This Cinemascope Technicolor murder drama from 1955 is a great looking film with perfect 50s visuals to carry it well in 2008. In retrospect, I can see the source for both PEEPING TOM and PSYCHO both in 1960 offering the 'shocking' image of a square cut handsome young man as a cruel killer. Of course that idea alone is really a flip on MONSIEUR VERDOUX with Chaplin as the ageing dandy/ dapper killer and even the comedy ARSENIC AND OLD LACE again with the least suspecting type as killers. This version of KISS now-days is reflected in MR RIPLEY too. While it is not up the caliber of that film either, these films all form a group of murder mysteries depicting unassuming types revealed to be murderers. A KISS BEFORE DYING has the very handsome Robert Wagner and equally good looking Jeffrey Hunter pitched front and center for what must have been wild female audience reaction. One scene late in the film set in the desert features Wagner in the tightest jeans imaginable looking like a gay denim version of James Dean. It is all a bit silly in its storyline (university campus killer and rich girl family dramas) but visually it is a real 50s treat. Remade clumsily as a Matt Dillon thriller in 1991, this really is the better version completely because of the great looking cast (incl Joanne Woodward and Mary Astor) and the immensely enjoyable Cinemascope 50s set design and art direction.
Review of A Kiss Before Dying
