Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
by Henry Hathaway
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Actor: Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes, Victor MatureDirector: Henry Hathaway
Brand: KiSS
Cinematographer: Norbert Brodine
Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr.
Producer: Fred Kohlmar
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Charles Lederer
Writer: Eleazar Lipsky
Writer: Philip Dunne
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
DVD Review: Great Camera Work and a Memorable Villain Highlight This Film Noir.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Kiss of Death" was directed by Henry Hathaway based on an unpublished story by Eleazar Lipsky, who had been a district attorney in New York city.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.
Description of Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
A small-time criminal informs on one of his partners who seeks revenge when he gets out of prison.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-DEC-2005
Media Type: DVD
Richard Widmark's bravura debut as snickering gangster Tommy Udo, and particularly his infamous encounter with an old woman in a wheelchair, enjoys such pop cachet that the movie itself has been somewhat underrated. More's the pity. Henry Hathaway's third entry in 20th Century?Fox's series of post?WWII thrillers is just about the best of the bunch. These films incorporated the semidocumentary techniques and wondrously persuasive on-location shooting Hollywood learned from Italian neorealism and the wartime filming of some of its own best directors. Kiss of Death is more fictional than documentary in thrust, with a solid script by ace screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. But that only makes its imaginative, atmospheric use of real places and spaces--e.g., a superb opening robbery sequence in a New York skyscraper--the more remarkable.
Victor Mature belies his rep as one of the Hollywood star system's bad jokes with his intense performance as Nick Bianco, a career criminal driven to turn squealer. Nick's motivation is family values: although he had gone to Sing Sing (yes, they filmed there, too) as a stand-up guy, "the boys" failed to take care of his wife and daughters as promised, with devastating results. Despite the best efforts of an assistant D.A. (Brian Donlevy), Nick is forced to lay everything on the line to rescue his family's future. The movie abounds in evocative texture, thanks to the no-frills excellence of Norbert Brodine's camerawork and an exemplary supporting cast including Millard Mitchell (as a sardonic police detective), Karl Malden (another D.A.), and Taylor Holmes (a flannel-mouthed Mob shyster). Kiss of Death was remade twice, as a Western titled The Fiend That Walked the West and as a straight thriller again in the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson
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