JohnHowardReid Wonderful! One of Lugosi's best films, but not oddly enough because of either his presence or his performance. True, he handles his role capably and exudes a fair amount of charisma, but his part is not all that large and most of his thunder is stolen by other players, particularly Alexander Carr as the penny-pinching, would-be Romeo of a studio head, Harold Minjir as his put-upon yet uppity assistant, John Wray as an argumentative detective, and last, but by no means last, David Manners as a charmingly resourceful buttinsky who is only too happy to help our siren of a heroine, Adrienne Ames, avert any and all pitfalls. For a while there it looks like even Jimmy Donlin is going to garner more attention than Bela, but his role fades away as the film progresses.Mind you, for silent movie fans, The Death Kiss is something of a windfall. Barbara Bedford, our lovely heroine of Tumbleweeds and The Notorious Lady, can be spotted early on as a script girl (she has no dialog, alas), while her director, King Baggot, has a sizable scene as a helpful electrician. Frank O'Connor, the director of Devil's Island and The Block Signal, can be spotted in a number of sequences as a uniformed policeman, while Neely Edwards who had an extensive silent career (over 140 films) enjoys a key scene with David Manners. Atmospherically directed in an admirably fluid style by Edwin L. Marin (in his directorial debut), The Death Kiss emerges as a fascinatingly true-to-life, ingeniously suspenseful murder mystery. Not the least of its attractions, of course, are the many behind-the-scenes glimpses of long-vanished Tiffany Studios. (I always thought it was a hole-in-the-wall outfit. I was dead wrong. It's huge!)

utgard14 Pre-code mystery about a murder on a film set. Historically interesting for film buffs as this was produced by the largely forgotten Tiffany Pictures and filmed at their studio. Good cast includes a reunion of three Dracula stars: Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan, and David Manners. Somewhat surprisingly, Manners has the biggest part of the three. All three are enjoyable but I think this is the best role I've seen Manners in. He's more relaxed in his line delivery and less stagy than usual. He shows more personality in this movie than all his more famous Universal movies combined. Lugosi playing a "normal" character is a change. Van Sloan is great as always. Nice camera-work for the period. Other reviewers have called it slow but I thought it was well-paced. It's essentially a drawing room mystery without the drawing room. When you've seen enough of a certain kind of film from a certain period, finding one that's different in any way is a big plus. This is a solid '30s murder mystery that should have some added appeal for fans of Dracula or Universal horror in general.

Rainey Dawn Myles Brent is actually killed on the set while filming "The Death Kiss". Almost everyone is suspected but Marcia Lane is arrested for the murder. Franklyn Drew will do what he can to prove Marcia innocent of murder but can he find out who the real murderer is? This is one of the better crime-mysteries I've seen from the 1930s. It has atmosphere, a good cast, interesting story, and really fun to guess "whodunit" while following the film. The movie is actually better than I was guessing it would be.This movie would be great to watch with another Lugosi crime-mystery The Whispering Shadow (1933) for a double dose of Lugosi.8/10

mark.waltz In a screenplay that seems like it was written by a soundstage technician, this boring mystery drags even in a short running time. The victim is a movie actor, and of course, everybody on the set and at the studio becomes a suspect. They include his leading lady/ex-wife (Adrienne Ames) and the studio chief (Bela Lugosi!). David Manners, the handsome hero of several 30's horror classics and women's films, seems miscast as the script writer who becomes involved in the investigation. While the clues he discovers are described in great detail, some of the terms used can only be understood by those "inside the know-how" of how movies made in 1933, with the possible exception of "action!" and "cut!". Adrienne Ames, a Joan Crawford look-alike, has nothing to do but look attractive and slightly suspicious (but mostly just acts stunned), and while Lugosi is authoritative, his legend defines him too much. Not aiding in his performance is his heavy accent which type-casts him, if not as a boogie man, then as a heavy. Either way, he is wasted in this part. Slow pacing makes the convoluted story even more tedious, even if the behind the scenes filming of the film within the film is pretty impressive.