Kiss of Death (1947)

Nick Bianco is a smalltime robber who finds himself facing a long prison sentence. He is offered a deal which presents him with a tough dilemma. Can he reform? Does he have it in him to turn his back on his criminal pals? Is he capable of leading a useful life?

Manhattan is itself the very essence of film noir. What Lorca called "the extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm" of The City, this totally manmade environment, is both impressive and somehow sinister. Borrowing from German Expressionism, the makers of noir saw the Metropolis as a twentieth-century emanation of the Frankenstein theme - that by industrialising, we have created our own worst nightmare. In "Kiss Of Death" we get the obligatory Manhattan skyline, but more significantly Bianco's new home, outside which his little girls roller-skate, is overshadowed by brooding spans of bridges. No matter how Bianco may love his domestic idyll, The City is in him and around him, and he cannot escape "that good old hoodlum complex".

The screenplay by gifted noirists Hecht and Lederer is excellent. Complex strategy, both in Di Angelo's plans to outwit the witness-intimidators, and Nick's final showdown with the bad guy, is conveyed effortlessly to the viewer. The little touches by which Nick gains our sympathy (unfair treatment in the workplace, his good handwriting, etc.) are expertly laid. The scene in which Di Angelo gradually undermines Nick's hostility is a particularly fine piece of writing. Though a major criminal trial forms a plot pivot, the writers resist the temptation to wallow in courtroom drama. We see nothing of the trial, and the movie is slicker and tauter for it. In a similar vein, mobster Pete Rizzo is important to the story, but never actually appears onscreen. His presence would only slacken the narrative rhythm. The fact od Nettie's marriage is communicated to the viewer with elegant concision, and her happy home life is shown symbolically, without being dwelt upon.

Richard Widmark is simply marvellous as Tommy Udo, the creepy psycho. His oscillation between manic levity and unhinged viciousness is fascinating to watch. The scene where Udo humiliates his "moll" Buster is a masterpiece of cruelty which tells us a great deal about both characters.

As the intelligent bulwark of right-thinking society, Brian Donlevy gives a memorable performance in the role of Assistant District Attorney Louie Di Angelo. Coleen Gray is ideal in the part of Nettie, the thoroughly nice girl who falls for Nick. She even takes over the movie's narration, making an interesting shift in tone from terse, authoritative male voice to the softer 'social conscience' theme of which her character is the embodiment.

And the film is not afraid to espouse the liberal cause. Nick loves his children, and a heartless, uncaring society won't give him a job. He is wrong to stage the hold-up to get money for Christmas presents, but what choice have we hypocrites left him? "Nobody's cried over me for a long time," says Nick. We believe him.

Henry Hathaway brings quiet assurance to the directing. The suspense is developed masterfully in two key places, neither sequence relying on dialogue at all for its emotional power. The first is the interminable elevator ride at the start of the film, and the second is Nick's long vigil near the end, as he waits alone for his nemesis to arrive.

Earl Howser

Fmovies: Adapted from a story by Eleazar Lipsky, Kiss Of Death is a tough, even frightening Crime/Noir picture that has a gritty realistic feel. Helped enormously by director Henry Hathaway shooting the whole picture in New York, Kiss Of Death is also notable for being the searing debut of Richard Widmark. With no intention of soft soaping the story, the makers cunningly lure us viewers onto the seamy New York streets. Thus with the New York locations as expertly used as they are by Hathaway, Kiss Of Death attains a documentary style similar to other notable genre pictures like Call Northside 777 (also Hathaway).

Narrating the picture is Nettie (Coleen Gray in her first credited role), the second wife of Nick Bianco (Victor Mature). Telling of his rough and troubled life, we learn that Bianco was part of a gang who was caught during a jewelry robbery over the Christmas holiday. Lied to by his lawyer, Bianco learns during his prison term that his first wife has killed herself and that his darling two girls have been packed off to an orphanage. Fretting and desperate to see his girls, Bianco makes a deal with Assistant District Attorney Louis D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy), where in exchange for is parole, he will rat out his old gang buddies. D'Angelo is mostly concerned with one man tho, sadistic murderer and boss, Tommy Udo (Widmark). Bianco must pal up to Udo and hope that he doesn't get found out, for if he does, Udo is sure to enact psychotic retribution on Nick and all those close to him.

