Line #44 Film/KissMeDeadly


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3	->'''Christina Bailey:''' You have only one real lasting love.\
4	'''Literature/MikeHammer:''' Now who could that be?\
5	'''Christina Bailey:''' You. You're one of those self-indulgent males who thinks about nothing but his clothes, his car, himself. Bet you do push-ups every morning just to keep your belly hard.
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7	1955 FilmNoir adaptation of the CrimeFiction novel by Mickey Spillane, directed by Creator/RobertAldrich (''Film/TheDirtyDozen'', ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'') and starring Ralph Meeker as UsefulNotes/LosAngeles PrivateDetective Literature/MikeHammer.
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9	Spillane didn't much care for the film, as it actually deconstructed his macho, tough guy creation and differed from the original story by involving UsefulNotes/ColdWar espionage and a nuclear MacGuffin. Originally unsuccessful upon its theatrical release, it is now considered one of the classic examples of FilmNoir and was later cited as influential among directors of the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave and also Creator/QuentinTarantino when he made ''Film/PulpFiction''.
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11	A terrified young woman named Christina Bailey (Creator/ClorisLeachman in her first credited screen role) wearing only a trenchcoat is running down a highway at night. She stops a car driven by private divorce detective Mike Hammer. He picks her up, from then on becoming embroiled in a plot involving murder, missing scientists and a mysterious box...
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13	----
14	!!Trope Me Deadly:
15	* AdaptationalMundanity: Inverted: the "Great Whatsit" and everything related to it didn't exist in the Hammer story that inspired this film, [[spoiler:and although Gabrielle still goes off like a Roman candle in it, it's because it is revealed she constantly slathers herself in alcohol to stave off the pain of a highly-burned body and Hammer exploits it with a ReusableLighterToss.]]
16	* AdaptationalVillainy: This film did not do Mike Hammer any favors. Whereas in the books Hammer was merely a standard Private Eye ({{Jerkass}} at times, but otherwise good), this movie made him a goddamn ''{{sadist}}.'' He's honestly not much better than the people he's up against. This is one of the reasons that Mickey Spillane didn't like the film.
17	* AffablyEvil: The erudite and philosophical Dr. Soberin, made more ironic by how brutally he handles people to get what he wants.
18	* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: [[spoiler:The "Great Whatsit" is clearly meant to contain unstable radioactive isotopes of a sort. But the way it behaves is more in the direction of GreenRocks than an actual nuclear reaction.]]
19	* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: Swallowing an entire bottle of sleeping drug will put a person in a coma or kill him outright, not put him in a deep, snoring sleep like William Mist.
20	* CoolCar: Mike's two-seat white Jaguar convertible.
21	* TheCoroner: Mike tries to bribe one to get a key from him. When the coroner tries to get more money from him, Mike slams his fingers in a desk drawer until he gives it to him.
22	* CreativeClosingCredits: [[InvertedTrope Opening credits, that is.]] They're shown in reverse order, descending from the top of the screen in a scroll. The title is thus rendered as [-DEADLY' 'KISS ME-], while Meeker's credit appears like this:
23	--> MEEKER\
24	RALPH\
25	STARRING
26	* DamselInDistress: Christina Bailey and later her roommate Lily Carver. Subverted in she is later revealed to be not the real Lily but Gabrielle, the mistress of the BigBad.
27	* DeadPersonImpersonation: Gabrielle is pretending to be Lily Carver, though Mike doesn't find out she's dead until it's too late.
28	* {{Deconstruction}}: Director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides deconstructed the HardboiledDetective character here, depicting him as a vicious, amoral {{narcissist}}.
29	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The film ends with the "Great Whatsit" being opened by Gabrielle, who screams in agony as she (and the beach house) goes up like a Roman candle. The only survivors are Mike and Velda, who stagger out into the sea terrified and confused as Hell seems to come to Earth.]]
30	* DrowningMySorrows: Mike goes to a bar and downs a whole bottle of bourbon after his friend Nick is killed for getting involved in Mike's investigation.
31	* DutchAngle: Used throughout a scene where a dazed Hammer briefly regains consciousness in the hospital.
32	* EveryCarIsAPinto: Mike's car bursts into flame while gently rolling down a ravine.
33	* ExternalCombustion: The killers have left a sports car outside his apartment building in perfect condition. His mechanic friend Nick goes to start it but Mike stops him and and shows that under the hood there's a bomb connected to the starter. Later when they check under the car at Nick's garage Mike shows that there was a '''second bomb''' set to go off when the car accelerates to higher speeds driving in the country.
