Lynley Babbles
I have decided to make public
my choices of the ten best films of
1969 mainly because I do not want
to write a lengthy review of "Once
You Kiss a Stranger" and also
because I enjoy doing it. It is, at
least, a good test of my memory.
First, I must consider "Once
You Kiss a Stranger" (now playing
at the Paramount). The film deals
with a pro golfer (Paul Burke) who
consistently places second in the
tournaments and a schizophrenic
young girl (Carol Lynley) who will
be sent back to a mental institution
if she doesn't kill her psychiatrists.
Miss Lynley strikes a bargain with
Mr. Burke. She will murder his
arch-rival if he will consent to doing
away with her psychiatrist. Burke
jokingly agrees and the plot is
underway. Noel Black used pretty
much the same premise in "Pretty
Poison" and successfully combined
suspense, psychological questionings,
and swallowed humor. "Once
You Kiss a Stranger" unfortunately
lacks all three qualities simply
because too much is revealed too
soon. What made Tony Perkins and
Tuesday Weld so fascinating was
the fact that we didn't know what
to expect from them. Carol Lynley,
on the other hand, babbles about
arsenic from the very beginning.
"Once You Kiss a Stranger" can
safely be dismissed as a dull film
with a complete lack of inspiration.
