The Death Kiss Reviews

Three principal actors from Todd Browning's DRACULA (Lugosi, Manners, and Van Sloan), star in this mystery about an actor who is murdered on the Hollywood back lot of the fictitious Tonart Studios. The killing occurred during the filming of a gangster movie and, while it is first assumed that real bullets were substituted for blanks, it is later discovered that the fatal shot came from a different caliber gun. Under a cloud of suspicion are studio chief Grossmith (Carr), his manager Steiner (Lugosi), actress Marcia Lane (Ames), director Tom Avery (Van Sloan), and an extra, Chalmers (Roscoe). Screenwriter Franklyn Drew (Manners), who is in love with Marcia, sets out to solve the crime and clear the actress' name. Although the mystery itself is pretty routine, DEATH KISS is a rare film that offers a fascinating look behind the scenes at Tiffany Studios, located on Sunset Boulevard, which folded during the Depression. The actual studio projection rooms, dressing rooms, makeup rooms, street, and buildings were used. The film also marked the directorial debut of Edwin L. Marin who, before he died in 1951, was to direct 50 movies, many of them nifty thrillers and bright minor comedies. This picture was one of only a very few talkies which had hand-colored sequences. One such device, used to good effect, occurs when the rushes from the murder scene are projected; the story line has the film catching fire, and the effect is realized for the audience as the screen reddens with supposed flames.