The plot follows Jonathan Corliss (Dillon), a man driven by ambition, who enters into a relationship with the daughter of a wealthy copper magnate, Dorothy Carlsson (Young). When Dorothy becomes pregnant and jeopardizes his plans for wealth and power, Jonathan takes drastic and dangerous measures.
A Kiss Before Dying premiered in 26 April 1991 and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of Dillon and Young; however, it was compared unfavorably to its 1956 predecessor, with some critics arguing that the suspense and complexity of Levin's original novel were lost in this adaptation. The film emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office, grossing approximately $15.4 million worldwide against a production budget of around $15 million.
Plot
A copper refinery owned by Thor Carlsson ships metal on Carlsson Copper trains, watched by a young boy from his home beside the tracks.
Decades later, in 1987, Dorothy Carlsson, daughter of Thor Carlsson, doodles absent-mindedly during a class at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, she changes into a formal outfit and runs into her friend, Patricia Farren, but evades Patricia's questions about meeting a "mystery man".
Dorothy meets Jonathan Corliss at City Hall, where they plan to get married in secret. Finding the marriage license bureau closed for lunch, they discuss how her father would disown her if he knew what she was doing. Jonathan convinces her to wait on the roof of the building. Sitting on the parapet, Dorothy is initially hesitant, but Jonathan insists. Suddenly, he says, "I'm sorry, Dorothy. You have only yourself to blame," and pushes her over the edge. She falls through a glass skylight, crashing onto the marble floor below. Jonathan coolly retrieves her expensive cigarette lighter, mails a letter, and walks past her lifeless body as a crowd gathers.
Dorothy's father, Thor, and her twin sister, Ellen Carlsson, are devastated to learn Dorothy was pregnant and left what appears to be a suicide note, mailed the day she died. Ellen is convinced her sister didn’t kill herself. Meanwhile, Jonathan returns to his working-class home in Pittsburgh, keeping clippings about the Carlsson family, particularly the tragic deaths of Thor's wife and son. Jonathan promises his mother he will make something of himself, hitchhiking to New York where he accepts a ride from Jay Faraday, a bohemian drifter whose parents died on Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
Four months later, Ellen is working at Castle House, a shelter and outreach program. Determined to investigate Dorothy's death, Ellen meets Detective Dan Corelli in Philadelphia. Showing him Dorothy's doodle of her wedding, dated the day she died, Ellen suggests that Dorothy was lured with a promise of marriage and murdered by a boyfriend, but Corelli dismisses her suspicions.
Ellen returns to the University of Pennsylvania and, with Patricia's help, tracks down Dorothy's ex-boyfriend, Tommy Roussell. Tommy admits to having a breakdown after his relationship with Dorothy and was absent from school when she died. He remembers she dated someone else afterward and offers to show Ellen a yearbook photo of the man. Meanwhile, Jonathan, now stalking Ellen, follows her to Tommy's apartment. Tommy finds Jonathan's photo, but before he can show it to Ellen, Jonathan strangles him, stages the scene as a suicide, and types a note confessing to Dorothy’s murder. Ellen is left convinced Tommy killed Dorothy.
Back in New York, Ellen is now in a relationship with Jonathan, who has assumed the identity of Jay Faraday. Their relationship deepens as they work together at Castle House, and Jonathan impresses Thor Carlsson with his ambition. Ellen and "Jay" get married, and Jonathan joins Carlsson Copper. When Patricia calls Ellen, claiming to have remembered the identity of Dorothy’s boyfriend, Jonathan intercepts the call and arranges for Patricia to wait in her hotel room for Ellen’s call. Instead, he strangles Patricia, dismembers her in the bathtub, and dumps her remains in the East River after a night out with Ellen.
Investigating Patricia’s disappearance, a detective informs Ellen that Patricia’s diary had Ellen’s contact information. Growing suspicious, Ellen confirms with Tommy's parents that he was institutionalized at the time of Dorothy’s death. Ellen asks Detective Corelli to reopen the case, but to no avail.
