THE NAKED KISS (1964) (B) - Samuel Fuller ("Pickup on South Street," "The Big Red One") nearly careers off the rails with this neo-noir about a prostitute trying to go straight in Small Town, USA. TV veteran Constance Towers is riveting in the lead role of Kelly, whom we first meet in the crazed opening scene beating up the pimp who stole from her and shaved her head.
When she lands in "Leave It to Beaver" pleasantville, she meets a detective who samples her wares but then sends her across the river to a whorehouse. (His description when he first sees her walking off a bus: "That's enough to make a bulldog bust his chain.") Kelly declines the opportunity to work with nasty madame Candy, though, and instead returns to the town to work in a hospital for handicapped children. Fuller then busts out in several directions, teasing us about when and how Kelly's past will come back to bite her. (It will involve a rich dreamboat who eventually reveals a dark secret.)
Fuller's script, straight out of the gate, wants to repeatedly poke us in the nose. Journeyman Anthony Eisley struggles to imbue his hard-ass detective with the necessary grit, and the tough-guy lines he spouts tend to land with a clunk. Veteran Virginia Grey has a lot more vinegar on the tongue as Candy. Sore about getting knocked around by Kelly, Candy has zero sympathy for the call girl trying to go straight, uttering the memorable line "Nobody shoves dirty money in my mouth!"
This is "Peyton Place" on steroids, and it's hard to take your eyes off of Towers, even when she is enduring recurring psychedelic serenades from her sad-eyed wards (the creepy dirge "The Little Boy and the Old Man"). Towers sells this without fear.
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948) (B-minus) - This is the debut from Nicholas Ray ("Rebel Without a Cause") and it's a grim, sluggish tale of an outlaw on the run. Uninspiring Farley Granger is the handsome escaped con who teams up with a sidekick's plain-jane daughter (Cathy O'Donnell) to try to keep one step ahead of the good guys while dodging the former gang trying to lure him back for another score.
The older veterans -- including Howard Da Silva and Jay C. Flippen -- envy young Bowie, who has managed to save his proceeds from a bank job and seeks an off-ramp to the simple straight life. The story can get convoluted, and Granger has neither the bad-boy allure of a Robert Mitchum nor much za-za with O'Donnell, who is allowed to grow a little more glamorous with each scene, evolving from farm girl to would-be ingenue.
Ian Wolfe injects some much-needed black humor as a minister who not only will marry a couple for $20 but also knows a guy who can help folks lam it to Mexico. ("Rings for sale or rent.") Byron Foulger (who boasted 489 acting credits on IMDb) provides a little screwball comedy as an overeager landlord. And don't miss Will Lee -- Mr. Hooper from "Sesame Street" -- as the jeweler.
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