MovieChat Forums > A Kiss Before Dying (1956) Discussion > Spoiler--- ending

Spoiler--- ending

posted 17 years ago by jjamison-2
5 replies | jump to latest

SPOILER; I just watched the movie tonight. I saw it years ago, but had forgotten it. I read the book last week. I kept telling my husband tonight "wait till you see the ending." Well, what a letdown. The ending in the book was really something, but the movie was lame and tame. I guess it was too expensive to film inside a factory and have him fall into a vat of molten copper. So he fell off a clift. Also, any woman in her right mind wouldn't take a killer out to a desolate place to accuse him of murder. That's asking for trouble. But that's exactly what Ellen did.

[–] ritamilo 17 years ago

I agree with you: I had read the book and couldn't wait to see how they handled it - and in the book, Bud's deviousness knows no bounds. The book was very well plotted out but the movie was lackluster in comparison.

"...truth against the world..."

[–] jjamison-2 17 years ago

Not long after I saw the movie again, I bought a second hand book about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Their story. I forget the name, but it was pretty good. She was quoted as saying that she thought that "A Kiss Before Dying" was the worse movie ever made. It had been years since I had seen it, but it sure wasn't as good as I remembered it being.

[–] cookiela2001 14 years ago

Surely she doesn't think her movie A New Kind of Love is any better??

That movie is just so stupid it baffles me!

(And it doesn't help that they give her some sort of "glamour treatment' that makes her look like a total drag queen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmEoaP40xw )

[–] eek-a-mouse 13 years ago

The ending was artificial. You would think that there'd be more noise, running around and emotion but it was entirely robotic. There was so much wrong with this film yet I found it strangely enjoyable. Robert Wagner did a great job, he was delicious to look at and was convincing as a calculating killer. In fact the clothes, colours, the enitire film just looked good and the rickety plot was at least fast-moving in parts.

[–] DracTarashV 12 years ago

Also, any woman in her right mind wouldn't take a killer out to a desolate place to accuse him of murder. That's asking for trouble. But that's exactly what Ellen did.

Yeah, I agree. That was extremely foolish of Ellen. But honestly, who didn't expect that was going to happen in end?

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!