The Naked Kiss (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

In maverick writer/director Sam Fuller's unorthodox, bold and raw, feminist B-film and sordid, film-noirish melodrama - it provided an uneven treatise about the abuse and exploitation of women by perverse, misogynistic men and women, and the hypocrisy of middle-class, mainstream morality. The tabloid-plotted movie featured striking B/W cinematography from noted cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who had worked on two previous classics: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and The Night of the Hunter (1955) .

The film's major character with an androgynous name (Kelly) - was a tough, strong and smart prostitute who attempted to go straight, become respectable, and keep her past a secret. Although she was stifled by corrupt and misogynistic men and social judgment and prejudice in a Thornton Wilder-like small town, she refused to be compromised or victimized. She manifested her aggressive fury in four instances (or set-pieces) - when she retaliated against her unfair pimp in the film's opening, her advice (and slap) toward a young female about to enter a life of prostitution, her confrontation with a brothel madam, and her murderous reaction to her fiancee after learning that he was a child molester.

The semi-sleazy, taboo-challenging film noir by cult film auteur Sam Fuller had two prominent taglines: "Candy's Place--where all kinds of men find all kinds of sweets!", and "Shock and Shame Story of a Night-Girl. She knew all the answers until she felt the touch of The Naked Kiss." Fuller was fond of self-promotion, and featured two references within this film to himself (his previous film Shock Corridor (1963) seen on a marquee, and a paperback book of his own 1944 pulp novel The Dark Page).

• in the violent, fierce, unsettling, and striking pre-titles opening scene of the lurid melodrama (with a jazzy score and great alternating POV shots), call-girl Kelly (Constance Towers), wearing only a strapless bra with a matching black slip, skirt and scarf, beat her abusive, drunk pimp Farlunde (Monte Mansfield) with her handbag and spike-heeled pumps, when he suddenly pulled at her hair - and revealed her bald and shaved scalp (making her look like a mannequin (an object)) [Note: Cheating Farlunde drugged her and had cut off her hair in retaliation for her urging of six prostitutes to walk out on him and leave his "stable"]
• after he fell to the floor and begged for her to stop since he was drunk, she sprayed him with seltzer water, took only 75ドル cash that belonged to her (of the 800ドル dollars in his wallet, emphasizing her morals: "I'm taking only what's coming to me") and called him out: "You parasite!"; she stuffed the cash in her bra and kicked him; as the title credits played, she adjusted her wig and makeup, and then ripped up her clientele photo from a wall of photos before she strode away; as he struggled to get up, there was a view of a calendar marking July 4th, 1961 (Kelly's 'independence day')!
• about two years later in the year 1963 (in August), blonde-haired Kelly arrived by Greyhound bus with hand luggage in the seemingly wholesome and idyllic suburban community of Grantville; the marquee of the town's theatre advertised the showing of the director's previous film Shock Corridor (1963) - about madness in a mental hospital; at the bus depot, as she descended the bus steps, the camera focused on her long slender legs; wearing a light-colored tailored suit, she spoke briefly to future love interest - low-life, vain, tough, and hypocritical town Police Captain Griff (Anthony Eisley); she had brought with her a monogrammed trunk that she would pick up later
• Griff remarked about her appearance as he watched her from behind after she smiled at him and walked off: "That's enough to make a bulldog bust his chain"; as Kelly left the bus station on foot, she passed two baby carriages (one on the sidewalk, and one in a park) - and displayed some maternal feelings; Griff tracked after her and the two found themselves on a park bench, where she was reading director Sam Fuller's own paperback pulp fiction novel The Dark Page
• Griff asked if she was a traveling saleslady and whether she was "staying long" - she opened up her case to reveal what she was selling - "Angel Foam" (3 bottles of California champagne at 10ドル/bottle) to avoid being busted for swapping cash for sex; when he asked for a free sample, she closed the case and denied him "free sips"; Griff responded with sexual innuendo: "I'm pretty good at popping the cork - if the vintage is right"; she described her product for customers: ("Angel Foam goes down like liquid gold and comes up like slow dynamite")
• after a lot of sexual innuendo conversation and a fade-out, the two were in his place on the couch with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata playing in the background; she was brushing her newly grown-back hair and they were drinking champagne - he was her first customer - for 20ドル; he put his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear

