THE NAKED KISS

Kelly is a prostitute who arrives by bus in the small town of Grantville after being chased out of the big city by her former pimp. She engages in a quick tryst with local police captain Griff, who then commands her to leave town and refers her to a cathouse just across the state line that is operated by a madam named Candy.

Kelly instead abandons her illicit lifestyle, renting a room from a local seamstress and becoming a nurse at a hospital for disabled children. Griff, who does not trust reformed prostitutes, continues trying to force her from the town.

Kelly falls in love with J. L. Grant, the wealthy scion of the town's founding family, an urbane sophisticate and Griff's best friend. She tells Grant the truth about her past but it does not bother him, and they plan to marry.

After Kelly's young coworker Buff quits her job and is recruited to join Candy's stable of prostitutes, Kelly violently threatens Candy to keep away from Buff, forcing Buff's $25 cash advance into Candy's mouth.

Upon hearing of the engagement, Griff visits Kelly at the hospital and demands that she leave town, threatening to reveal her former occupation. However, after Kelly makes it clear to him that Grant already knows the truth, Griff relents and agrees to be the best man at the wedding.

Shortly before the wedding, Kelly makes a surprise visit to Grant's mansion, where she discovers him on the verge of molesting a young girl. Grant argues that Kelly belongs with him because they are both deviants and she will understand his sickness. Kelly is enraged and strikes Grant in the head with a phone receiver, killing him.

Jailed and under heavy interrogation, Kelly admits to killing Grant, but Griff does not believe her story and accuses her of having murdered Grant because he had threatened to break the engagement. Kelly tries to exonerate herself, but she cannot remember details about the girl whom she had seen at Grant's mansion. Candy and Buff are summoned to the jail, where Candy launches false accusations at Kelly and Buff denies having been paid by Candy.

By chance, Kelly sees the molested girl through the window and tries to coax the girl to tell what she knows about Grant. Although the girl initially resists, Griff advises Kelly about how to approach her, and the girl reveals the truth.

Kelly is released, but now notorious, she must leave town and boards the bus to her next destination.

Kelly kills Grant after discovering his predatory intentions, is accused of murder, but is ultimately exonerated when the truth is revealed. She is released from jail but must leave town, her reputation in ruins.

The conclusion underscores the film’s unsparing take on social judgment and redemption. Kelly, despite her courage in exposing true evil, cannot escape her past or the town’s condemnation. Fuller’s ending strips away any illusion of easy forgiveness, leaving Kelly—and the audience—confronting the cost of righteousness in a world eager to punish outsiders.