Aldrich’s sense of narrative style is conflict between characters living in a harsh environment, whereupon the main focus is on personal ideology, the explosive tension shared by the people in the story, all conveying their own dissatisfaction and position regarding life in the present world. Aldrich blurs the lines between who is really good and evil, for the hero or antihero in his films go beyond cynical and sinful, they are motivated by their own code of ethics and pursue strictly egotistical goals. This philosophy translated well for him, when he directed his first film noir, “having Aldrich at the helm, Kiss Me Deadly is not only better noir than many, despite its unpromising substrate, but also has been more widely discussed than most” (Grant 354). Aldrich’s two most influential films are incidentally Vera Cruz and Kiss Me Deadly.
The screenwriter for Kiss Me Deadly is A. I. Bezzerides (1908 - 2007). A very gifted novelist and…show more content… Meeker was a Broadway actor in the 1940s, learned method acting, and appeared in the plays A Streetcar Named Desire and Picnic. Made his first two European films in 1951, Teresa and Four in a Jeep. However, even though Meeker’s performances in plays and films were often highly praised, his good looks and charisma, he could never reach the stardom that eluded him or enjoy A-list parts in feature films. He soon became a bit of a character actor, playing equally villainous roles to the good hero, but his entire career has gained cult status by starring Kiss Me Deadly. His portrayal of “Hammer, at least as depicted in this movie, represents a sea change from the Philip Marlowe model of rumpled white knight, or even the flawed, amoral, but self-aware Sam Spade of The Maltese Falcon (1941); Hammer is a near cipher, a bedroom dick interested as much in extorting money from his malfeasant clients as in earning his living from investigation” (Grant