{"id":27426,"date":"2012-10-04T12:47:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T19:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27426"},"modified":"2021-02-04T10:36:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T17:36:44","slug":"naked-kiss-the-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27426","title":{"rendered":"Naked Kiss, The (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;My darling, our marriage will be a paradise &#8212; because we&#8217;re both abnormal.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Poster-154x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"154\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-27437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Poster-154x300.jpg 154w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Poster-65x128.jpg 65w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Poster.jpg 389w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 154px) 100vw, 154px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA prostitute (Constance Towers) runs away from her abusive pimp and arrives in a small town where the police captain (Anthony Eisley) encourages her to join a brothel run by a madam named Candy (Virginia Grey). However, after renting a room from a kind seamstress (Betty Bronson), Towers decides to go straight and get a job as a nurse at a hospital for children with disabilities. When she falls in love with a local millionaire (Michael Dante), she dares to dream of married bliss &#8212; but will her past catch up with her? And is her fiance really as ideal as he seems?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Character Arc<\/li>\n<li>Morality Police<\/li>\n<li>Prostitutes and Gigolos<\/li>\n<li>Sam Fuller Films<\/li>\n<li>Small Town America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that while &#8220;moviegoers who are unfamiliar with Sam Fuller&#8217;s work consider [<em>The Naked Kiss<\/em>] to be campy and laugh at almost every line&#8221;, it is nonetheless &#8220;Fuller&#8217;s masterpiece, one of the most fascinating and original &#8216;B&#8217; movies ever made&#8221;. He describes Towers as providing a &#8220;wild variation on a Joan Crawford role&#8221; in &#8220;a strong performance as a tough intellectual prostitute&#8221;, who &#8212; after having her head shaved bald by her pimp in a &#8220;shocking pre-title sequence&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;flees the mob&#8221; and eventually &#8220;decides to go straight&#8221;. He notes that the film &#8220;deals with Towers&#8217; attempt to prove herself &#8216;normal&#8217;, to lead a normal life&#8221;, only to have her &#8220;dreams&#8230; shattered&#8221; when she catches her fiance in an unforgivable act. (Spoilers abound on this latter point, btw &#8212; in Peary&#8217;s review and elsewhere &#8212; so don&#8217;t read about it ahead of time if you&#8217;re a first-time viewer.)<\/p>\n<p>In his more extensive review of the film in his <em>Cult Movies 3<\/em> book, Peary elaborates upon its role in Fuller&#8217;s broader oeuvre, noting that &#8220;<em>The Naked Kiss<\/em> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27388\"><em>Shock Corridor<\/em><\/a> are usually linked by critics and twin-billed by repertory theater owners&#8221;, perhaps because they &#8220;have (if you stretch it) vaguely similar premises, star Constance Towers&#8230;, were [similarly] financed&#8230;, were photographed by Stanley Cortez, deal with lurid subject matter and perverse sex, and tread the fine line between trash and art&#8221;. In addition, he points out that they both possess &#8220;fantasy-dream sequences&#8221;, incorporate &#8220;out-of-place personally photographed 16-mm travelogue-like footage&#8221;, include &#8220;absurd scenes only Fuller fanatics can accept&#8221;, and &#8220;have smashingly directed, unflinching shock scenes&#8221;. Indeed, as Peary notes, &#8220;there are few more startling sequences in Fuller&#8217;s work&#8221; (or any other films of the period, for that matter) &#8220;than the opening in <em>The Naked Kiss<\/em>;&#8221; while Towers&#8217; head only remains bald during this initial scene (and it&#8217;s clear, if you&#8217;re looking, that she&#8217;s wearing a headpiece), the image evoked is masterfully indelible. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-68577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-1536x852.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-487x270.png 487w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Naked-Kiss-Bald.png 1819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s perhaps most fascinating about <em>The Naked Kiss<\/em> is how brutally Fuller disrupts the trajectory of his storyline, which eventually shifts into what looks like a standard &#8220;corny&#8221; Hollywood romance about a woman with a secret past hoping to reform and be accepted. (In <em>Cult Movies 3<\/em>, Peary quotes Fuller himself as saying, &#8220;I hate those kinds of stories.&#8221; !!) Instead, Fuller completely upends our expectations by showing that while Towers herself may be an &#8220;outcast&#8221;, she&#8217;s surrounded by corrupt men who &#8220;have no respect for women&#8221;, and think of them exclusively in &#8220;sexual terms&#8221;. Peary points out that while Fuller&#8217;s &#8220;violent, male-oriented films&#8221; may not seem like prime candidates for feminist analysis, <em>The Naked Kiss<\/em> actually offers us a &#8220;strong, smart, self-reliant&#8230; and proud&#8221; female protagonist, one who becomes a &#8220;positive role model&#8230; to the other women in the film, because she refuses to play the victim&#8221;. Indeed, Towers&#8217; performance is one you&#8217;re unlikely to soon forget, making this a cult favorite all film fanatics should check out at least once.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Constance Towers as Kelly<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Towers.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Stanley Cortez&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Cinematography3.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fuller&#8217;s uniquely quirky screenplay<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-27432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Naked-Kiss-Screenplay2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as another of Fuller&#8217;s cult classics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058390\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1964\/10\/29\/archives\/thin-red-line-and-naked-kiss-open.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=683&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/movies\/article\/FILM-REVIEW-A-Surprising-Subversive-Kiss-3016422.php\">SF Gate Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s3415kiss.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/index.php?page=review&#038;id=2511\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/84541\/the-naked-kiss#articles-reviews?articleId=88901\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/63138\/the_naked_kiss.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;My darling, our marriage will be a paradise &#8212; because we&#8217;re both abnormal.&#8221; Synopsis: A prostitute (Constance Towers) runs away from her abusive pimp and arrives in a small town where the police captain (Anthony Eisley) encourages her to join a brothel run by a madam named Candy (Virginia Grey). However, after renting a room from a kind seamstress (Betty Bronson), Towers decides to go straight and get a job as a nurse at a hospital for children with disabilities&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27426\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27426"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68578,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27426\/revisions\/68578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}