Shock Corridor & The Naked Kiss

Samuel Fuller's death last October marked the end of the era of "tough guy" directors (including John Huston, John Ford, Robert Aldrich, and Sam Peckinpah) who broadened the definition of film noir. His screenplays, steeped in facile, innuendo-strewn dialogue, morally ambiguous situations, and crystal-perfect epiphanies, seem dated now but were liberal and daring in their time. This weekend the Brattle is presenting two of Fuller's 1960s classics in beautifully restored 35mm prints.

Shock Corridor (1963) gives us Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) as a cocky reporter determined to solve a murder at a mental institution. Getting his stripper girlfriend (Constance Towers) to pose as his sister, he feigns incestuous urges, is committed, meets the locals, undergoes electro-shock, and by gum exposes the killer and gets that Pulitzer -- but at the cost of his own sanity. The surprisingly good special effects (including gorgeous color sequences that have been unavailable for years) and Fuller's intricate construction of a dystopian "America" make this a stunning tour de force.

Less disturbing but more socially challenging is The Naked Kiss (1964). Towers now plays a prostitute in a role that perfectly showcases her classy (Hepburn) looks and her quirky (Bacall) animal grace. Egged on by a small-town vice cop, Griff (the wonderful Anthony Eisley), she quits the biz and nearly marries the town's handsome benefactor . . . but prostitutes don't get to live happily ever after. Fuller's indictment of sexual hypocrisy is impressive, at least for 1964. Cinematography by Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons, The Three Faces of Eve) helped make this an instant classic.

-- Peg Aloi