A Kiss Before Dying (1991 film)
| A Kiss Before Dying | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Dearden |
| Produced by | Robert Lawrence |
| Screenplay by | James Dearden |
| Based on | the 1953 novel A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Cinematography | Mike Southon |
| Edited by | Michael Bradsell |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million |
| Box office | $15,429,177 |
A Kiss Before Dying is a 1991 British-American neo-noir film. It was directed by James Dearden, and based on the novel by Ira Levin, whose book won the 1954 Edgar Award for "Best First Novel." The drama features Matt Dillon, Sean Young, Max von Sydow and Diane Ladd. The story had been previously adapted under the same name in 1956. This was the last film to use the 75th Anniversary 1990s Universal Pictures logo.
Sometime in the past, a copper refinery owned by Thor Carlsson (Max von Sydow) has metal shipped out on Carlsson Copper trains that run right behind a young boy's house, who stares out forlornly at the tracks.
1987: The University of Pennsylvania. A blonde student, Dorothy Carlsson (Sean Young) doodles in her notebook during class, drawing herself being married to a suitor. After class, she changes into a more formal outfit, and runs into her friend Patricia Farren (Martha Gehman) on her way out. Patricia asks if she is going to meet her "mystery man", but Dorothy claims she is just going to meet her father for lunch.
On her way across town, Dorothy asks the cab to wait while she buys a new pair of shoes. At city hall, she meets Jonathan Corliss (Matt Dillon). The couple go up to the marriage license bureau, but it is closed for lunch. They discuss how her father would disown her if he knew what she was doing. Jonathan convinces her to wait for the office to reopen on the roof of the building. Eventually, he tosses her over the edge, taking her gold lighter and cigarettes, leaving her purse and tossing her new shoes after her plunging body. In the lobby, he mails a letter and calmly walks past her body as the crowd gathers.
Thor and his daughter Ellen, Dorothy's twin, are shocked to find out Dorothy was pregnant and to read Dorothy's suicide note, which was mailed the day she died. Ellen cannot believe that her sister would kill herself. Jonathan returns to his working class home in Pittsburgh possessing a portfolio of clippings regarding the Carlsson family and fortunes, particularly the suicides of Thor's wife and son. Promising his mother that he will make something of his life, he hitchikes to New York, getting a ride from Jay Farraday (Adam Horovitz) who reveals that he is a bohemian drifter whose parents had died on Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
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