Naked Kiss Movie Review

The Naked Kiss is a genuinely schizophrenic film noir. Kelly (Constance Towers) is a sympathetic character, but capable of extreme violence. She makes a career change from hooker to nurse and wavers between two men, Officer Griff (Anthony Eisley) and a rich guy named Grant (Michael Dante). Griff knows about her, Grant doesn't. When she tells Grant about her career change, he kisses her and asks her to marry him. She likes the proposal, but not the kiss. When she discovers that Grant is a child molester, he tells her that they were made for each other. Turning tricks equals fondling kids? Kelly is enraged by his rationale and acts on it with a vengeance. The movie flips back and forth between hokey sequences of Kelly as a nurse, singing hokey songs with handicapped children, and surrealistic depictions of Kelly fighting with her pimp, fighting with a madam, and fighting with Grant. In spite of Griff's compassion towards her, Kelly doesn't belong in small-town America and she goes through Hell and Back before she accepts the fact. As always, Sam Fuller stirs the viewer's emotions at the visceral level. At times, he's such a cornball that you may actually find yourself blushing. A beat later, he'll shift to savagery, which makes The Naked Kiss the edgiest of viewing experiences. Cast Note: Virginia Grey (Candy) played Little Eva in 1927's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Betty Bronson (Miss Josephine) played the title role in 1924's Peter Pan. AKA:The Iron Kiss.

1964 92m/B Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, Virginia Grey, Patsy Kelly, Betty Bronson, Edy Williams, Marie Devereaux, Karen Conrad, Linda Francis, Barbara Perry, Walter Matthews, Betty Robinson; D: Samuel Fuller; W: Samuel Fuller; C: Stanley Cortez; M: Paul Dunlap. VHS, LV, Letterbox, DVD