About the Event
Kiss Me Deadly
Directed by Robert Aldrich
(US, 1955, 106 min.)
Friday September 9 | 7:00pm
Murfee Worsham Screening
A beautiful picture of a world in flames, Robert Aldrich’s film of Mickey Spillane’s bestseller takes tough guy detective Mike Hammer (played to great effect by Ralph Meeker) and shows him for what he is, a brute and a cynic. Filmed in the hillside neighborhood of Bunker Hill, the film depicts Hammer’s world of fast cars and women of equal speed. Also starring Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers, and Albert Dekker.
Novelist A.I. “Buzz” Bezzerides wrote the screenplay: “I wrote it fast because I had contempt for it. It was automatic writing. Things were in the air at the time, and I put them in.”
“The first time I saw “Kiss Me Deadly” – alone, at night, on videocassette – it gave me nightmares. It’s not a horror movie by any means, but like a good horror movie it has images and tiny loose ends that make sense on a subconscious level. At times, you laugh. At other times it’s as though a card were about to turn over in your unconscious. You feel that any second you might understand the full meaning of “Kiss Me Deadly,” and the prospect is a little scary” – Mick LaSalle, SF Gate
“The film event of 1955” – Francois Truffaut and “The thriller of tomorrow!” – Claude Chabrol, Cahiers du Cinema
Discounted parking at Founder’s Court. $5 flat rate, credit card required.
