Kiss Me Deadly is an independently made 1955 American black-and-white film noir, produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, that stars Ralph Meeker.The screenplay was written by Aldrich and A.I. Bezzerides, based on Mickey Spillane's crime novel Kiss Me, Deadly.The film was released by United Artists. Kiss Me Deadly grossed $726,000 in the United States and a total of $226,000 overseas.The film also withstood scrutiny from the Kefauver Commission, which called it a film "designed to ruin young viewers", leading director Aldrich to protest the Commission's conclusions. Kiss Me Deadly marked the film debuts of the actresses Cloris Leachman and Maxine Cooper. In 1999 Kiss Me Deadly was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".