Mature gives one of his finest shows as the pained Bianco forced to squeal, Gray as his second wife is sedate and effective and Donlevy as the crusading Assistant D.A. with a heart is as reliable as he always is. But all are playing second fiddle to Widmark, ferocious stare, dirty laugh and an unnerving falsetto voice, it announced Widmark to the cinematic world, garnered him a contract with Twentieth Century Fox and he never looked back afterwards. Some of his scenes are just mesmerising, including one that is as shocking as it is a lesson in villainy. Taut and tight scripting from the Hecht/Lederer partnership, with rounded characters and a sensible plot, Kiss Of Death is not to be missed by the Crime/Noir genre/style fan. 8.5/10

Henry Hathaway directed this revenge story that stars Victor Mature as Nick Bianco, a small-time crook sent to prison after a jewel heist who refuses to inform on his gang, because of his wife. After learning his wife committed suicide, and knowing he was double-crossed, Nick does cooperate with the D.A.(played by Brian Donlevy) and gets paroled. He then remarries, to a woman named Nettie(played by Coleen Gray) and gets a job. Things are fine, until one of the old gang he informed on named Tommy Udo(played by Richard Widmark in his film debut) comes calling, hell-bent on revenge... Unremarkable story on the whole, except for one thing: Widmark's unforgettable performance as ruthless and giggling killer Tommy Udo, one of cinema's most memorable villains, with that iconic scene of his pushing the poor wheelchair-bound woman down the stairs while he laughs maniacally being most memorable. He steals the film, and his performance was Oscar-worthy.

Kiss of Death fmovies. Widmark will ALWAYS be remembered for his role as Tommy Udo in this film! The skinny kid with the stupid laugh & no conscience, pushing a wheel-chaired lady down a flight of stairs! He switches emotions in a heartbeat! EERIE! Victure Mature is really the star of this movie & he looks GREAT in every scene! Those crisp suits & those hats! When he has to turn informant so his now-motherless kids can have him back at home instead of in "the big house", Udo goes after him with a vengeance. The tension between these two is combustible! I LOVE this film! Brian Donlevy is very good as the D.A. "Nick Bianco" (Mature) must do business with in order to be free. It works!

This is one of the better remembered crime films of the forties, and boasts excellent direction by Henry Hathaway, a good script by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, and fine New York location photography by Norbert Brodine. Victor Mature plays a small-time crook who's enlisted by an assistant D.A. to infiltrate a gang of criminals whose leader, played by Richard Widmark, in his movie debut, is a psychopath with a very bent sense of humor. Psycho killers were relatively new to movies in the forties, and Widmark's may be the most famous of the lot. One can see his influence in films for years to come, as any number of actors made their debuts playing similar roles. No one surpassed Widmark for sheer sadism, however, as when he ties up an old lady in a wheelchair and sends her tumbling down a flight of stairs. This remains his most famous role, and when his obituary is written, the author, if he knows his movies at all, will mention it in the first sentence. Kiss Of Death is a decent crime story, at times very tense, but not otherwise exceptional. Surprisingly, Victor Mature gives a warm, emotional performance in the leading role, and Widmark's villainy would not have been so nearly as effective without this. How dull this picture might have been had Dana Andrews or Mark Stevens played this part.

Richard Widmark as a giggling, heartless hoodlum pushing a wheelchair bound old lady down the stairs, that's what everyone remembers of this superb classic. The film follows luckless Nick Bianco (Victor Mature's best role), a NYC holdup man who is caught during an Xmas season hit. Sent to prison, he needs to be near his now parentless children (His wife committed suicide). He becomes an informant, and is released. Widmark, as hoodlum Tommy Udo (All film fans have no trouble remembering that name) targets stoolie Mature for death. The film begins (with the failed robbery) and ends (the showdown between Widmark, Mature and DA Brian Donlevy) with superb suspense sequenses played almost silent.