• after an interlude of sleeping together (off-screen), he offered his place to her for the night; he already had suspected that she was a call-girl or night-girl: ("Well, I don’t see any battle scars"), and she knew that he was a cop with a "badge"; he firmly suggested that he had to keep his town "clean" - and she was insulted by the insinuation; she attempted to quote German poet Goethe (incorrectly pronounced 'Gotha') to prove her intelligence: "For a cop, you oughtta read books - Goethe for instance... Goethe the poet. He said nothing is more terrible than an act of ignorance and mister, you proved him one hundred percent right"; he attempted to justify having her leave his town: "It's nothing personal, Muffin. If I let you set up shop in this neighborhood, the people would chop me like a ripe banana" - and she quipped back: "Then why'd you buy my merchandise?"
• he proposed that she find a job "across the river" in the wide-open town of Delmar Falls across the state line - to work at a "salon" (bordello) run by his personal friend, Madam Candy Allacarte (Virginia Grey), whose full name was Candy a La Carte; he suggested he could become a frequent 'sex' customer there: "I'll buy a bottle from ya now and then...You'll be my Ichiban" (a Japanese expression meaning "number one"); Griff asked for change on his 20ドル purchase: "You owe me ten bucks change," but she refused: "I never make change"
• after spending the night, the next morning she awoke and noticed a framed Grantville Gazette newspaper from the early 50s, about how Griff had been saved during the Korean War by the town's war-hero; she gazed into a mirror to self-reflect; the prostitute 'with a heart of gold' Kelly decided to completely reform herself - she rented a room from the town's trusting and naive local seamstress Madame Josephine (Betty Bronson) without needing character references; landlady Josephine suggested moving her dress-making mannequin named "Charlie" from her room, but Kelly thought it would be fine to keep it there to occasionally talk to; the mannequin had been created as a substitute for her fiancee-lover Charlie who died in WWII 20 years earlier; the mannequin was dressed in her long-dead fiancee's 1st Infantry Div. military uniform with a pith helmet
• Griff was frequenting the salon - a front for prostitution selling "Bon-bons" - populated by girls that looked like Playboy Bunnies with fuzzy hearts mounted on their heads and demeaning nicknames (such as Marshmallow (Sally Mills), Redhead (Breena Howard), and brunette Hatrack (Edy Williams, later involved with Russ Meyer)); he also 'pimped' for the salon, and had met and recruited Hatrack similar to Kelly's situation when she appeared in town; the sign above the bar advertised: "Sweets Guarantee: Indescribable Pleasure"; Griff asked the brothel madam Candy, wearing a sequined gown, if Kelly had started working, but Candy didn't recognize the name; Griff referred to Kelly as "a pro and she’s got class"

• as she unpacked, Kelly learned a bit of history about the town of Grantville from Miss Josephine, about how the founder was the great great grandfather of the town's "most famous citizen" (J.L. Grant) whom Kelly had read was an "international playboy, chateau in Normandy, Villa along the Riviera, private yacht in Monte Carlo, society's most eligible bachelor"; Miss Josephine contradicted Kelley's view of Grant: "He’s a hard worker, Miss Kelly. He’s no playboy. His very name is a synonym for charity. He’s got the biggest heart in the world. Why he built our hospital. He built the Orthopaedic Medical Center and sponsors it all by himself. And it’s open to all handicapped children, with no racial or religious barriers...It’s a haven of hope for those angels, so little, so helpless, and so pitifully crippled"
• instead of checking out Candy's salon, Kelly applied to be a "do-gooder" job in town as a pediatric nurse's aide at the Grantville Orthopaedic Medical Center, specializing in helping handicapped and crippled children; Head Nurse Mac (Patsy Kelly) extolled to Griff about how Kelly was hired due to her angelic nature alone: "She came out of the clouds one night without a single reference. I hired her on the spot... Some people are born to write books, symphonies, paint pictures, build bridges. But Kelly - she was born to handle children with crutches and babies in braces"; the judgmental Griff was skeptical of Kelly's transformation from a marked woman (whore) to a Madonna angel: "Sounds like one of those sweet Florence Nightingales"; Nurse Mac corrected him: "She's tough! Runs her ward like a pirate ship! She makes Captain Bligh look like a sissy"
• Griff harshly criticized Kelly's work and new 'trade': ("That's a new low. Using crippled kids to front your trade") - and deservedly received a slap in the face from her, as she asserted: "I quit my trade...I washed my face clean the morning I woke up in your bedroom"; she resolutely explained how she had made a complete turnabout and transformation from her old way of life after taking a long look at herself in his mirror: "I saw a broken-down piece of machinery. Nothing but the buck, the bed and the bottle for the rest of my life. That's what I saw"; he continued to insult her: "A hooker moving in with the town virgin! What an act!"; she was angry at his insinuations about using her wiles to sell bottles of champagne: ("How much Angel Foam did you peddle?"); she lashed back: "You were the only buyer I had in this town - and my last one!"
• she defended herself and emphasized that she had really changed and would no longer use her body for her livelihood: "Look Griff, I'm trying your side of the fence. Is there a law against it? Is there anything wrong with it?"; when he questioned her sincerity: "Your face might fool a lot of these people, but not your body. Your body's your only passport", she reluctantly agreed: "I can renew a passport, but I can't renew my body or my face. Or my health. Oh look Griff, I'm trying to change, please help me. Give me a break"
• surrounded by the children wearing costumes and pirate hats, Kelly told them the 'pretend' story of the White Swan Queen - a redemptive tale about transformation; in a fantasy sequence, Kelly worked with the multi-racial children in the ward, pretending that they were healthy and could run and play outdoors without physical impediments; one boy kept repeating: "I have legs"
• accompanied by Nurse Mac, Kelly appeared in a long black gown (with a fur wrap) at a party hosted by Griff's war hero-partner (the wounded Griff was saved by Grant during the war) - where she was introduced to the most respected, charitable and wealthy citizen of the community - philanthropist bachelor J. L. Grant (Michael Dante) and great-great grandson of the town's founder; he had single-handedly built and sponsored the Medical Center

