Early '30's

THE DEATH KISS-1932-This murder-mystery is sometimes advertised as a horror film as it has three stars  from the previous year's DRACULA.

 An actor (who no one seems to like) is shot dead while filming a scene for the Hollywood film "The Death Kiss". His leading lady Marcia Lane (Adrienne Ames) comes under suspicion because they were once married. Her boyfriend Franklyn Drew (David Manners) is the "scenario" writer playing amateur detective. Other suspects are the film within a film's director (Edward Sloan), the cliched Jewish studio owner Grossmith (Alexander Carr who says "Oy! This is gonna cost me a fortune !" when informed of the murder), his prissy male secretary (Harold Minjir) and studio manager Joseph Steiner (Bela Lugosi). Two detectives (John Wray and Wade Boteler) investigate. When the filmed scene is shown to the crew the murderer pours acid on the film and the explosion and smoke are tinted! Drew teams up with a comical studio guard (Vince Barnett) to solve the murder.

There's a lot of clever dialogue but Lugosi (in WHITE ZOMBIE and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS the same year) is wasted in a small role and Manners' character is too cocky. It's the first film directed by Edward L.Marin who later made the 1938 version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and many other low budget features.

THE DEATH KISS was one of the last films produced by the small Tiffany Pictures (1921-1932) before it went bankrupt. Their other productions included westerns, comedy shorts and the James Whale directed (and seldom seen) JOURNEY'S END.

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