The Naked Kiss

Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, The Naked Kiss is the story of a prostitute who hopes to start a new life in suburbia as she falls for a revered man only to realize not everything in this small town is what it seems. The film is presented in a film-noir style that explores a woman trying to create a new life only for her past to finally catch up with her in a terrifying moment. Starring Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, and Virginia Grey. The Naked Kiss is a captivating yet mesmerizing film from Samuel Fuller.

After a life as a prostitute in the city, a woman named Kelly (Constance Towers) arrives at the quaint, small town of Grantville in hopes to start a new life. There, she meets the town’s local sheriff Griff (Anthony Eisley) who learns about her past as he suggests to get her to the next town to work at a seedy cat-house run by a woman named Candy (Virginia Grey). Kelly instead decides to rent a room at the home of a seamstress while taking a job as a nurse helping handicapped kids at a local hospital. Her work as a nurse has made her welcome by the locals as she attends a party at the home of J.L. Grant (Michael Dante) who is a scion of the town’s founding family. The two begin a relationship as everything seem to go well for Kelly.

Yet, when she learns that a nurse named Dusty (Karen Conrad) is thinking about aborting her baby while a young woman named Buff (Marie Devereux) was paid $25 to work at the local cat-house. Kelly decides to confront Candy in hopes that nothing bad happens to Buff. When Grant proposes to Kelly, Kelly accepts as Griff reluctantly decides to become Grant’s best man. When Kelly returns to Grant’s home, she learns something shocking that changes everything as she finds herself in big trouble. Even as her past finally catches up to her where she faces the possibility of being condemned by the town.

The film is essentially the story of a woman trying to start a new life in a small town as she deals with a sheriff who knows about her past as she eventually gets herself into some trouble. During her time in this small town, she would make a discovery that would not only change everything but also have her face her past as well as those she confronted in an act of discrediting her. It is a film that explores the world of suburbia where things seem great on the surface but there’s a darkness that surrounds it where people know something but don’t want to say anything. Nearby is a cat-house where people do things that are immoral and for this outsider who was once a prostitute, it’s a place that she despises and only goes there to confront its owner after trying to get a young woman to become a prostitute.

Samuel Fuller’s screenplay is definitely engaging for the way he showcases a woman trying to reinvent herself as someone who is yearning for redemption for her dark past. The film opens with Kelly fighting her pimp and knocking him out to get what she’s owed and later leaves his apartment. Two years later, the film’s narrative begins where Kelly arrives in Grantville as she definitely seems a bit out of place as she is new but immediately starts to find her way to fit in. She is someone who is just trying to create something that is of her own where she is embraced by some locals including a few nurses who realize how good she is with children. Then there’s Griff who is a sheriff that had seen people come and go where he is suspicious about Kelly’s intentions. They have a brief tryst but it only maintains Griff’s suspicion about Kelly as she starts to go into a relationship with his friend Grant. Grant seems like a very nice guy that’s been around the world and offers Kelly something that is very different. Yet, there’s something about Grant that would shock Kelly as well as his idea of abnormality.

Fuller’s direction is very stylized from the opening scene where Kelly is fighting her pimp in an immediate moment where she’s attacking the camera. It’s to establish what kind of woman Kelly is as she is a woman who seems to despise her profession as she then walks out. The film then cuts to a quaint, small town that is beautiful and full of life as she steps out of the bus. Fuller’s direction is quite straightforward in the way he presents this small town while utilizing stylish noir shots in some interior scenes to create an element of drama. Notably the scenes between Kelly and Griff as there is a sense of darkness that is to occur where Griff doesn’t trust Kelly at all and Kelly knows that Griff doesn’t trust him.

Fuller’s direction also has a very playful side to it in the way Kelly interacts with children at the hospital as she is proven to be a very lovely person that really brings out the best in them. It’s Fuller just letting things loose to establish the kind of person that Kelly is trying to be yet something becomes off later on. Notably in the song that Kelly sings with the children where it’s played again in a very crucial moment that would really change the tone of the film altogether. The film then becomes a more traditional noir film where Kelly is definitely on her own and the only person that has to decide her fate is Griff. The obstacles become more troubling as there’s a certainty that Kelly will never be innocent but the results do become surprising. Particularly in its ending where Kelly sees the town for what it really is where her actions definitely changes things to point where this town will never be the same. In the end, Fuller creates a majestic yet intriguing film about reinvention and a woman’s desire to find redemption.

