wagner.
The cinematography is lush, but I found the music disconcerting. The jaunty theme tune and romantic strings when the killer is having his twisted way does not convey the underlying menace of the plot - is this some post-modern joke or was the director just tone deaf?
Overall, worth a watch, if you enjoy a good 1950s thriller.
- philipjcowan-119-646602
- Nov 5, 2019
- Permalink
Push her off a building. Push her off a boat. Couldn't help thinking it, and neither could you.
Good movie, though.
Good movie, though.
- vandeman-scott
- Nov 7, 2020
- Permalink
- rome1-595-390251
- Aug 3, 2014
- Permalink
The Levin bestseller about a cold-blooded social climber becomes an ineffective film. This was the first film that Oswald directed and his inexperience (or lack of talent) shows in the melodramatic presentation and poor acting. With this film Wagner tried to branch out into meatier roles, but his wooden performance clearly shows his limitations as an actor. His acting is so unnatural that one can almost see him thinking before delivering his lines. Leith is even worse as the heiress he pursues. Faring better is Woodward, in only her second film, managing to make her whiny character sympathetic. Hunter also does OK as a police detective. The score is loud and distracting.
True, the story line is a bit noir for a Technicolor Cinemascope production, but when one realizes that Tucson was at the time a popular and inexpensive location for John Wayne films and the musical Oklahoma! also in glorious color under the blazing Arizona sun, it begins to make sense -- at least in terms of getting out of nearby California where the visible smog at the time was far greater than it is even today.
I saw several of the exterior scenes of this film being made, and wondered whether the final cut would amount to much of anything. Robert Wagner seemed very young for the part, and almost frighteningly thin in stature. Moreover, his acting ability had not yet developed to the extent of that displayed by his contemporary Joanne Woodward. But it was obvious to all that the production itself and the supporting cast were professional to the core.
Author Ira Levin was very popular at the time, something of the sort of writer one reads today in Robin Cook, Jonathan Kellerman, Stuart Woods, etc. In other words, not really a Raymond Chandler or even a Michael Connelly. That explains why so many recent viewers seem able to catch the adumbrations in the film early on. Potboilers lack the complexity of truly great detective fiction because the characters are stock heroes and heavys.
The view looking down from the top of the old 12-story Valley National Bank building (portrayed in the film as the city hall), even though insignificant by today's height standards, is just as scary as it was then. Many of the other locations like the resort portrayed as a grand estate have been transformed or have simply disappeared. And those really cool "rides" are now languishing in automobile museums.
I saw several of the exterior scenes of this film being made, and wondered whether the final cut would amount to much of anything. Robert Wagner seemed very young for the part, and almost frighteningly thin in stature. Moreover, his acting ability had not yet developed to the extent of that displayed by his contemporary Joanne Woodward. But it was obvious to all that the production itself and the supporting cast were professional to the core.
Author Ira Levin was very popular at the time, something of the sort of writer one reads today in Robin Cook, Jonathan Kellerman, Stuart Woods, etc. In other words, not really a Raymond Chandler or even a Michael Connelly. That explains why so many recent viewers seem able to catch the adumbrations in the film early on. Potboilers lack the complexity of truly great detective fiction because the characters are stock heroes and heavys.
The view looking down from the top of the old 12-story Valley National Bank building (portrayed in the film as the city hall), even though insignificant by today's height standards, is just as scary as it was then. Many of the other locations like the resort portrayed as a grand estate have been transformed or have simply disappeared. And those really cool "rides" are now languishing in automobile museums.
D: Gerd Oswald. Robert Wagner, Virginia Leith, Jeffrey Hunter, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready. Effective chiller with Wagner superb as psychopathic killer and Astor his devoted mother; well paced. Based on an Ira Levin novel. Remade in 1991. CinemaScope.
- robfollower
- May 30, 2020
- Permalink
- seymourblack-1
- Mar 15, 2009
- Permalink
- madmonkmcghee
- Apr 28, 2011
- Permalink