treywillwest A striking cross between gritty Noir and colorful-if-sad '50s family melodrama, this is a unique and, I think, rather complex Hollywood movie. The sociopathic anti-hero (protagonist-villain?) seems to be a wholesome stud-muffin who wants the American dream: financial independence, indeed wealth. A dark variation on the Rebel Without a Cause, he is fatherless and the Oedipal tension with his mother is not subtle. Indeed, the first of his girlfriends that we meet has a striking similarity to Mom. His chosen path to affluence is to marry into money, and each time the rich chicks he dates do something that alienates their wealthy families, like getting pregnant out of wedlock, he kills them in retaliation. His murders are not a way to procure wealth but a way to free himself from romantic obligations that will not bring wealth. Thus, his criminal actions can be seen as a result of social prohibitions on divorce and abortion, at least as much as of misogyny. The killer is then simultaneously a patriarchal abuser and a rebel against patriarchal morality. The killer is brought down by a group of conspirators working with one of the victim's viciously patriarchal, capitalist father. He dies in a subterranean excavation in the dessert and his crimes, and the embarrassment to a "proper family" that would come with their revelation, are buried with him. The ending is "happy" exactly because all the horror of American society remains hidden behind the face of patriarchal "normalcy."

mtckoch A Kiss Before Dying, what can I say? Even the title is creepy and suggestive. In this classic 1956 thriller, we learn just how far a greedy, smooth-talking pretty-boy will go to get what he wants. When Bud Corliss, Korean War veteran and college man, learns his lover, Dorie Kingship is expected a child out of wedlock by him, a fatal series of schemes, lies, and murders is set in motion. Why? Because Bud is simply charming sweet, but all-too trusting Dorie in order to get ahead in her father's lucrative copper business by marrying her. Since this happens in the mid-fifties, her pregnancy means the end to his dreams of wealth and prestige. Dorie's cold, strict father would throw them both on their ears. So in order to save his reputation and future, Bud decides to kill Dorie and make it seem like suicide based on shame and guilt over the pregnancy. His plan is clever, simple, and goes perfectly, or so he thinks. He shoves Dorie off the roof of a high building and calmly walks away. However, her sister Ellen has suspicions, and plays amateur detective, indirectly prompting Bud to fake another suicide to silence a witness. Tension builds to a breaking point you'll be shocked by. Is it dated? Yes. Corny? At times. Melodramatic? You had better believe it. But is it worth watching? Extremely. Robert Wagner gives a chilling portrayal of a truly evil young man, and Virginia Leith shines as the relentless bringer of justice for her tragic sister. This is a "Kiss" that will take your breath away.

bandw Robert Wagner plays Bud Corliss, a pathologically ambitious young college student at "Stoddard U." Bud is twenty-five years old, living at home with his mother. From a newspaper article mounted in a picture frame in his room, shell casings on his desk, and a reference to his being wounded, it is implied that Corliss is a decorated Korean War veteran. It was never clear to me what significance this war hero business had, unless a reason had to be given for Wagner's being a little old to be a college student. I don't see it going to motivation. Corliss sees a path to riches by taking up with Dorothy (Joanne Woodward), the daughter of a rich copper mine owner, but his intentions are thwarted by an unwanted pregnancy that he knows Dorothy's father will not accept. Not to be deterred, Corliss will do anything to achieve his goal, yes even murder.With many recent movies setting their stories in the 1950s ("Far from Heaven," "Pleasantville," "Revolutionary Road," and so forth) it is refreshing to see the real thing. Instead of wondering where they got that pristine 1955 Ford Thunderbird, or all of the other old cars, you know that they are for real. This was filmed in and around Tucson, Arizona and that, together with the clothing (did men really wear coats and ties to their classes in the 50s?) and hair styles, makes for an authentic feeling. The production in color CinemaScope is lush, although the color balance on the DVD I watched shifted on occasion.All of the things this had going for it, including having the two attractive young stars on board, should have amounted to something special, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. I know that love can blind you, but Dorothy is so naive as to be unbelievable. Wagner plays Corliss as quite emotionless, which I suppose is in keeping with his character, but he never creates any sense of menace that I think is necessary to involve us in such a story (consider Anthony Perkins in "Psycho"). The music tries to compensate for Wagner's lack of menace with its ominous fulminations, but it came across as overly intrusive to me. I could never get beyond the feeling that the actors were acting.We are in Hitchcock territory here and I think that under his direction this might have been memorable movie rather than the modest entertainment it is.

bkoganbing 1956 marks the year Robert Wagner went over to the dark side. In The Mountain he plays Spencer Tracy's spoiled younger brother and in A Kiss Before Dying, Wagner is a charming, but quite ruthless young man looking to better himself through bedroom skills.In fact impregnating Joanne Woodward might have done the trick in many cases. Normally they'd have gotten married and a reluctant father would have been happy just to protect his daughter's good name. However in Joanne's case and in her sister Virginia Leith's case, their father is puritanical George MacReady who long ago tossed their mom on the street because of an ancient indiscretion. Joanne knows full well that this could be her fate. Wagner knows if he's exposed as the dirty dog who knocked her up, MacReady will give him problems too.So to extricate himself Wagner plans a quite deliberate murder of Woodward. When it happens Leith isn't convinced its suicide even with a cryptic note. But young police detective Jeffrey Hunter likes her anyway. The story begins when Leith begins her own investigation and Wagner starts courting Leith.Robert Wagner shows his acting chops in this film. He was like that other contract player at 20th Century Fox Tyrone Power who kept pressing for roles to show what he could do as well. Both of course eventually got them. Joanne Woodward is a year away from her career breakthrough in The Three Faces Of Eve and she's sweet and tender as the naive kid in the clutches of a ruthless charmer. And George MacReady can be as evil as a puritan as well as the most diabolical of villains in which he's usually cast.A Kiss Before Dying is not a bad film, but with someone like an Alfred Hitchcock directing it would have been great. As it is, it's entertaining, but falls short of being a classic.