Death Kiss (1933)
Director - Edwin L. Marin
The Plot
A society woman pulls up to a night club, gets out of the car and walks up to a man she does not know. She kisses him and goes into the club. Moments later the man is shot. Except that it's a movie set and it's make believe. Or is it? The actor has actually been shot and the Tonart Film Studio is thrown into chaos.
Film Notes
Starts With a Bang
The Death Kiss is one of the earliest films set within the movie industry itself. As noted above, a Judas kiss gets this film off to a quick start, and the pace of the plot and industry background keep it interesting.
There's not much visual style to this film, other than a couple of shots that are framed as though looking through the lens of a film projector; otherwise, it is the basic flat early "talkie" look.
Together Again
The terrific trio of Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan and David Manners are teamed up once again in The Death Kiss. The three starred just two years before in Dracula. This time they leave the horror behind as Mr Lugosi is the studio manager, Mr Van Sloan a film director, and Mr Manners a screenwriter.
Not Leaving Manners Behind
Many times cast as the straight man in a host of horror movies, David Manners gets to stretch out a bit in this film as a sarcastic, jaded Hollywood insider. Though Lugosi was the bigger name, The Death Kiss is really Manners' film.
David Manners worked nonstop in Hollywood after his arrival in 1930, but by 1936, bored with typecasting, he left the film industry for good and headed for a successful stage career. He appeared on Broadway in Maxwell Anderson's Truckline Cafe in 1946, a production also notable for Marlon Brando's second New York stage role.
Manners began leaving acting behind in the late 40s and early 50s and converted to yet another career as a writer, first as a novelist and later delving into philosophy and metaphysics. In his later years he became a dedicated painter. He was 98 years old when he died.
There's Trivia and Then There Is...
- Edward Van Sloan, usually cast as a European, was born in San Francisco in 1886 and died there too, in 1964.
- David Manners also starred with Bela Lugosi in The Black Cat, and starred once again with Edward Van Sloan in The Mummy.
-- Ed Schneider - Alameda TV
-- Ed Schneider
Cast & Production Credits
| Bela Lugosi | Joseph Steiner |
| David Manners | Franklyn Drew |
| Adrienne Ames | Marcia Lane |
| John Wray | Detective Sheehan |
| Vince Barnett | Officer Gulliver |
| Alexander Carr | Leon Grossmith |
| Edward Van Sloan | Tom Avery |
| Harold Minjir | Howell |
| Wade Boteler | Sgt. Hilliker |
| Al Hill | Assistant Director |
| Barbara Bedford | Script Girl |
| Alan Roscoe | Chalmers |
| Mona Maris | Mrs. Avery |
| Edmund Burns | Brent |
| Produced by World Wide Films | |
| Edwin L. Marin | Director |
| Barry Barringer | Screenwriter |
| Gordon Kahn | Screenwriter |
| Madelon St. Dennis | Book Author |
| Norbert F. Brodin | Cinematographer |
| Val Burton | Musical Direction/Supervision |
| Martin G. Cohn | Editor |
| Rose E. Loewinger | Editor |
| Ralph M. DeLacey | Art Director / Set Designer |
