NFR Project: 'Kiss Me Deadly' (1955)

 

NFR Project: “Kiss Me Deadly”

Dir: Robert Aldrich

Scr: A.I. Bezzerides

Pho: Ernest Laszlo

Ed: Michael Luciano

Premiere: May 18, 1955

106 min.

What in the hell is going on here? It’s a two-fisted, nihilistic film noir with plenty of action and not a lot of common sense. But it doesn’t matter, we’re having too much fun.

It’s based lightly on Mickey Spillane’s 1952 popular pulp novel. Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) is a bullyboy and a sleazy, salacious detective (he pimps his loving girlfriend Velda – and himself -- out for divorce cases). One night he encounters, running down the highway, a weeping, distracted girl in a trench coat and nothing else (Cloris Leachman’s film debut). She jumps into his sports car and off they go to the sound of Nat ‘King’ Cole.

She refuses to tell him what the problem is, and commences philosophizing. Bad guys jump upon them; the girl is tortured to death while Hammer lays by, helpless. Then he and the girl’s body are jammed into his car and pushed off a cliff and set aflame. And that’s just the first ten minutes.

Naturally, Mike is pissed. Once he recovers, he begins his search for the girl’s murderers. This leads him on the trail of various gangsters, and a femme fatale Lily (Gaby Rodgers). The trouble seems to be about a box of some kind, containing something dangerous and unearthly.

Mike gets to beat a lot of people up, which he enjoys. Velda is in danger, Mike goes to save her. There are character actors galore here: Strother Martin! Jack Elam! Even in inimitable Percy Helton in perhaps his greatest role as an evil coroner. Interestingly, though Hammer is supposed to be a working-class detective, many of the clues in the film are triggered by or near classical music, poetry, and art. Hammer is out of his element, so much so that he can’t foresee nuclear annihilation when it’s in his hot little hands.

The femme fatale Lily turns out to be someone else entirely. She shoots her co-conspirator, and then he shoots Mike. And she’s just got to open that box . . .

Spoiler Alert: I had watched the old, shorter ending of this film for 30 years – in which the last thing we see is the beach house exploding. This time out, I snagged a copy of the ORIGINAL ending. In it, Hammer and Velda escape the burning beach house. Hammer, though gutshot, stands in the surf clinging to Velda as they watch the place burn down. They survive! This certainly puts a new spin on the whole project. What was deemed to be a nihilistic statement about mankind was really a bad edit. It’s considerably more upbeat than before.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Marty.

NFR Project: 'Jailhouse Rock' (1957)

 

NFR Project: “Jailhouse Rock”

Dir: Richard Thorpe

Scr: Guy Trosper

Pho: Robert J. Bronner

Ed: Ralph E. Winters

Premiere: Nov. 8, 1957

96 min.

I was flabbergasted! Somebody taught Elvis how to act! (Not really.)

Singing star Elvis Presley was only 22 when this film was made; it was his third film and probably his best, which is not saying much. The idea of his going into movies to exploit his spectacular fame was his manager Col. Tom Parker’s. Elvis wanted to win an Oscar for acting, however, his 31 films were largely the same: musical rom-coms that painted the King as a loveable, ambitious young tough guy who rises to fame on the strength of his talent. The same basic story was repeated ad infinitum.

Elvis WAS an amazing singer, well-versed in blues and gospel and translating that soulful energy into his performances. He pretty much invented rockabilly, blending blues and country into a vital new genre of music. He was the first white artist to sing as a Black artist might; the combination of his looks, his divine voice, and his raw power made him a superstar overnight. Women wanted him, men wanted to be him.

Immediately, the powers that be moved to exploit him. He changed from a rebel into an establishment crooner (he is said to have taken as much inspiration from the style of Dean Martin as from Black singers). He made three films a year from 1964 to 1969, glutting the market with his product until he burned out and tried to return to his rock roots, winding up as a garish Las Vegas attraction.

Elvis was our enchanted singer, our Orpheus. And, like Orpheus, he was destroyed by the Maenads of excess and indulgence. His life became the archetype of the story of too much, too soon. His death at the age of 42 was tragic, but avoidable.

But this film shows us the young, unspoiled artist at his peak, a year before he was drafted into the Army. Elvis’ insolent and sullen persona makes him an unlikely protagonist. Here he’s Vince, a construction worker who’s a nice guy. When a man harasses a woman in a bar, Vince beats him to death.

Vince goes to jail for manslaughter. There he meets Hunk (Mickey Shaughnessy), who is basically king of the cellblock. He takes Vince under his wing and teaches him how to play the guitar. When an opportunity comes for a concert to be broadcast on TV from prison (?), Vince makes a huge impression and receives tons of fan mail, which the warden thoughtfully keeps from him.

Vince gets out and begins a dizzyingly rapid rise to fame and fortune, egged on by Peggy (Judy Tyler), a music promoter who believes in him and comes to love him. Vince’s head is turned by his sudden fame and he becomes an arrogant jerk. As a result, Hunk punches him in the throat. His future is endangered for a time, but he recovers his voice, and Peggy, in time for the fadeout.

The entire project is a vehicle for pushing the Elvis myth. He sings a few songs (four of them written by Leiber and Stoller), either gyrating and rocking out as in the title number, or crooning something slower soulfully. In terms of acting, he can barely cross a room competently, much less show any emotion save petulance.

We are flogged into buying the idea of him as an extraordinary person – tough, working-class, but possessed of a heart. This attempt is unsuccessful. The movie Elvis is devoid of humor, friendliness, and charm. Nothing the filmmakers attempt here can overcome his basic unsuitability for film. A depressing entry.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Kiss Me Deadly.

NFR Project: 'East of Eden' (1955)

 

NFR Project: “East of Eden”

Dir: Elia Kazan

Scr: Paul Osborn

Pho: Ted D. McCord

Ed: Owen Marks

Premiere: March 9, 1955

117 min.

An interesting choice. This prestige picture is adapted from the final fourth of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel of the same name. It takes place in the run-up to World War I in the sleepy farming town of Salinas, California (where Steinbeck grew up). There, two brothers, Caleb (James Dean) and Aron (Richard Davalos) vie for the approval of their father, rancher and farmer Adam (Raymond Massey).

Aron is well-behaved and focused; Caleb is rowdy and inclined to make poor choices. Adam, a strict and virtuous man, prefers Aron to Caleb (mirroring the Bible story of Cain and Abel). Caleb, or Cal, finds out that his mother, Kate (Jo van Fleet) who he was told by Adam was dead, is really a high-powered madam in the nearby town of Monterey. He confronts her, and she declares that he is like her.

He borrows $5,000 from her to grow and corner the market on beans, which are needed for the war effort. Meanwhile, he and his brother's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) grow close. Although he is the wild and undisciplined brother, Cal yearns to do right. He takes the money he makes from the bean venture and presents it to his father, who rejects it.

Angrily, Cal grabs his brother and takes him to see Kate. The revelation that his mother is alive and a prostitute undoes Aron, who impulsively joins the army and leaves town. Adam has a stroke. Cal considers leaving, but stays to tend to his father.

Elia Kazan directed effectively if not flashily; the script is adequate. The performances are competent; Dean earned a posthumous Oscar nomination for his performance and Jo van Fleet won for her portrayal of Kate. Despite its reputation, the film is interesting without being compelling. Dean was an interesting actor, but he still had a lot to learn when he died prematurely in an accident at age 24.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Jailhouse Rock.