A Kiss Before Dying
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| A Kiss Before Dying (1956) | |
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 A Kiss Before Dying DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Gerd Oswald |
| Written by | Ira Levin Lawrence Roman |
| Starring | Robert Wagner Jeffrey Hunter Virginia Leith Joanne Woodward Mary Astor |
| Music by | Lionel Newman |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 12, 1956 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 94 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
A Kiss Before Dying is a novel by Ira Levin. The book won a 1954 Edgar Award, for Best First Novel, and it has been adapted to film twice: a 1956 version starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward, and a 1991 version starring Matt Dillon and Sean Young.
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[edit] 1956 film
The 1956 version was color film noir directed by Gerd Oswald.
Robert Wagner plays Bud Corliss, a student who is wooing Dorothy Kingship (Joanne Woodward) purely for her father's mining fortune. When he finds she is pregnant he realizes she is quite likely to be disinherited. Bud then murders Dorothy, with it staged in a way that it appears to be a suicide. After a couple of months her sister, Ellen, finds evidence to question the suicide verdict, but by then has a new boyfriend of her own, who turns out to be Bud.
[edit] Trivia
- Many of the scenes were shot at University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
- The movie was filmed in CinemaScope and Deluxe Color.
- Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter were paired again in director Nicholas Ray's The True Story of Jesse James.
- Director Oswald worked mainly in TV directing episodes of Star Trek and The Outer Limits. Oswald later directed another film noir, the cult film The Screaming Mimi, in 1958.
[edit] Main cast (1956)
- Robert Wagner - Bud Corliss
- Jeffrey Hunter - Gordon Gant; a math teacher/cop
- Virginia Leith - Ellen Kingship
- Joanne Woodward - Dorothy Kingship
- Mary Astor - Mrs. Corliss
[edit] External links
[edit] 1991 film
The film was remade in 1991 starring Matt Dillon and Sean Young. The screenplay and direction by James Dearden.
Sean Young received a Golden Raspberry Award each for her role as the twins.
A number of scenes in the film were shot at Port Talbot steelworks, South Wales, UK.
[edit] Main cast (1991)
- Matt Dillon - Jonathon Corliss
- Sean Young - Ellen/Dorothy Carlsson
- Diane Ladd - Mrs. Corliss