34	* FeetFirstIntroduction: Soberin is introduced with a shot of his highly-polished wingtip shoes; until his final scene, all the audience sees of him are his lower legs and feet.
35	* FemmeFatale: [[spoiler:Lily Carver, who tricks Mike into thinking she's an innocent damsel but is actually an impostor, and a murderous one to boot.]]
36	* FriendOnTheForce: Lt. Pat Murphy, who tries to get Hammer to step aside. Towards the end a scornful Murphy notes that Hammer's selfishness has endangered Velda.
37	* ForbiddenFruit: [[spoiler:Soberin repeatedly warns Gabrielle against opening the box containing the "Great Whatsit", telling her that it contains something that is both extremely dangerous and way out of her comprehension. It eventually drives Gabrielle to double-cross him just so she can have a look inside it.]]
38	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The chaotic editing near the film's climax makes it seem like the "Great Whatsit" is so dangerous that it's ''destroying the film reel.''
39	* GainaxEnding: one of the most infamous in Hollywood history. After 90 minutes of fairly typical film noir plotting, [[spoiler:"Lily" opens the briefcase after Soberin desperately warned her not to. Whatever is inside, apparently nuclear in nature, instantly consumes the entire house in fire while releasing an unearthly, demonic screech and the film just ''ends'' while Mike and Velda are scrambling for safety.]]
40	* GenreSavvy: Mike figures out there's not one, but ''two'' bombs planted in a car delivered to him.
41	* GirlFriday: Velda, who runs Mike's business affairs, is a HoneyPot for his divorce cases, and apparently provides sex whenever he wants it.
42	* TheFifties
43	* HardboiledDetective
44	* HeManWomanHater: Hammer. He's ''worse'' in the novel.
45	* InterrogationByVandalism: Mike smashes an opera singer's valuable 78 rpm record in order to get information from him.
46	* {{Jerkass}}: Mike, especially the scene where he breaks a valuable opera record of someone he's questioning.
47	* KansasCityShuffle: Averted and lampshaded by Hammer saying the bomb he and Nick find shortly after opening up the car's hood is "the one we were meant to find."
48	* KubrickStare: Produced in the last scene when a homicidal Lily/Gabrielle looks up at the much taller Mike.
49	* KungFoley: Some earth-shattering blows when Hammer fights two mooks on the beach.
50	* MacGuffin: The "Great Whatsit", which is never really explained, but is something nuclear and very deadly.
51	--> '''Velda''': What is it? Who cares?
52	* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Christine's kidnapping and murder reveals a plot to steal some sort of ghastly nuclear device.
53	* ThatMysteriousThing or "Great Whatsit". Justified as it's ClassifiedInformation.
54	-->'''Lt. Pat Murphy:''' Now listen, Mike. Listen carefully. I'm going to pronounce a few words. They're harmless words. Just a bunch of letters scrambled together. But their meaning is very important. Try to understand what they mean. "Manhattan Project, Los Alamos, Trinity."
55	* PetTheDog: Mike's genuine friendship for Nick the mechanic and also his unusual (for the times) friendship and rapport with a couple of African American characters in the film. He also helps the old man up the steps with his luggage, and although he does end up benefitting from it shortly after, in the moment it seems he's genuinely being nice.
56	* PlayingBothSides: Mike Hammer's method as a divorce detective. He's hired by a husband to get evidence against his wife for a divorce, then secretly is hired by the wife to get evidence against her husband.
57	* PlotTriggeringDeath: Christina's death.
58	* RuleOfSymbolism: The horrific ungodly screeches made by the "Great Whatsit" at the film's climax sound more like TheLegionsOfHell than [[spoiler:a sub-critical nuclear reactor core going critical]].
59	* SchmuckBait: Soberin warned Gabrielle repeatedly not to open the case. Since he gave that warning one last time just after she fatally shot him, he might have been counting on schmucking her so she'd get herself killed.
60	* SwallowTheKey: Christine leaves Mike a note which leads to him figuring out that she swallowed something to hide it from the bad guys. Sure enough, he retrieves a key from the coroner.
61	* TheTeaser: Christine is shown running alone on the highway at night. After she gets picked up by Mike Hammer the opening credits begin.
62	* TheUnreveal: The mysterious briefcase. All we see is that it gives off a blindingly bright glow (possibly nuclear in origin).
63	* WhamShot: After a good while of appearing to just be a standard issue film noir, Mike opens the case and finds it's a [[spoiler:brightly glowing ''something'' that makes an ''ungodly'' screech]], bringing the story into science fiction or even fantasy out of nowhere.
64	* WhatsInItForMe: Hammer says this when Murphy urges him to tell what he knows and let the police handle things.

Context Film / KissMeDeadly