I wanted to see a young Joanne Woodward and an older Mary Astor. Both two great actresses. But Joanne does not have a big role, she's killed before the half of the movie. And Mary has a small role, she's the mother of the character played by Robert Wagner. Which never was a favorite of mine, but he's a good actor. Here too he performs well the role of the disturbed criminal. A pleasure to see Virginia Leith, from "The Brain That Would not Die", very sexy in swimsuit beside the pool. Another nice surprise to see George Macready, from "Gilda", in the role of the father. The film it's not great, just watchable.

I rarely rank a film as high as an 8 but Joanne Woodward's work here merits it.She is amazingly touching and convincing as a naive and idealistic pregnant coed who would like to believe her boyfriend loves her for who she is, and not for her father's fortune.It's painful to watch as Robert Wagner says things that belie his true, predatory nature, and Dorie takes each subtle blow with silent consternation. Suspense builds inexorably until the trusting Dorie finds herself perched on that rooftop, the ultimate sitting duck. Bud's push must constitute a classic moment of film horror.Also compelling was Robert Quarry as an innocent man -- looking far too old to be a collegian bunking in a dorm -- who plays perfectly into Bud's machinations.Several puzzling questions distracted from the film's overall fine quality. I questioned Dorie's reaction to having tumbled down the bleacher steps. Clearly she was lovesick and gullible; however, it strained credulity for her not to notice that something had been just a tad suspicious. (And she pulled herself together too easily from what would have been a significant body blow.) Nor did I get how Bud entered into the surviving sister's life, without so much as mentioning that he had known Dorie. This was a superb thriller and it leaves me curious to see more of both Ms. Woodward and Wagner.

Would you murder for money? Would you murder to get ahead? Would you marry someone you don't love for a piece of the pie? Robert Wagner is only too eager to do something, anything to get what he wants. What does he want? Mary Astor is his mother, who thinks he's a genius. Joanne Woodward thinks he's sweet and a nice person. Jeffrey Hunter tries to help the police unravel the puzzle that lets victims fall where they will. "A Kiss Before Dying" is a tale of one who thinks he's above suspicion, above the law. This suspenseful and lavishly produced film is a cross between a melodrama and horror, as you're taken on a ride, you can't get off until the end and leaves you wondering, was it all worth it? All we want out of life is security and happiness, but at what price? Forget plausibility and forgive the loopholes. "A Kiss Before Dying" is one movie that you should learn from or else....

"A Kiss Before Dying" is a tense crime thriller in which a cold, calculating, psychopathic student, who is determined to be rich, ruthlessly pursues his goal without any concern for those who suffer as a result of his actions.Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner) is the son of an absent father who never did well financially and is powerfully driven to take a different route and become wealthy. Having carried out some research on a local mining company, he pursues a plan to make a fortune by becoming a part of the family who own the business. To this end, he has been courting Dorothy (Dorie)Kingship (Joanne Woodward), but a problem arises when she becomes pregnant and marriage is not a viable proposition because her stern, puritanical father would be certain to disinherit her. Dorie doesn't care about being disowned by her father and quite relishes breaking away from his influence but for Bud, this would defeat the purpose of his relationship with her. Bud pretends to be equally keen to go ahead and marry but murders Dorie in a spectacular fashion after having tricked her into writing a note which gives the impression that she's committed suicide.A little time after Dorie's "suicide", Bud starts to court her sister Ellen (Virginia Leith). This is possible because his relationship with Dorie had always been carried on in secret. Unfortunately for Bud, Ellen has never been fully convinced that her sister would have taken her own life and she starts to come across further information which supports that view. When she is led to believe that Bud knew Dorie, her doubts about him grow.Corliss is intense, crafty and full of guile and at the same time lacks any sincerity, passion or spontaneity. Robert Wagner in one of his early screen roles, portrays this complex mixture of qualities well and it's perfectly understandable that his rather dour, downbeat, demeanour would seem quite acceptable to Dorie because of her father's similarly cold nature. Joanne Woodward (also in one of her early roles) is convincingly naive, vulnerable and gullible. It's also rather ironical that a conflict between the two characters should exist in a situation where both are attracted to the idea of marriage to the other because such a move would remove them from their existing circumstances.The scene at the sports field where Bud and Dorie are in the seated area discussing their predicament is visually quite striking as the almost abstract background seems to be closing in on them and in so doing, reinforces the strong sense of despair and entrapment which Bud is feeling at that time. The manner in which Bud is visually revealed as Ellen's new boyfriend and the way in which Dorie's murder is depicted, are just two further highlights of this interesting and absorbing melodrama.