The Naked Kiss

Naked Kiss, The (1964)

*** (out of 4)

Sam Fuller's hardhitting melodrama about a prostitute (Constance Towers) who decides to go straight after she does one last job. Now, living in a small town, she begins working with crippled children and appears to have her life in order but soon twisted events leads to her past coming out in the open. This is an incredibly beautiful film to look at as the cinematography is top notch and the B&W scenery looks great. This is a pretty strong film from start to finish even though it begins to drag some in the middle. The film doesn't pull any punches and contains some pretty strong dialogue but I guess we should expect this from the director. The dialogue and its strong tone certainly set it apart from other films from its era. The cast does very good work for the most part and that includes Towers who is very strong in her role. I'm not sure I'd call it a great performance but the way she uses her eyes and facial gestures to tell what she's feeling is very well done and makes this character quite memorable. Anthony Eisley is also excellent as a local police Captain who is one of the biggest hypocrites in the town.

Samuel Fuller could make whacked-out movies like no other, and "The Naked Kiss" was his most whacked out of all.

Constance Towers plays Kelly, a hooker who we see in the film's opening sequence shaved completely bald and beating up her pimp. She takes $75 dollars from him or, as she makes sure to point out to him, "exactly what I've got coming to me," and then proceeds to put on her wig and makeup while seductive music plays and the opening credits roll. From that moment on, we know we're in Fuller-land.

Kelly arrives in the quiet suburban idyll of Grantville, and hooks up with her first and last trick, the town's police captain. After that, she decides to wipe her slate clean, and she becomes a nurse in a children's hospital. But she can't escape her past. When she's accused of killing her fiancée, the town's founder, golden boy and Korean war hero, in a fit of rage after finding him molesting a young girl, Kelly's reliability and reputation is called into question, and her life hangs in the balance.

Along with her pimp, Kelly will pound around on a couple of other people before the film is over -- notably a whore house madame who tries to seduce one of Kelly's co-worker friends into a life of prostitution -- but Kelly is basically a good and decent person who believes in justice stripped of any sentimental or phony pretensions. Her fiancée's status and privilege don't prevent her from seeing the pervert underneath, and her love for the children and her young, naive co-workers is fierce but rough; she'll just as soon slap some sense into someone as she will hug some sense into him. The character of Kelly is a refreshing creation, and both she and Constance Towers, who brings her to life, hold this film together when it otherwise might have been a mess. I think Fuller's weakness was as a writer; parts of "The Naked Kiss" are hampered by ridiculous, overheated dialogue and melodrama of the most maudlin order. But he was such a striking visionary that his films always work on the strength of style alone, and that, coupled with Towers' performance, make "The Naked Kiss" something fascinating to behold.

Fuller was always interested in the outcasts and misfits of society. You can tell he didn't have much use for the civilized mainstream. In "The Naked Kiss," his camera lingers lovingly on the crippled children in shots that intentionally evoke impressions of war veteran hospitals. And Kelly leaves Grantville at the film's end, not because the town shuns her -- on the contrary, once they realize she was telling the truth, she's the new town hero -- but because its hypocrisy disgusts her. The implication is that she'd rather remain an outcast than be accepted by a society that she abhors.

"The Naked Kiss" is crazy, frenzied and trippy. It's deliriously nonsensical yet makes a pointed statement in that unique way that only Samuel Fuller could pull off. Check it out.

Grade: A

I began looking into Sam Fuller after seeing a documentary about him on TV in which Scorsese, Tarantino, and Tim Robbins discussed his films. Scorsese also mentions Fuller in his "Personal Journey" film retrospective, in which he sites "The Naked Kiss" as a major influence. From what I've read, the studios found the material in "The Naked Kiss" to be a tad on the heinous side, and re-edited Fuller's film to the point where he didn't even want his name in the credits. His name is very much in the credits however, for soon after the film opens with a prostitute beating a man unconscious with the heel of her shoe, Fuller is named writer, director, and producer. I suspect that the discomfited staggering between camp, noir, and grotesque melodrama, might be more a result of studio tampering than Fuller's misdirection. It is also difficult to discern just what sort of censorship the studios achieved, for whatever they did was austerely permeated by social taboos the likes of abortion, prostitution, child molestation, and murder. These issues are treated by Fuller in a way that is decisively an ideological digression from noir, despite the film's sporadic use of noir's aesthetic. In noir, women are the enigmatic femme fatales: deceptive, seductive, fatal, and the primary antagonism of all men. It appears to be precisely the opposite in "The Naked Kiss." Fuller's protagonist, Kelly, an ex-hooker, tells a cop that you can always tell when a man is "a pervert" from his "naked kiss." Throughout the film, as Kelly encounters women dealing with abortion, prostitution, and pretty much just general depravity, Fuller shows men reinforcing and furthering their depravity, then condemning it when need be. The character of Griff, the cop, is the essence of this. To Fuller, there is a perversity in the way men treat women in American society, and it is reflected in the title of the film itself.

