The Death Kiss
Director:
Edwin L. Marin
Year: 1932
Rating: 7.0
Audiences who
were lured into a film with this title and starring Bela Lugosi and two other
actors from the 1932 Dracula must have been more than a bit surprised to
discover that it wasn't a horror film - no vampires, no necks to be drained
of blood. I know I was. But this isn't from Universal and is in fact produced
by Tiffany Pictures (whoever they were) who I expect got these actors on
loan out. But instead of knocking off a horror script which you would expect,
they deliver a very tidy fast moving murder mystery based on a book by Madelon
St. Dennis (whoever she might be). It is quite good. A minor gem among the
dross of low budget films coming in at 70 minutes.
A gentleman is leaving a club and is waylaid
by a kiss from an attractive lady (Adrienne Ames) who then walks away. This
is a signal to a bunch of gangsters in a car who then gun him down. But then
the camera pulls back and you realize it is a movie set making a film titled
. . . you got it . . The Death Kiss. But someone used a real bullet and the
star of the studio is dead. The studio mogul (who is clearly from Eastern
Europe and mangles English and is probably modeled on a real life mogul but
not sure which one as this fits a bunch of them at the time) is immediately
concerned about the bottom line, another person in publicity says upon hearing
the news "On general principle that's a good thing". The script writer played
by David Manners exclaims "It should have been done years ago".
Clearly not a well loved character and
the suspects are plenty. Though Lugosi gets spread all over the posters that
also falsely shout out to the unknowing - this is a horror film - his role
is probably 5th or 6th in terms of screen time and he disappears for much
of the middle of the film. He is the studio publicity man who tries to control
the story. As it is Lugosi you expect somehow he pulled off the murder but
he wasn't on the stage. Still it is Lugosi. The cops are as usual not up
to the task and so Manners does his own investigation to save his girl who
is the prime suspect. And the killings (more are to come) are fairly clever
as is the solution. One murder that interested me was when poison was put
into a bottle in the refrigerator through the hatch to the outside that the
ice men used to deliver ice directly into the ice box. I wonder how common
this was back then because this was what my grandfather did - deliver ice
house to house in Worcester Mass, back in the 1930's. This sure made it convenient.
And for killing as well.
The other actor from Dracula was Edward
van Sloan who plays the director. He has the honor of having appeared in
the great Universal trifecta - Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. Throw
in his role as Van Helsing in Dracula's Daughter as he was in Dracula and
you have yourself some status. Also on hand proving some comic relief as
the studio security is Vince Barnett, you would recognize him if you saw
him - he showed up in hundreds of films as the comic relief. I don't want
to over blow this film but it was unexpectedly good from the writing to the
directing from Edwin Marin in his debut. He would go on to direct some very
solid B films. This is up on YouTube in rather bad shape but apparently Kino
thought enough of the film to restore it and put it out.