Angie Dickinson Stylishly Adorns DePalma's Dressed to Kill

Viewing an assortment of key films from Angie Dickinson’s impressive cinematic output for a recent tribute video (which can be viewed here), I once again was awed by her remarkable work in director Brian DePalma’s daring, inventive and enthralling Dressed to Kill.  At this stage in her career, Dickinson had honed her craft over twenty-five years in films and television (most recently with the huge success of her most famous endeavor, Police Woman), and in Dressed she masterfully offers a portrayal full of nuance, warmth and skill. Dickinson would continue to thrive as a noted performer, but it’s quite possible she reached her peak as a screen performer of unique skill and presence in this 1980 thriller, now regarded as a signature work of the suspense genre.

DePalma expertly guides his first-rate cast through the various plot twists and turns, while keeping implausibility at bay for much of the running time, with a strong assist from Ralf D. Bode’s dreamy cinematography, which ideally captures NYC circa 1980, and Pino Donaggio’s memorably lush score, which switches from sensual to eerie with uncanny precision. Although known for being heavily influenced by the work of Alfred Hitchcock, Dressed shows DePalma at his peak in using a vivid style all his own to detail modern, more explicit themes than Hitchcock was allowed to, while also adding moments of humor to the often tense proceedings, in a manner the Master of Suspense would admire.

As Kate Miller, a beautiful, serene, yet sexually discontent housewife, Dickinson is front-and-center throughout the first portion of the film and makes nary a false move while the camera’s invasive eye stays firmly focused on her, frequently in close-ups that afford Dickinson the chance to illustrate the wealth of emotions Kate faces during a day out-and-about in NYC. In perhaps the film’s most noteworthy sequence, the lonely Kate is both pursued by and pursues a mysterious, handsome stranger during a visit to an art museum. As the camera tracks Kate’s every move while Donaggio’s score sets a properly serene-yet-uneasy tone, Dickinson exposes the tension, surprise, regret, vulnerability and fear the character goes through, until a final meeting in a cab outside the museum brings the couple together for an afternoon tryst. Throughout this lengthy passage, Dickinson provides a perfect example of the subtleties involved in the art of believably emoting on film, and her riveting, tour-de-force work completely pulls the viewer into Kate’s world.

Similarly, in possibly her finest moment in the film, Dickinson skillfully illustrates great depth of feeling in her penultimate scene, wherein Kate, in an elevator after her rendezvous, finds herself needing to return to her lover’s apartment to retrieve her wedding ring. Kate has just left the apartment in shame, after discovering her pick-up has a venereal disease, and the concern and anguish Kate is experiencing are vividly depicted by Dickinson. On her way back up, a mother and daughter enter the elevator, whereupon the daughter becomes focused on Kate and continually stares at her, despite her mother chastising her to stop doing so. As the little girl fixes her gaze, Dickinson does a magnificent job in detailing the trapped Kate’s quite breakdown, as guilt overwhelms her in the elevator’s confined quarters. It’s playing of a rare, sublime order and, along with her expert emoting elsewhere, indicates Dickinson’s beautiful performance is deserving of much more praise than it has been granted, both then and now.

In addition to Dickinson’s memorable work, in the chief role of Kate’s psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Elliot, Michael Caine skillfully adopts a sly, low-key manner in relation to the frequently florid action surrounding him. After breaking through with his iconic role in 1966’s Alfie and establishing himself as one of the most dependable and talented leading men of his generation, Caine was in the midst of a career crossroads, with recent offerings such as The Swarm and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure working to erode any luster the likes of excellent notices via a California Suite might bring Caine. The success of Dressed and Caine’s fine work in a very offbeat role indicated better things lay ahead for the star, which indeed was the case, with two Oscars and a healthy dose of critical and popular successes during the decades to come, along with the occasional Blame it on Rio to back up Caine’s amiable claim that he rarely turned down a good paycheck.

 As Liz Blake, the alert call girl who inadvertently finds herself embroiled in murder, Nancy Allen performs with the unique comic flair, openness and sex appeal that marked her indelible breakthrough work in DePalma’s 1976 classic Carrie, albeit this time in a much more likable role. In Allen’s hands, Liz proves to be as sage as she is saucy in abetting Kate’s brainy son, Peter (played with great appeal by the quick-witted Keith Gordon), in cracking Dressed’s central mystery. This oddball pairing and the great chemistry Allen and Gordon generate does much to enliven the second half of Dressed with a comic sensibility that nicely counters the more unnerving elements on view as the movie reaches its suspenseful climax. In the other primary role, Dennis Franz gets a chance to warm up for his signature role NYPD Blue as the no-nonsense, profane detective also keen on solving the murder.

Upon the release of Dressed to Kill, there was much controversy regarding the film’s violence and sexual content, which did nothing to hurt the film’s healthy box-office returns, thereby offering Dickinson, DePalma and colleagues a measure of success not entirely granted by the mixed reviews the film received. Although Dickinson was singled out for praise and made the cover of People magazine to herald a nice comeback a couple years after Police Woman ended, a Saturn Award for Best Actress and a very nice write-up from tough, influential critic Pauline Kael would have to suffice in regard to Dickinson receiving the top plaudits her Dressed work richly merited. Over time the film has built a reputation as a key film in DePalma’s impressive body of work, with 1984’s Body Double serving as an entertaining cousin to the film. More recently, Dressed has gained wider exposure via first-class Blu-ray and 4K releases by Criterion and Kino Lorber, respectfully. For Angie Dickinson, the film serves as an example of the perfect blending of artist and role, with her distinctive, touching work as Kate allowing Dickinson to exhibit deft, intuitive gifts as a screen actor of the highest merit, thereby resulting in perhaps the apex of her cinematic career.