Your IP has been blocked. Please perform the action below to regain access.
75.126.130.58-
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
You don't think of great noir when you think of Victor Mature.
This isn't great but, as Nick, the protagonist, Mature is pretty good. But Richard Widmark, as Tommy a psychopath criminal, is absolutely riveting. The scene, later in the movie, in which Tommy pushes an old lady in a wheel chair down the stairs is classic. Nick is a criminal too but more sympathetic. He has a wife & kids to feed. He get caught during a jewel heist & everyone else escapes. The district attorney D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy) has a soft spot for Nick. He offers to let him walk if he helps convict the rest of the gang. Nick refuses to talk as his mob lawyer assures him his wife & kids will be taken care of while he's in jail. Then his wife commits suicide & kids are sent to a orphanage. He decides to help the cops, is released & goes straight. He gets the kids back & marries their baby-sitter (?). She's kind of young for Victor Mature's character, but she did visit him while he was in prison. Eventually the gang & Tommy come to trial & Nick testifies. Tommy is found "not guilty". Tommy is upset with Nick because they were friends & Nick ratted him out. Violence will ensue. The climax is suspenseful with a good payoff. You like Noir? See it.
Rating: 
-
Snickering Gangster!
First of all, I must say I love all of these fox film noir classics. I own many of them and hope to own them all eventually. This film is the debue of Richard Widmark and by his performance, it's easy to see why he became a star. He plays a snickering gangster and he plays it well. Victor Mature and Brian Donlevy are great also. I recommend it highly.
Rating: 
-
EXCELLENT VINTAGE NOIR
Richard Widmark got a best supporting actor Oscar nomination and became a movie star with his impressive portrayal of psycho gangster Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH (1947).
This is the one where Widmark ties up a goon's wheel chair bound mommy and gleefully shoves her down the stairs.
Victor Mature is outstanding as a jailbird who makes a deal with the DA to cooperate in nailing Udo. The no nonsense script is hard as nails. Extras include a pretty good commentary and original theatrical trailer.
Rating: -
A Classic From the 1940s
This movie is an excellent buy for those who enjoy classics of the 1930s - 40s. I especially enjoyed Richard Widmark's performance in his first role as the unstable, evil-laughing gangster Tommy Udo. Victor Mature does a respectable job as the former miscreant trying to start a clean new life by cutting a deal with the district attorney to "squeal" on the nasty Udo. All-in-all, it's an enjoyable classic that I would definitely recommend.
Rating: -
Great Camera Work and a Memorable Villain Highlight This Film Noir.
"Kiss of Death" was directed by Henry Hathaway based on an unpublished story by Eleazar Lipsky, who had been a district attorney in New York city. Hathaway also made "Call Northside 777" and "The House on 92nd Street", both docudramas inspired by true stories, and he tried to accentuate the authenticity of this material as well. The film was shot on location in New York. Those really are the Criminal Courts and Chrysler buildings and The Tombs and Sing Sing prisons. In fact, Hathaway had the cast "processed" through Sing Sing to add a dose of realism to their performances. One could debate which of Hathaway's films, "Kiss of Death" or "The Dark Corner", is the more "noir". They both qualify but deviate considerably from noir themes at times. "The Dark Corner"'s Bradford Galt is a quintessential noir protagonist, while "Kiss of Death" is best remembered for its villain, the sadistic Tommy Udo, who launched Richard Widmark into a series of unforgettable low-life roles.
Unemployed and unemployable due to his prison record, with a family to support, Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) returns to a life of crime. Briefly. He's caught robbing a jewelry store. Assistant D. A. D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy) offers Nick a reduced sentence if he squeals on his cohorts. Nick refuses, confident that his family will be cared for by his partner and his sleazy lawyer (Taylor Holmes) while he's in Sing Sing. Three years later, Nick learns that his wife has died and his daughters have been placed in an orphanage. When he receives a visit from Nettie (Coleen Gray), a young woman who used to babysit his girls and who harbors feelings for him, Nick realizes that his friends reneged on their promise to support his family. So Nick decides to take D'Angelo up on his offer. D'Angelo wants to get the goods on Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark), a bloodthirsty, sociopathic mob killer. But if all doesn't go precisely as planned, Nick will have the most ruthless, sadistic assassin in New York hunting him.
"Kiss of Death" begins with an evocative title sequence in which a woman's hand reaches for a revolver, tantalizing the viewer with the implication of sex and violence to come. Curiously, the sequence has little to do with the movie. There are guns in "Kiss of Death", but none in a woman's hand. Yet the hand that clenches that gun is clearly that of a woman, with long, shaped nails. Maybe this is evidence of how strong and alluring the image of femme fatales had become in crime films as of 1947. A voice-over narration introduces us to Nick Bianco, also unusual because it is the voice of a woman. It's Nettie, telling us how Nick was forced into a life of crime by circumstances. Her voiceover will recur at several points during the film, always sowing sympathy for Nick. "Kiss of Death"'s attempts to make Nick out to be a victim of poverty or social injustice have been interpreted by some critics as an element of social conscious -however muddled- in this hardened crime film. Honestly, I think it is a device to create sympathy for the protagonist and nothing more.
Nick Bianco is a good guy -if a little crooked- in a corrupt world, where doing the right thing is as risky and nearly as sleazy as being a hood. Nick remarks to D.A. D'Angelo, "Your side of the fence is almost as dirty as mine." Victor Mature could dazzle in everything from sleazebucket to persecuted nice guy roles. But the greatest star of "Kiss of Death" might be Norbert Brodine's camera. The film's best scene has the camera in an elevator, as Nick tries to make his escape while the elevator makes its way from the 23rd floor to the lobby. The anxiety is palpable. The silence is oppressive. It's brilliant. Our introduction to the villainous Tommy Udo is also daring. The first time we seen Udo, he is out of focus and taking about sticking his thumbs in someone's eyes. There's nothing vague about Tommy Udo, yet there he is: blurry. Richard Widmark gives a gleefully sadistic, rhythmic performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination. Udo is, indeed, a fine example of Widmark's considerable talent, though not an example of his depth, as Udo is two-dimensional.
The DVD (20th Century Fox 2005): There is a theatrical trailer narrated by Walter Winchell (2 min), a Stills Gallery of 9 movie posters, and an audio commentary by film noir scholars Alain Silver and James Ursini. The commentary is consistently good. Silver and Ursini discuss "docu-noir" films, the visual and auditory implications of location shooting, themes, imagery, actors, analyze the ideas behind each scene, and relate some anecdotes about the notoriously tyrannical Henry Hathaway. Subtitles for the film are available in English and Spanish, dubbing in Spanish.