• just recently, Grant had returned from a trip to Venice, Italy, and presented Kelly with a gift - a blown glass vase from the 17th century
• during another visit, the two reclined on his leopard print sofa listening with their eyes closed to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata playing on a reel-to-reel tape recorder; Grant spoke: ("I see myself by moonlight on the lake of Lucerne, in a boat wandering through a leafy alley in a garden, and Beethoven's hands playing the Moonlight Sonata. He carved that sonata out of moonlight"); they discussed how Beethoven was in love at the time but failed to find a marital partner - with a quote not from Goethe but from Charles Baudelaire ("A sweetheart is a bottle of wine, a wife is a wine bottle"); she attempted to exhibit her intelligence - telling him that Lord Byron was her "favorite poet"; Grant was stunned that she was both beautiful and smart: "Kelly you baffle me, intellect is seldom a feature of physical beauty. And that makes you a remarkable woman. The most interesting contradiction I've met in years, with a love of poetry, rare in this age of missiles"
• Grant began to show Kelly his 16 mm home movies - a travelogue of his recent travel to Venice - the city of canals and gondolas; Grant told her to imagine the gondolier singing: "If you pretend hard enough, and if you listen hard enough, you'll hear his fine Italian voice"

• and then in a gondola fantasy sequence, Kelly joyfully imagined herself with Grant lying back on silken cushions on a canal boat on a black surface of water in the fabled city, with a gondolier singing in the background; she pretended there were flower petals floating down on them; she awakened from the dream, discovering that she was kissing Grant - but then she pulled back uncomfortably, and paused to give him a long, strange and curious stare (explained later)
• late one evening during her work shift, Kelly spoke with her young nurse-aide friend Buff (Marie Devereux) who spoke about possibly quitting her job: "I'm not like you, Kelly. I haven't got steel in my veins"; later during a visit in Kelly's rented room, Buff (wearing Kelly's fancy black and silver glame gown) showed Kelly that she had received an "advance" of 25ドル dollars from Candy at the "club across the river" to work there as a Bon-Bon girl

