page_title: Kiss Me Deadly
hierarchical_section_title: Kiss Me Deadly
caption_attribution_description: English: One sheet poster for Kiss Me Deadly
context_page_description: Kiss Me Deadly is 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, and starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing in their feature film debuts. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker who has escaped from a psychiatric hospital. The screenplay was written by Aldrich and A. I. Bezzerides, based on the 1952 crime novel Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane.
  Kiss Me Deadly grossed $726,000 in the United States and $226,000 overseas. The film also withstood scrutiny from the Kefauver Commission, which called it a film "designed to ruin young viewers", leading director Aldrich to protest the Commission's conclusions. Despite initial critical distaste, it is considered one of the most important and influential film noirs of all time, with praise directed at its bleak tone, deconstruction of pulp fiction archetypes, and twist ending.
context_section_description: Kiss Me Deadly is 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, and starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing in their feature film debuts. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker who has escaped from a psychiatric hospital. The screenplay was written by Aldrich and A. I. Bezzerides, based on the 1952 crime novel Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane.
  Kiss Me Deadly grossed $726,000 in the United States and $226,000 overseas. The film also withstood scrutiny from the Kefauver Commission, which called it a film "designed to ruin young viewers", leading director Aldrich to protest the Commission's conclusions. Despite initial critical distaste, it is considered one of the most important and influential film noirs of all time, with praise directed at its bleak tone, deconstruction of pulp fiction archetypes, and twist ending.
  The film has been noted as a stylistic precursor to the French New Wave, and has been cited as a major influence on a number of filmmakers, including François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Alex Cox, and Quentin Tarantino. In 1999, Kiss Me Deadly was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
caption: Theatrical release poster
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