Plot: What’s it about?
Kelly (Constance Towers) is a prostitute, but she is about to make an effort to change her life and leave her past as far behind as she can. Her final customer is not a lucky one, as she beats him to death with the spike of her high heeled shoe, but with that action she has begun her journey toward a new and better life, or so she hopes. She soon finds herself in Grantville, which is a small town much like most small towns, serene on the surface but loaded with secrets. When she arrives in town, she becomes romantic with the local sheriff who quickly turns on her and demands that she leaves town. But she doesn’t leave and instead lands a job at the local children’s hospital, where she sings songs to the handicapped children and quickly becomes well liked there. All the while the sheriff continues to attempt to make her leave town, although she just won’t go. Romance knocks on her door again soon, this time with the sheriff’s best friend, who is also the town’s wealthiest man. Soon, she has proven herself to Griff, who no longer tries to run her off, but then things take a turn for the worse. When a murder is discovered, the town’s finger of blame points at Kelly, for no other reason than her spotted past.
I am a fan of this film as well as most of Samuel Fuller’s works, so I might seem a little taken with this movie. The reason for that is simple, I am taken with this movie, I think it’s a terrific film and a must see for movie buffs of all types. If I have a complaint with this film it would be the simple nature of the storyline, which seems a little slim compared to Fuller’s other films. But that’s a minor quibble, since the storyline is more than adequate and is presented in an entertaining fashion. Enough about the bad stuff, let’s get to what’s right with this movie. If you like dialogue driven films, then this is your movie, because you’ll find some of the most complex and interesting dialogue there is within this film. While the dialogue seems simple on the surface, if you can dig deeper you’ll find all manner of complexities, much like the storyline itself. In addition to the fantastic dialogue, the visual style of this movie is excellent, some of the finest cinematography of the time can be found here. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys great filmmaking, although more modern fans might want to stick with something with explosions or a kid that sees dead people, since this one requires some thinking.
This film was written and directed by Samuel Fuller, who is considered to be one of the finest and most influential filmmakers of his time. While this film seems tame by today’s standards, this film pushed many of the existing boundaries of that time, much like many of Fuller’s films. I’ve seen many of Fuller’s movies, so I’ll be the first to admit that some of them are not that good, but this is one of his best, as are others made around this time. I recommend you explore Fuller’s resume, which includes Shock Corridor, The Big Red One, The Crimson Kimono, Underworld U.S.A., and Street Of No Return. The acting here is very basic, yet it fits the tone of the film to perfection, so I’m pretty sure Fuller intended the actors to perform as they did. Constance Towers (A Perfect Murder, The Next Karate Kid) takes the lead and runs with it, turning in a superb performance. This is easily the finest work of her career, and if you’ve only seen her in modern films, you’re in for a shock as to how good she can be. The rest of the cast includes Anthony Eisley (Operation Secret, The Wasp Woman), Virginia Grey (Captain Scarface, The Eternal Sea), and Michael Dante (The Big Score, Operation Bikini).
Video: How does it look?
The Naked Kiss is presented in a full frame transfer, which seems to be an open matte of the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. I didn’t know what to expect from this transfer, but it is fantastic and really surprised me. This is a black and white film, so contrast is what makes the difference here. The contrast is on the task, with no overly dark regions to be seen, and shadows look picture perfect. The print itself looks almost flawless, and the only problem I saw were some small compression troubles. I applaud VCI for this high quality release, and hope to see more of this high standard in the future.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included mono track is good, but has the typical limits you find with the format. The elements lack the depth a surround track would provide, but this isn’t really driven by audio, so it still has a nice sound to it. The main focus of the audio is the dialogue, which is replicated well on this track. I didn’t have any problems with the volume or separation on this mix.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I didn’t expect much in terms of supplements, but I found some nice goodies on this disc. A short photo gallery and talent files are included, as well as a bonus piece, Dark Stranger. This short film runs about twenty-two minutes and is a nice accompany piece to the feature presentation.