This is the second Fuller film that I've seen (the other one was "Shock Corridor"). I can't say that I was bored, but I really don't see why these films are held in such high esteem by some people (including famous film-makers like Scorsese). "The Naked Kiss" is certainly a good-looking film. The black and white cinematography is excellent, as you would expect from those involved. But stylistically, the film is kind of a mess -- a weird mixture of soap opera, film noir, 1960's-style psychological drama, and kinky shocker. For fans of the latter, that infamous opening scene certainly promises a lot more than the rest of the film delivers. As it seems to belong to no particular genre, perhaps Fuller's work could be considered a genre in itself. As has been pointed out elsewhere, if watched in the right company it can be a real camp hoot. But honestly, I think this film is far too flawed to be called a masterpiece, as some people have. The acting is fairly nasty, the script not much better. And that horrendous scene where our heroine sings that sickeningly sweet, cloying, endless song with the kids at the hospital! Good Lord, it's one of the most embarrassingly awful things I've ever seen on film! It seemed to induce actual physical pain, I kid you not! The subject of child abuse, which occurs in the film, was fairly progressive for its time, I'll grant, but hardly unique. If you can, see an even earlier film (1961) called "The Mark," with Stuart Whitman, Maria Schell and Rod Steiger. While staying in the confines of early '60s constrictions, it addressed the subject in a much more powerful and direct manner, to greater effect. I guess I'd have to consider Fuller one of those "cult film" figures. Either you get it, or you don't.

"Pickup on South Street" 1953, an 80-minute film noir gem, is a favorite of mine. Richard Widmark and Thelma Ritter (not just exceptional in romantic comedy supporting Rock Hudson and Doris Day in "Pillow Talk") were the two characters and performances I like best. Filmmaker Sam Fuller's creative writing, directing strength, and (indie) producing savvy continued to shine in "The Naked Kiss" 1964. It is the ultimate pulp fiction: high drama soap, touch of camp and tints of film noir. Beautifully shot in Black and White. Terrific cast with Constance Towers as Kelly, the central power of energy and charm, and undeterred determination; Anthony Eisley as Griff, the gruff, tough cop with a tender heart underneath; and the townsfolk of varying characters, nice and not-so-nice to downright sleazy, crooked ones, male or female, and a number of child performances for that matter. Yet with all this, there is a blossoming healthy, full of goodwill story about handicapped youngsters, being encouraged to stand up and be happy in spite of their weaknesses.

The opening segment (before the title/credits roll) is in itself an emphatic revelation. Kelly truly wants to turn over a new leaf, and she readily shares and helps others without guile. She is no loser. She's our heroine of the story. Tearjerker? Certainly can be. Thriller suspense, too? Definitely. Will she be innocently proclaimed? Will the witness precious be found? We would root for her, our Kelly. She is so 'gung ho' and downright nice to everyone (but she can also stand up tough against the 'bad' ones). Fuller's script runs its own natural course with surprises and satisfying plot twists never lacking.

This may not be for everyone (NFE). But if you can take high drama with wide human emotional range, appreciate energetic 'filmic' storytelling with intrigue, you'll enjoy this movie immensely. A Sam Fuller film doesn't disappoint but deserves applause practically guaranteed. His films are no fuss, straightforward and bold, frank and colorful in dialog, and there's the element of raw sophistication (sounds oxymoron, but life is full of contradictions). "The Naked Kiss" is available on DVD, Criterion Collection, widescreen, 91 minutes (just the right length).