My first thought, upon seeing this cover, was that the lady in the dressing gown was offering the dude a rather easy choice: lead or booby. But even if the platinum crayon is not the sharpest in the box, that isn't a very likely scenario.Upon consideration I decided that she must have just pulled the revolver out of her robe. But that doesn't really scan either. You can't tuck a heavy gun in a lightly-tied terry-cloth sash. And pulling it out rapidly would probably result in seriously chafed nipple, a hole in your robe... oh, and blowing your own foot off.
I must admit to never having read this Mike Hammer classic, is there really a scene like the one shown on the cover? I have to read the damn thing and find out. I don't remember anything fo the sort in the movie (1955) (which drops the patently unecessary comma in the title). But honestly it is the nightmare inducing final act that sticks in my mind rather than the rampantly noir femme-fatale-ing along the way.
10 comments:
Hm. If deadly is someone's name, then the title needs the comma. If deadly is an adverb, modifying "kiss," then, uh, it makes no sense. x_x
By the way, sorry about letting the comment you left in my blog drift for so long; I had forgotten that I had enabled comment moderation.
I think she was ravaged and is pulling her robe together and pulling the gun :)
Now, I want to read it - or see the movie.
She was in the middle of breast feeding when an intruder broke through the window and her Brinks Home Security representative was eating a sandwich when the alarm went off..?
It looks like she was grabbing onto something and gathering her wits.
She does look like she's trying to open that robe. I mean she's pulling on the darn thing.
I think the artist was just trying to make her look dramatic-- you can almost hear a sound when you look at the picture!
Darnit! Someone is trying to break in!
She looks a little menacing with that gun in her hand!
Is this lover or hubby?
From the film's tagline:
"I don't care what you do to me, Mike - just do it fast!"
That explains the cover, I think. Boy, that Mickey Spillane sure can write.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWS9N72tqhk#t=292s
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