A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
Marian Carr
- Friday
- (as Marion Carr)
Mady Comfort
- Nightclub Singer
- (as Madi Comfort)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Kefauver Commission, a federal unit dedicated to investigating corrupting influences in the 1950s, singled this out as 1955's number one menace to American youth. Because of this, Robert Aldrich felt compelled to conduct a writing campaign for the free speech rights of independent filmmakers.
- GoofsAt the beginning, Christina (Cloris Leachman) is shown running at the side of the highway, but the shots of only her feet show her running along the painted center line of the highway.
- Quotes
Mike Hammer: You're never around when I need you.
Velda: You never need me when I'm around.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits scroll down instead of the usual up, resulting in needing to read them bottom to top.
- Alternate versionsUntil 1997, all known copies in circulation of "Kiss Me Deadly" ended rather abruptly: the wounded Mike Hammer stumbling through the beach house looking for his partner Velda, and then there's a couple of brief shots of the house exploding and burning, with "The End" superimposed on the final shot. The music is cut off instead of fading out, and the screen turns black; it looks like Mike and Velda died in the blaze.
- ConnectionsEdited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)
- SoundtracksRather Have the Blues
Sung by Nat 'King' Cole
Written by Frank De Vol (uncredited)
[Played on the car radio during the opening title card and credits]
Featured review
The quest for the great whatsit
First-rate Mickey Spillane adaptation, easily the best film version of any of his novels that I've seen. Private eye Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) investigates the reasons behind the death of a hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman in her film debut). It's a gritty, tough, violent noir with some good dialogue and morally grey (at best) characters. Meeker's the perfect Hammer. Albert Dekker has a small but important part. The rest of the cast is good except for Nick Dennis, who goes full Eli Wallach in his role as Hammer's mechanic friend. Robert Aldrich directs with style. The ending is pretty cool, but it's definitely one of those "love it or hate it" things. It's certainly memorable, which I think most of us can agree is part of what makes any film great.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mickey Spillane's Kiss Me Deadly
- Filming locations
- Clay Street, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(Mike parks his Corvette and takes the back steps up to the Hillcrest Hotel)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $410,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $726,000
- Gross worldwide
- $952,000
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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