User reviews

Victor Mature had no illusions about his acting; when he was rejected for membership to a golf club because he was an actor, he said, "I'm no actor, and I've got 65 movies to prove it." However unpretentious he was, when he was cast in the right role, he came off well, as he does here in the noir "Kiss of Death." Mature plays Nick Bianco, a con who becomes a stool pigeon for the D.A. (Brian Donlevy) so that he can get a parole and retrieve his kids from an orphanage. He marries a friend of his late wife's (Coleen Gray) and uses another name so that his kids won't be tainted by his old criminal life. It all goes well until he has to testify in court against Tommy Udo. Then his life and that of his family are in grave danger.

"Kiss of Death" is notable for being the auspicious debut of Richard Widmark, and few actors have had such a powerful introduction to an audience. As the sadistic Tommy Udo, Widmark's raw laugh and smirk are chill-inducing. His famous scene - maybe the most famous scene of his career, as well as being a famous scene, period - occurs when he throws an old woman in her wheelchair down a flight of stairs. And laughs. A fantastic performance.

The beautiful Coleen Gray plays Nettie, Nick's wife. Despite her looks and good acting, Gray never achieved big stardom, though she had some excellent roles. I wonder if she just wouldn't play ball with Zanuck. Now 89, she is an attractive woman who continues to make public appearances, usually at screenings of the film "Nightmare Alley." Here she's perfect as a loving, worried woman. She also narrates.

Mature gives a solid performance as Nick -- he was really in his métier here and in films like "I Wake Up Screaming," though he graduated (or was demoted) to beefcake roles in period pictures later on. He had the physique but he wasn't a great actor and somehow, it was more apparent in those movies.

I feel very privileged to have met and spoken with Coleen Gray and to have heard the remarkable Richard Widmark speak in person, so I have an affection for this film. Even if I didn't, it's still good and well worth seeing.

Richard Widmark belongs to a select few players who from their screen debut became instant stars. No bit parts, no walk-ons, Widmark's first feature role netted him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and stardom.

Widmark's portrayal of Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death shocked audiences nationwide. When Widmark tied up Mildred Dunnock and threw her down a flight of stairs, gasps aplenty came from audiences. That maniacal giggle became his trademark and fodder for impressionists from then on in. Widmark in fact had to really convince his bosses at 20th Century Fox that he was capable of more than being a psychopathic killer.

Widmark was fourth billed in this film and so dominates it that it's forgotten that Victor Mature is the lead and contributes a good performance in his own right. Mature is a career criminal who was left holding the bag for his associates during a jewel heist. He refuses to rat them out and gets a stretch in prison for it. By his refusal to be a stoolie, Mature gains the friendship of Widmark who has a special hatred for the breed.

Things then go bad for Mature when his wife commits suicide and his two little daughters wind up in an orphanage. At that point he rethinks becoming a stoolie for District Attorney Brian Donlevy and the main action of the film begins.

Mature gives a very good performance of a man running out of options. He's caught between concern for his family and living up to the honor system that criminals have among themselves. Brian Donlevy, usually a villain, does a good job as the District Attorney.

One other performance is worthy of note. Though he only has a few scenes, criminal defense attorney Taylor Holmes is also a real stand out. His Earle Houser is definitely one of the sleaziest lawyers ever portrayed on the screen.

For all the many good performances Richard Widmark has given in his 91 years, his debut film turned out to be the only time he was ever nominated for an Oscar. That's a shame because I could think of a couple of other films like Night and the City, Pickup on South Street and Panic in the Streets that would have been worthy of consideration.

Hopefully the American Film Institute will give Widmark a Lifetime Achievement Award and soon.

Small-time hood Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is sent up the river for a jewel heist. He refuses to cooperate with the D. A. and will not turn stool-pigeon on his pals. But after he learns of his wife's suicide, he changes his tune. He's got to get out of jail to take care of his two little girls. The D. A. agrees to help Bianco if, in return, Bianco will help the D. A. Bianco fingers Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) for a murder and even agrees to testify at the trial. But, when Udo is acquitted, Bianco knows he's a marked man - as are his new wife and his young daughters.

Kiss of Death is a solid entry in the crime/noir cycle of the 40s. The movie looks good, has some great acting, an intelligent plot, characters you can care about, and enough twists to make it all very interesting. But instead of writing at length about the acting or technical aspects of the film or plot twists or anything else, I'll limit this to a few comments on Richard Widmark. If you look over Widmark's filmography, you'll notice that Kiss of Death was his very first film. Now I haven't seen everything Widmark made, but based on what I have seen, his portrayal of Tommy Udo has to be the performance of a career. He's brilliant as Udo. You can see the evil in his eyes. He's the kind of guy who would just as soon put a bullet in you as look at you. And that maniacal laugh - it's nothing short of chilling. This is not meant to be hyperbole when I say that he's the quintessential 40s hood played to perfection. I've seen a lot of noirs in recent weeks and I don't think I've seen a performance or character that I've enjoyed more than Widmark's Tommy Udo.