At a bar, Jonathan is recognized as Jonathan Corliss by an old acquaintance from Philadelphia. Jonathan denies the claim but eventually punches the man. Ellen, unsettled, digs through a UPenn yearbook and finds Jonathan's photo. She tracks down his mother, who tells Ellen that Jonathan had committed suicide three years earlier, though his body was never found. Ellen visits Jonathan's childhood home and, while his mother is away, sneaks inside to search his room. She discovers a suitcase full of clippings about her family and Dorothy's lighter. Jonathan follows her, confessing that he killed Jay Faraday and assumed his identity. He explains that his plan to marry into the Carlsson family was thwarted by Dorothy’s pregnancy, which would have led to her disinheritance.
Jonathan prepares to strangle Ellen, but she escapes, fleeing to the train tracks where Jonathan gives chase. Jonathan is run over by a Carlsson Copper train, at the very spot where he used to watch the trains pass as a child.
The producers of A Kiss Before Dying initially wanted River Phoenix to play the role of Jonathan Corliss. They approached Phoenix multiple times, continually increasing their offers, but he felt no connection to the material and believed he was unsuitable for the part. After repeatedly turning it down, Matt Dillon was cast in the role.
For the dual roles of Ellen and Dorothy, Diane Lane and Penelope Ann Miller were both considered but ultimately rejected the part. Bridget Fonda was originally cast for the roles, but due to scheduling conflicts, she had to exit the project. Sean Young then signed on to replace her.
A Kiss Before Dying was primarily shot in Great Britain, with secondary locations in the United States.
In Great Britain, several notable sites were used. The Port Talbot Steelworks in Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, served as the backdrop for the opening sequence, specifically the "Abbey Coke Ovens area of Port Talbot Steel Works," with the Main Pumphouse, cooling tower, and water storage towers visible in the background. Additionally, [ in Welwyn Garden City and Gaddesden Place in Hemel Hempstead, both in Hertfordshire, were used for various key scenes, providing grand and elegant settings. Some of the studio filming took place at Lee International Studios in Shepperton, Surrey, and parts of the film were shot on location in London.
For the U.S. scenes, filming took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, New York City, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which offered a contrast to the British locations and added to the film's authenticity in portraying different geographical and cultural backgrounds.
Distribution
A Kiss Before Dying opened in wide release on 26 April 1991 in the United States and on 14 June 1991 in England.[4] Despite a wide release across 1,546 theaters, the box-office receipts were underwhelming. In its first week, the film grossed $4,348,165, and by the end of its four-week run, the total receipts amounted to $14,478,720. The film remained in wide release for a total of 31 days.[5]
Reception
A Kiss Before Dying received mixed reviews from critics upon release, with praise for the performances of Matt Dillon and Sean Young; however, it was compared unfavorably to its 1956 predecessor, with some critics arguing that the suspense and complexity of Levin's original novel were lost in this adaptation.
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 36% approval rating based on 14 reviews.[6] Meanwhile, audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[7]
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert praised the direction of A Kiss Before Dying and Matt Dillon's performance, writing, "This is Dillon's first film since Drugstore Cowboy (1989), and it demonstrates again that he is one of the best actors working in movies. He possesses the secret of not giving too much, of not trying so hard that we're distracted by his performance... [and director] James Dearden helps it work because he doesn't press his point."[8]
However, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers was less favorable in his review, particularly when comparing the film to its 1956 predecessor. He criticized the screenplay and direction, writing, "Though Dearden gets the surface right—the movie looks sleek—he skimps on characterization... [and] Dearden's script fails to provide the raw material that would let him go beyond the stereotype... Dearden merely walks the cast through a gauntlet of film noir clichés."[9]
Comparisons to novel
While keeping Corliss' character mostly unchanged—aside from renaming him Jonathan—the film A Kiss Before Dying made significant alterations to the plot of Ira Levin's novel. In the film, Corliss fakes his own suicide after murdering Dorothy and re-emerges under the alias "Jay Faraday" to woo and marry Dorothy's sister, Ellen. In the novel, Corliss does not assume a new identity. Additionally, Ellen's other sister, Marion, who is present in the novel, does not appear in either film adaptation. The "Gant" character from the novel was rewritten as a homicide detective investigating Dorothy's death. The film also changes Corliss' fate: in the novel, he meets a different end, but in the movie, he is ironically killed by one of Ellen’s father’s trains while chasing her after she uncovers his true identity.[10]
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