Review of The Naked Kiss (1964) by Brian R — 10 Oct 2010

I can see where Martin Scorsese gets his influence from. There is a scene in Sam Fuller's "The Naked Kiss" where Kelly(Constance Towers) goes to see an older woman who owns a brothel named Candy(Virginia Grey), Kelly is upset because Candy has given extra money to a girl who is a nurse but wants to become a prostitute. As soon as the two women enter the room there is music playing in the background and a sudden burst of violence occurs. Another great scene is when Kelly is having a tough love conversation to the same woman who is thinking about getting into prostitution. Kelly immediately refocuses her thinking saying...

"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 clothes, compliments, 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. 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".

Ok..ok..so I copied that memorable quote at IMDB but it just shows how sincere and blunt Kelly is as a woman because she used to be a slave to men and makes sure no other woman close to her becomes a worthless statistic. I also liked the scene where Fuller uses close up shots of small children who partake in a song at the hospital and I feel it's a way to give them hope dispite their disadvantages, but it's also a foreshadow that will haunt Kelly for the last remaining scenes in the picture.

Fuller uses good use of the camera especially during the opening scene and he also makes his lead a woman who does not and will not take a back seat to men. Constance Towers can stand on her own two feet.