Cinematographer Stanley Cortez does brilliant work with the black-and-white photography from the amazingly gorgeous look of many of the film‘s daytime exteriors to the more stylized lighting schemes in the nighttime interior scenes to set a mood for the film. Editor Jerome Thoms does superb work with the editing to create some rhythmic cutting styles to play out the drama as well as some of the film‘s suspenseful moments. Art director Eugene Lourie and set decorator Victor A. Gangelin do wonderful work with the sets such as Grant’s home as well as the hospital hall where the kids play.

Costume designer Einhar H. Bourman does terrific work with the costumes in the dresses that Kelly wears to display her personality along with the more lavish clothes that Candy‘s barmaids wear. Sound effects editor Leonard Corso does nice work with the sound to create some effective mixes in some of the intimate moments including the film‘s crucial scene where Kelly makes a shocking discovery. The music by Paul Dunlap is excellent for its noir-inspired score with a bit of saxophone and orchestral arrangements to play up the drama that occurs in the film. Even as the soundtrack features a mix of jazz and classical music as the latter features piano sonatas and pieces by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

The film’s ensemble cast is amazing as it features some noteworthy performances from Patsy Kelly as the head nurse, Karen Conrad as the young nurse Dusty, and Marie Devereux as the young woman Buff who is struggling to find work. Virginia Grey is superb as the devious Candy who tries to make money by exploiting woman while doing whatever she can to bring down Kelly. Michael Dante is wonderful as the charming Grant who falls for Kelly and wants to give her a good life only to be revealed as someone who isn’t what he seems to be. Anthony Eisley is terrific as the no-nonsense sheriff Griff who deals with Kelly’s presence in town as he wonders if she’s really being honorable as he’s forced to face some truths about himself and the town.

Finally, there’s Constance Towers in a radiant performance as Kelly where she’s a woman seeking to get a fresh start in life while dealing with her dark past. Towers also brings an intensity to her role where she would prove to be a very tough woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone. It’s truly Towers at her finest as she definitely creates a performance for the ages.

The Naked Kiss is a marvelous film from Samuel Fuller that features an incredible performance from Constance Towers. The film is definitely an intriguing look into the world of small town hypocrisy and its exploration into the theme of redemption from the perspective of a former prostitute. The film is also a provocative look into several taboos that isn’t touched upon during the early 60s where Fuller definitely raises a lot of questions about what is occurred in the film. In the end, The Naked Kiss is a dark yet exhilarating film from Samuel Fuller.

Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill‘s Marauders - Shock Corridor - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)

© thevoid99 2012

Shock Corridor

Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, Shock Corridor is the story of a journalist who enters a mental hospital in hopes to get a story about an unsolved murder. The film is an exploration into a man’s desire to become great only to succumb to madness during his stay at a mental hospital. Starring Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, and James Best. Shock Corridor is an intense yet harrowing film from Samuel Fuller.

A journalist named Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) wants to report an unsolved murder at a mental hospital in which he hopes the story would give him the Pulitzer Prize. While his editor Swanson (Bill Zuckert) is reluctant to let Barrett do this, he gives Barrett the go-ahead claiming that Barrett is having an incestuous relationship with his sister. Barrett’s girlfriend Cathy (Constance Towers) reluctantly has him committed by pretending to be his sister as Barrett goes on the search to find out who killed a man named Sloan. Trying to befriend three witnesses in Stuart (James Best), an African-American named Trent (Hari Rhodes), and a former doctor named Boden (Gene Evans). Barrett tries to get answers but as his time at the hospital increases, he starts to fall apart as the voices in his head along with images start to take its toll. Though he eventually finds out the truth, the big question for everyone close to him is at what cost.

What happens when a man is willing to go way into deep to get what he wants just for the sake of a prize? That is the premise of a film that explore a man’s desire to gain greatness only at the expense of himself as he would start to crumble emotionally and mentally. Even as his girlfriend begins to worry as she is the one who is completely against this stunt where she is forced to play along as she would also fall apart. Once the story progresses as the man befriends three very different witnesses, his search for the mystery of who killed a man named Sloan starts to get more difficult as he would have to endure all sorts of things including shock treatment.

