Sam Fuller's tabloid-style pulp masterpiece The Naked Kiss, is more interesting than "good". A modern day feminist story and a look at the underbelly of a small town The Naked Kiss stars Constance Towers as Kelly Kelly a prostitute who moves to Grantville, goes legit, gets a job as a nurse in a children's orthopedic hospital despite lack of training or experience, becomes engaged to the town's most prominent citizen, discovers, and exposes his "sickness", cleans up the town, strikes a blow for feminism and still has time to sing to the handicapped children.
The generally stilted acting makes the plot and dialog all the more outrageous, and yet, the film remains a singular, near indescribable and even powerful experience. Its deconstruction of small town America suggests low budget Douglas Sirk as well as Far From Heaven, Peyton Place and Blue Velvet and High Noon, with the statuesque Towers being the new sheriff in town. In the cast, the vocally endowed Towers and Virginia Grey as her adversary Candy standout with vivid and amusingly tough performances. As in Fuller's equally loony Shock Corridor(63), the editing and directing are sometimes sloppy, but they are just as often arresting and imaginative. Stanley Cortez who photographed Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter gives the film a strikingly expressionistic look. While not for every taste, the Naked Kiss is one of the more notable American films of the 60's.
The generally stilted acting makes the plot and dialog all the more outrageous, and yet, the film remains a singular, near indescribable and even powerful experience. Its deconstruction of small town America suggests low budget Douglas Sirk as well as Far From Heaven, Peyton Place and Blue Velvet and High Noon, with the statuesque Towers being the new sheriff in town. In the cast, the vocally endowed Towers and Virginia Grey as her adversary Candy standout with vivid and amusingly tough performances. As in Fuller's equally loony Shock Corridor(63), the editing and directing are sometimes sloppy, but they are just as often arresting and imaginative. Stanley Cortez who photographed Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter gives the film a strikingly expressionistic look. While not for every taste, the Naked Kiss is one of the more notable American films of the 60's.