• Kelly warned with puritanical advice: "Those Bon Bons aren't there just to serve drinks you know," and slapped her, but Buff had already been enticed to accept a position in the perverse "game" of prostitution at Candy's club for 300ドル/week; Kelly vehemently urged her to not quit:
  • "All right, go ahead. You know what's different about the first night? Nothing. Nothing, except it lasts forever, that's all. You'll be sleeping on the skin of a nightmare for the rest of your life. Oh, you're a beautiful girl, Buff. Young. Oh, they'll outbid each other for you. You'll get compliments, clothes, cash. And you'll meet men you live on, and men who live on you. And those are the only men you'll meet. And, after a steady grind of making every john feel at home, you'll become a block of ice. And if you do happen to melt a little, you'll get slipped a tip behind Candy's back. You'll be every man's wife-in-law, and no man's wife. Why, your world with Candy will become so warped that you'll hate all men. And you'll hate yourself! Because you'll become a social problem, a medical problem, a mental problem! And a despicable failure as a woman!"
• afterwards, to retaliate against Madam Candy, Kelly appeared at the club in a simple black dress to confront the Madam, who circled around her while surveying her figure and noting: "Griff told me about you"; in the club office, Kelly assaulted and repeatedly bitch-slapped the vampirish salon owner with her handbag, forcing her back onto the sofa; and then stuffed Buff's first night's cash earnings of 25ドル into her mouth ("Ten, ten, and five") and then warned her to "stay away from Buff"
• in a second instance, Kelly showed compassion for a troubled single nurse's aide Dusty (Karen Conrad) who had become pregnant
• shortly later, while with Grant for a romantic evening, Kelly admitted her own sordid and secret past: "When I came to this town, the first day I came, I was a prostitute. My first customer was my last one. Next morning, I quit. Now I'm in love with a man who's the dream of every woman - every woman who has the right to dream. With a man who's got to stop seeing me before the volcano erupts"; without hesitation or a reaction, the indifferent Grant didn't flinch and immediately proposed engagement-marriage to her, but she hesitatingly responded twice: "I've got to think it out"
• later that night while drinking from the gifted blown Venetian glass given to her by Grant, Kelly contemplated his abrupt marriage proposal; Grant's voice-over monologue reminded her what he had said: "I wasn't cut out to be a monk, and you're not the type to turn nun. But together, we'll prove our whole existence for each other. You're the only woman I want for my wife.... If they condemn you for your past, I don't want them for my friends. Kelly darling, no one can forbid you your tomorrow. And I'm all your tomorrows, all of them"; she commiserated about her dilemma by speaking to Charlie and wrapping her arm around the mannequin dummy [Note: The mannequin was listed in the credits as "Charlie" (Himself).] Kelly asked the question: "What should I do?...Why should Grant want to marry a woman like me? Confidentially Charlie, we girls are always chasing dreams. Why shouldn't I have a right to catch mine?"; she compared Grant to her "Rock of Gibraltar" to give her strength, and expressed her fear of being alone in the world: ("Oh Charlie, the dread of every woman in my business is ending up alone. I know that world. And I know his world. And that makes me a woman of two worlds. And that's not good. Or is it? With him, I'm complete, a whole woman") - but remained doubtful about her momentous decision
• the next day early in the morning, Kelly burst into Grant's home and yelled out about how it was such a wonderful, beautiful and glorious day; she spun a huge globe in the living room and then listened to the tape recorder playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony; when Grant awakened and appeared from upstairs in his bathrobe, she grasped both of his hands and announced her decision: "I love you. It's a deal"; he was pleased but reacted with little emotion, and then over breakfast, he asked questions about the specifics of the marriage location, ceremony and plans, and she insisted on paying for her own wedding dress; he handed over his house-key: ("This is your home, darling")
• at work, Kelly handed 1,000ドル dollars (loaned from Grant) over to Dusty to assist her in leaving town to avoid shame, rather than having an abortion ("You have that baby"); Dusty promised: "Boy or girl, I'll name it Kelly."
• during a lengthy and sappy musical number, various tone-deaf, disabled children wearing pirate hats and standing with the aid of crutches awkwardly sang Cab Calloway's "Little Child" (lyrics: "Mommy dear, tell me please, is the world really round...Tell me where, is the bluebird of happiness found?...Tell me why Is the sky up above so blue...and when you were a child, did your mommy tell you?" (replayed later during the climactic revelation scene))
• an upset Griff came to Kelly at the hospital, to express how he was concerned that ex-whore Kelly had accepted a marriage proposal with his best friend Grant, and that he was asked to be 'best man'; however, he calmed down when Kelly confided that she had already told Grant of her past profession - without identifying names (including Griff's): "I told him all about myself, Griff. And about you and the 20ドル....And I told him my track record as a call girl before he asked me to marry him"; on the phone with Grant, Griff changed his tune and congratulated him: "I just wanted to tell you one thing. You're the luckiest guy in the world. Congratulations"; he also affirmed his support: "That's the big score - falling in love with the right person and being loved"
• Kelly paid a visit to Grant's home to show him her white wedding dress and veil constructed and sewn by Miss Josephine that was packed in a big oblong box, although she was warned that it was "bad luck"; she was surprised to discover Grant's perversion as a predatory pedophile (with a tape of "Little Child" playing) when she saw Grant's young niece Bunny (Betty Robinson) skipping out the front door from his place (after the girl was threatened with molestation (off-screen))

• Grant was prompted to again propose marriage, claiming that he had forgiven Kelly for her past, and that his problems should also be overlooked because they had similar problems: "Now you know why I could never marry a normal woman. That's why I love you. You understand my sickness. You've been conditioned to people like me. You live in my world, and it will be an exciting world! (He sank to his knees) My darling, our-our marriage will be a paradise because we're, we're both abnormal" - it was a bold-faced attempt to equate her sordid prostituting past with his sickness