Samuel Fuller’s screenplay doesn’t have a lot of plot but does manage to showcase a sense of realism of what goes on in a mental hospital. Particularly as it is shown from a man who enters a world that is very unique to him and has no idea what’s in store for him. He would encounters characters who definitely seem to have lost some aspect of reality yet are able to live in a world that can contain them. For Johnny Barrett, he is this outsider that finds himself being surrounded by these strange characters as he eventually starts to become more and more insane where he would eventually make everyone else around seem a bit more normal. Particularly as Fuller is suggesting that what’s in the hospital is really a reflection of what is happening at the world as there’s lots of things that is happening that mirrors what is going on during the early 1960s.

Fuller’s direction is truly mesmerizing for the way he explores the world of the mental hospital as if he portrays it in a noir-like tone. While Fuller maintains something has an air of realism, he also creates something is very surreal such as a dream sequence where Johnny dreams about Cathy as she’s dancing seductively as if she’s going to cheat on him. Fuller’s sense of framing of the way he shoots the hallway showcases a world where only Johnny is seemingly out of step with everyone else. Particularly as Fuller uses a lot of voiceover narration to explain everything Johnny is thinking about where it starts to get emotional as if Johnny is starting to lose a semblance of his sanity. Through the three witnesses he talks to, there’s always something that gets him closer to what he can get yet they revert back to their insane selves.

By the time it reaches third act, Johnny struggles to speak out as his voiceover does all of the talking. In a moment where Cathy visits him as she tries to kiss him, he starts to lose control as if she’s the insane one. Fuller would create more chilling scenes with the lighting set-ups and strange inserts of colored images, that were shot by Fuller, to establish the surrealism the characters are thinking about. The framing would have more hypnotic moments to help further Johnny’s insanity as it includes a truly unforgettable scene that plays to his descent. Overall, Fuller creates a truly terrifying yet evocative film that explores the world of ambition and madness.

Cinematographer Stanley Cortez does amazing work with the black-and-white photography to maintain an air of a noir in its look with its shadows and some nighttime interior settings to help maintain a dark mood for the film. Editor Jerome Thoms does excellent work with the editing to create an array of rhythmic cuttings to play out Johnny‘s emotion during his descent to madness as well as more slower cuts in the conversation scenes. Art director Eugene Lourie and set decorator Charles S. Thompson do wonderful work with the look of the mental hospital including the room where the nymphomaniacs stay in that is filled with strange drawings.

Costumer Einhar H. Bourman does nice work with the costumes such as the clothes that Cathy wears including the one she wears for her striptease shows. Choreographer John Gregory does terrific work with the choreography of Cathy‘s striptease to play out the kind of seduction that Johnny sees in his head. The sound effects of Gordon Zahler is superb for the atmosphere it creates in some of the more chilling scenes such as the moments in the dance hall and at the kitchen. The music by Paul Dunlap is great for its sense of bombast and orchestral swell to play out the intensity of the drama that occurs throughout the film.

The film’s ensemble cast is brilliant as it features some notable small roles from Philip Ahn as the doctor who interviews Johnny to prepare him for his plan, Bill Zuckert as Johnny’s editor, John Matthews as the doctor in the hospital, and Chuck Roberson as the orderly Wilkes. Hari Rhodes is great as the African-American patient Trent who believes he’s a white man and a member of the Ku Klux Klan while James Best is terrific as Stuart who believes he’s a member of the Confederate army. Gene Evans is amazing in a low-key yet charismatic role as a former scientist turned artist named Boden who has the mind of a child but the art skills of an adult. Constance Towers is wonderful as Johnny’s girlfriend Cathy who deals with what Johnny is going through as she believes that he’s losing a grip of reality. Finally, there’s Peter Breck in a mesmerizing yet eerie performance as Johnny Barrett as he plays a man bent on ambition only to succumb to craziness through his voiceovers as he starts to go out of control in all aspects as it’s really a performance full of terror.

Shock Corridor is an incredible film from Samuel Fuller that features top-notch performances from Peter Breck and Constance Towers. The film is truly one of Fuller’s great works for the way it explores odd worlds that seems much more realistic than the real world as well as the fallacy of ambition. It’s also a film that showcases a man’s descent into madness in gripping detail that is filled with images that are truly startling. In the end, Shock Corridor is a triumphant film from Samuel Fuller.

Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill‘s Marauders - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)

© thevoid99 2012