Henry Hathaway does a bang-up job directing this taut, realistic gangster noir. With the exception of a couple of domestic scenes with Mature and his family, this film never lets up. In one of the most unique film debuts, Richard Widmark steals the show with his portrayal of the giggling, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo. There is no doubt about who is the star of this movie. Victor Mature gives a fine performance as the basically decent guy who turns "stoolie" and for whom you have sympathy and the rest of the cast is strong in support.....but it is Widmark who mesmerizes you with his performance. The oft cited senseless violence of the "wheelchair pushed down the stair" scene is still one that makes you turn away. The real life New York City setting adds more realism and the black and white cinematography is excellent, capturing shadows which foretell the violence that is coming. Look for Karl Malden in a small part, early in his career. This is a classic of the noir genre and should be added to your film library.

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

I always enjoy watching things like this for the first time. Always wondered just What was the big deal w/ Widmark and the infamous wheel-chair scene? Now I know. It's pretty effective and sure, there wasn't anything else like it on film in '47, no sir.

What about the rest of this? Well--others have pointed out-the romance happens rather suddenly, I thought Widmark played a little too much by the rules towards the end-why didn't one of his goons just off him in the restaurant-?? and sure, they tacked on the wife's suicide rather conveniently-but, for the most part, this does work.

Look for Karl Malden in a smallish early role. I also enjoy watching Brian Donlevy, he usually played sgt majors and the like, here you can see why. Kudos to Victor Mature too-nothing great, but a solid role for him, too.

*** outta ****, worth watching.

Kiss of Death was an engaging and suspenseful film noir thriller. Standout performances were delivered from Victor Mature and Richard Widmark among others. Widmark as the sadistic Udo had a particularly memorable turn. This film actually reminded me quite a bit of the Humphrey Bogart film, The Enforcer, at least the first twenty minutes of that equally good crime drama. In both movies, the turning of evidence by witnesses for the state and their protection figure prominently. Unfortunately, the witness in The Enforcer isn't as lucky as Nick Bianco. One other note: the great Karl Malden has a small role in this film as a junior detective. Both Kiss of Death and The Enforcer get a solid 8/10.

The bulk of Kiss of Death is a modest, based-on-a-true-story tale of crime and woe. There's nothing spectacular about Nick or his circumstances, and nothing particularly compelling about his turn as a stool pigeon. Kiss of Death is almost romantic-comedy-like in its execution: Man meets crime, man leaves crime, man hooks up with crime again. Crisis, resolution. Yet out of the nondescript foundation emerge a few noteworthy aspects.

The first and most noticeable is the realistic look of the film. Director Henry Hathaway goes straight to the source, shooting scenes on their actual locations. This is noticeable because the opening credits tell you so; how quaint to throw a little self-promotion right there in the intro! Fortunately, this hokiness doesn't detract from some truly beautiful camera-work achieved by cinematographer Norbert Brodine. New York has a distinct look, and Brodine makes the most of it. Establishing shots of lights and skyscrapers in silhouette lead into a New York in full seasonal glory, with Christmas shoppers amok in the streets. From posh nightclubs to gritty prisons, Hathaway and Brodine milk as much texture from the locations as possible.

The self-promotional focus on cinematography quietly gives way to Victor Mature's personable portrayal of Nick. Though he worked through six decades, Mature was never a big name or recognized star. Indeed, his relative lack of star quality allows him to succeed in this modest, intimate tale culled from the real life of a small time hood. Mature doesn't steal the show by any means, but he capably anchors it and gives Nick some plausibility and a sympathetic quality. When Coleen Gray arrives on the scene as Nick's former nanny, we can somehow buy their slapdash romantic entanglement. Gray is also capable in her role, sweet but not saccharine, petite but with a hint of spark. Her perkiness doesn't grate, and there seems to be more to her than just a pretty face and her status as Nick's love interest. She has the intriguing "I want to know more about this woman" vibe that characterized Judy Garland's stardom, though Gray would never reach those levels of fame.

