Fuller Himself: The Naked Kiss (1964)

Hello, everyone, and welcome to August’s third new feature, Fuller Himself. We all know that I adore Hitchcock, and he is easily my favorite director, but you might wonder who comes in at the number two spot. Well, that’s none other than the titular director that this whole feature will be about, Mr. Samuel Fuller. In the past I have looked at several of his films including Shark, I Shot Jesse James, Forty Guns (which stars The Irrepressible Miss Stanwyck), and Pickup on South Street, but I wanted to delve deeper into his catalog and share some more favorites with you, both new and old. Today’s film is a first time watch for me, and how I went so long without seeing this gem I’ll never know. Throughout Sam’s career he stayed on the cutting edge. No matter if it was the rough and ready female ranch owner, examining racism, or the integrity of cops and crooks, Fuller was willing and able to post the envelope, but with today’s film, The Naked Kiss, he found out just how dangerous to a film maker that could be.