Don't Make a Scene: Kiss Me Deadly

The Story: Mike Hammer, private investigator is on a case and he finally gets a clue.

 

He thinks he's making progress on finding out who killed the woman he picked up on the highway (...and wrecked his car and tried to kill him). But, people keep getting killed and he gets beaten up as much as he dishes it out.

 

Hammer, you see, suffers from a common human fallibility—he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Not good for a detective. And yet he blunders blindly ahead. And if he doesn't know something, he'll find it out by beating it out of you.

 

But, today's scene from Robert Aldrich's version of Kiss Me Deadly, has him finding what he's been looking for—and what everybody else in the movie has been looking for—and not knowing what it is. What he does know is that it's "hot", figuratively and, surprisingly, literally. And it's up to his competition in the investigation—the police—to tell him the facts.

And the stakes escalate. How he finds out is a variation of the old Howard Hawks "cigarette" trope: cigarettes are coin of the realm, and allies offer cigarettes if asked, but are significant emotionally if they aren't...asked, that is. An ally gives if asked; a friend provides it with nothing being said. Same goes with a lit match. Here, Hammer doesn't ask for a cigarette. And Lt. Murphy of the police doesn't offer it. Hammer sees the pack and takes it, helping himself. It's the kind of selfish, narcissistic bastard he is—he'd be alright with "selfish", but he'd take a second or two figuring out "narcissistic."

 

Ironically, that cigarette ploy is the one time his selfishness pays off. And he realizes—after being told circumspectly—what the stakes are. 

 

But, that doesn't caution him off what his primary concern is at the moment. He still doesn't have a clue. But, he will.

 

Murphy allows that Hammer is going to Hell.

And that's exactly where he's going to go.

The Set-Up: A girl gets killed on your watch and you want to get to the bottom of it. Getting to the bottom of things is what you, Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), do. Trouble is, he's been nearly pushed over a cliff in his own car—it's wrecked—he's being buttonholed by local cops (especially Lt. Pat Murphy, played by Wesley Addy), the FBI, and he's had his PI license and gun permit revoked (like that's ever stopped him). His new car has been rigged with a bomb, he's been beaten and drugged, his mechanic-pal has been killed and his all-too-essential secretary has been kidnapped. Plus, he's just found what everybody he's looking for. And it's so hot, it burns. It actually burns. And before he can put some salve on it, the cops have broken into his place looking for him. All he needs to complete his day is a lecture.

Action.

 

Lt. Pat Murphy:  Yeah. Yeah, but check that bar he goes to. Check his girl's apartment in case he comes around. - 

(door opens) - 

Murphy:  Just a minute. 

Murphy:  It's OK. He just came in. - 

Murphy:  Where's the key? - 

Mike Hammer:  What key?

Murphy:  That you took from Doc Kennedy.

Hammer: I don't know what you're....

Murphy:  Don't waste my time.  The key is very important. Hand it over.

Hammer: Is it as important as Velda? 

Murphy:  If you hadn't sent her out to do your dirty work, she wouldn't be in trouble. 

Murphy:  Now give me the key. - 

Hammer:  Will you make a deal for her? - 

Murphy:  Please, the key. 

Hammer:  Sure, you'll make a deal for her. Like you did for Christina.

Hammer:  You held her under custody in a hospital and you let her get away.

Hammer:  You let her get killed. The way Raymondo and Kawolsky were killed. 

Hammer:  And Nick. And maybe Carver, too, for all I know. - 

Murphy:  Carver?

Hammer:  Yeah. Surprised? What kind of an investigation are you running, anyway? Lily Carver, Christina Bailey's roommate. 

Murphy: We fished Carver's body out of the harbor over a week ago.

Murphy: You're so bright, working on your own, you penny-ante gumshoe. 

Murphy: You thought you saw something big and you tried to horn in.

Murphy: What about this dame who's passing herself off as Carver?

Hammer reaches for a cigarette from Murphy's breast-pocket.

Murphy's annoyed at the impertinence...

Then he notices a burn mark

on Hammer's wrist.

Murphy:  How did you get that? 

Murphy:  Now listen, Mike. Listen carefully. I'm going to pronounce a few words. They're harmless words. Just a bunch of letters scrambled together. But their...

Murphy:  ...meaning is very important. Try to understand what they mean.

Murphy:  Manhattan Project. Los Alamos. 

Murphy:  Trinity. 

Hammer reaches and fumbles in his pocket.

He gives Murphy the key.

Murphy:  Let's go. -

Hammer: What about Velda? - 

Murphy:  What about her? - 

"Police detective": What about him? - 

Murphy:  Let him go to hell. 

Murphy: Let the big slob sit there and think about his girl, 

Murphy:  what's likely to happen to her. 

Hammer: I didn't know. 

Murphy:  "You didn't know." 

Murphy:  Do you think you'd have done any different if you had known?

Kiss Me Deadly

Words by A.I. Bezzerides

Pictures by Ernest Laszlo and Robert Aldrich

Kiss Me Deadly is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from the Criterion Collection.