• in a stunning scene after being betrayed, Kelly impulsively reacted with rage and disgust and accidentally murdered Grant after she picked up a phone receiver and bashed him in the head; he fell lifelessly to the floor, as Kelly's crepe wedding veil covered his body; she stuffed the dress and veil back into the box, and then sat immobile in a chair next to the body and the huge globe - with her dreams of upward mobility shattered and closed to her forever; the scene faded to black
• the following day's headlines (being read by Miss Josephine, a cop, Nurse Mac, another nurse, Candy, and Buff) were superimposed - in bold white letters: "GRANT - IS - DEAD; - SLAIN - BY - PROSTITUTE" on the next few frames; Kelly surrendered herself for arrest by Griff and in the police station, she explained her motive for killing the sexual deviant; she explained how she knew from the first moment that she kissed Grant that he was a pervert, from their "naked kiss": "Once before, a man's kiss tasted like that. He was put away in a psycho ward. Oh, I got the same taste the first time Grant kissed me. It was, what we call a naked kiss. It's the sign of a pervert"
• Kelly was charged with murder; Griff didn't believe Kelly's explanation and kept asking: "Why did you kill him?"; Kelly continued to argue that the murder was justifiable homicide: ("He was molesting a child...the child ran out...he couldn't marry a normal woman...he said I would understand his weakness"), but Griff suspected Kelly killed Grant and had threatened him with blackmail and extortion to acquire his wealth; he also questioned why Kelly couldn't remember or describe the little girl's appearance and identity ("It was all a blur")
• a number of character witnesses (including pimp Farlunde, Dusty, Madam Candy, and Buff) were called in by Griff to testify against Kelly, to refute her claims and defame her, and to accuse her of blackmail and extortion; Farlunde planned to perjure himself to seek revenge against Kelly's desertion by claiming that she had blackmailed one of her political legislator-customers to pass a certain bill; Dusty offered to admit how Kelly had helped her to avoid having an abortion with 1,000ドル from Grant; Griff wished to prove how it was another example of money Kelly had "squeezed" out of Grant; the deceitful Madam Candy asserted that Kelly's motive was to take "healthy payoffs" from Grant to avoid having his good name and hospital besmirched; Grant had become so scared that he even promised marriage to Kelly to keep her quiet; Candy claimed that when Grant changed his mind about the wedding, Kelly killed him; Candy even denied that Buff had been advanced 25ドル dollars to work in her salon, or that Kelly had returned the money; Candy spitefully told Griff: "I've got no time to break in baby baggage"; Buff was called in to verify Candy's claims and denied being offered 25ドル dollars by Candy to avoid being shamed - Kelly also lied to back her up ("Wrong girl"); Candy was spiteful toward Kelly: "Nobody shoves dirty money in my mouth!"
• during her incarceration, Kelly looked out her jail cell window and recognized the young girl whom Grant had molested; eventually the abused girl was identified and brought into the police station to help prove Kelly's case to Griff; Kelly attempted to forcibly coerce a confession from the young girl by shaking her, to extract information about her treatment by her Uncle Grant: "Do you remember me?...Of course you remember me. You were at Uncle Grant's house. You remember Uncle Grant, don't you? Don't you remember Uncle Grant?"; with no progress, Griff suggested that Kelly speak to the child as a "mother" might, although Kelly admitted she couldn't have children and would have to pretend; Kelly urged the girl to admit to her presence in Grant's home without her parents when she was molested; Bunny described how Grant had systematically played a "special game" with her: "Uncle Grant gave me some candy. He liked the dress Mommy bought for me. He was showing me a new game, and he made me promise not to tell Mommy or Daddy or anybody, because this was a special game, just for me. Then you came in and I ran out. You're the lady with the big cardboard box"; Kelly burst out crying and hugged the little girl
• Bunny's confession was recorded and the case against Kelly was conclusively dismissed - bringing about her vindication: ("The judge and the DA gave you a clean bill of health. The whole town's got you on a pedestal for what you did for the children"); Kelly reacted: "They sure put up statues overnight around here, don't they?"; triumphant, she thanked Griff with a kiss and as she left the station, she passed by five women she had influenced in town: Miss Josephine, Nurse Mac, Buff, another nurse friend, and then Dusty

• the ex-whore Kelly - now an outsider but also a heroine - walked through a crowd of silent onlookers from town (appearing like a lynch mob) - presumably forever; the citizens had once hypocritically regarded her as the killer of the town's legendary hero, but now regarded her as the savior of the town's children; Griff noted: "She still owes me 10ドル bucks" Cop: "Then you'll be seeing her again" Griff: "She never makes change"; as she walked down the sidewalk, Kelly maternally smiled and admired a baby in a carriage; the film concluded with her viewed from above from the same angle when her bus entered town months earlier