I've mentioned Ira Levin several times in this blog and I talk about him in The Life of Crime. He wasn't a prolific novelist, but most of his books were filmed. He was also a top class mystery playwright, responsible for Deathtrap and the much less renowned but intriguing Veronica's Room. A very talented writer indeed.
Yet even though I'm a Levin fan, for some reason I've not yet covered his brilliant Edgar-winning debut novel A Kiss Before Dying on this blog - one of these days! - although I've mentioned it in passing. Now I've seen the original film based on the book, which dates from 1956. I gather a remake in the 90s was pretty dire, but this one is a good watch.
For reasons I won't elaborate on here, the screenplay structures the story in a different way from the book - and this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in the circumstances. The young Robert Wagner plays Bud Cortiss, a handsome but slightly raffish young student who is less than pleased to be told that his girlfriend (played by the equally young Joanne Woodward, who was also destined for future success) is pregnant and that her father is likely to disinherit her.
The key plot twist in the film isn't as effective as the comparable revelation in the book, but nevertheless this is a fairly short, snappy movie that kept me entertained. And it's a bonus to see two well-known film stars right at the start of their careers.
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