Mature may not steal the show, but Richard Widmark does. Like Coleen Gray, Widmark made his debut in Kiss of Death. Unlike Gray's, his performance left an indelible mark on cinema and made Widmark a household name overnight. Tommy Udo is such a ruthless, depraved character, and his manner crawls under your skin so thoroughly, that Widmark is impossible to ignore. His characterization could so easily have spasmed across the line into caricature, or become smarmy or irritating. But Udo's manic, staccato laugh just skirts that edge, and his bitterly cold eyes and palpable menace invigorate later scenes. The unnecessary murder he commits on screen is shocking; it isn't hard to see why Joe Pesci would evoke shades of Tommy Udo in Goodfellas. In fact, Widmark's Oscar-nominated turn as Udo would inspire countless nods from subsequent maniacal mobsters.

These characters spice up an otherwise small, vague tale. Kiss of Death morphs though a series of focus shifts. It seems like a hardboiled crime saga at times, a political game at others, even a tale of family values and romance. It ends up in a dramatic knot of danger and redemption. Its inability to stick with one theme gives Kiss of Death a wishy-washy, gutless quality. But touches of depth, particularly the way Eleazar Lipsky's script makes the end of the film tense and involving instead of anticlimactic, keep the otherwise straightforward story fresh.

The tale is also enhanced by a couple of pure noir moments. The most obvious is Nick's nervous vigil when he knows Udo is coming for him. A car's headlights slice through the dark house and set off a game of hide-and-seek in the shadows. The pressure mounts, and you just know that someone is bound to die. I don't know how film noir can support such ludicrous amounts of shadow, but it does so to powerful effect. Noir jumps back onto the front burner when Nick takes matters into his own hands at the end of the film. A showdown with Udo over a restaurant table is fraught with peril and tension; mostly because of Widmark's scintillating menace, but partially because of the composition and the score.

A superb commentary by James Ursini and Alain Silver walks us through the nuances of the film without much pause or filler. The pair has an impressive understanding of film noir, and they're able to parlay that knowledge into an engaging commentary. Though I don't fault most of their specific points, Ursini and Alain Silver hold the film in higher esteem than I do. This is good for noir fans because the commentators highlight the positives in each shot, performance, and theme.

In the New York Christmas, the family man Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) has bad luck and criminal record, and can not find a honest job. He is caught in a jewelry heist, but he does not accept the proposal of the Assistant District Attorney Louis D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy) to be a squealer and denounce his accomplices and he goes to prison. Three years later, his depressed woman commits suicide and his two daughters are sent to an orphanage. Nick makes a deal with Mr. D'Ángelo and rats his former partners; then he marries Nettie (Collen Gray), moves to another to town with a new identity, where he finds a honest job. However, when the psychopathic killer Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) is sentenced not-guilty in a trial where Nick was forced to testimony against the criminal, the desperate Nick uses one last attempt to save his family from the psychotic killer.

"Kiss of Death" is a powerful film-noir, with an engaging and credible plot, fantastic direction of Henry Hathaway and great performances of Victor Mature and Richard Widmark. Among the movies that I have watched of the great actor Richard Widmark, this is his best performance and he really deserved his nomination to the Oscar. His sadistic character is really a scary cold-blood killer. The black and white cinematography is amazing, with great use of shadows valorized by the image of the DVD. Karl Malden in the beginning of his successful career has a minor participation. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Beijo da Morte" ("Kiss of the Death")

When his wife commits suicide and his children are placed in foster care, an imprisoned robber turns informer in exchange for early parole; things turn sour though when a man he squealed on is acquitted and comes after him. As one might expect from such a plot summary, this noir entry deals well with the dilemma faced by a criminal torn between his personal ethics (not ratting on his partners) and his desire for the best for his kids -- and with two lovely young actresses playing his doting daughters, it is a heartfelt dilemma, all the more potent since he only turned to crime in desperation, unable to find an honest job to support his family. Victor Mature does not, however, make for all that interesting a protagonist. He always seems a little too warm and gentle for hardened criminal and a romance with his children's babysitter blossoms so quickly after his wife's death that it never feels right. The standout feature of the film though is Richard Widmark as the taunting, constantly laughing acquitted criminal who comes after Mature. There is an excellent shot in which his face is only barely visible in the sliver of a curtain gap and yet his menacing nature still resonates. The film has a powerful ending too.

This was a 1940s film noir with a little bit different slant: the main character "Nick Bianco" (Victor Mature) being a caring father. Here's a guy torn between being a crook most of his life and the damage it did to him mentally, but at heart a real softie who is desperate to go straight and just be a regular family guy with everyone leaving him alone. In the story, he turns "stoolie" so he can earn that freedom and be that family man.

Among film noir buffs, however, this film is noted more for Richard Widmark's debut as the sadistic "Tommy Udo." One of the most famous noir scenes of all time is "Udo" throwing an old lady in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs! Widmark puts on a fake pair of choppers giving him an exaggerated overbite to go along with his insane little giggle. He also calls everyone a "squirt." His over- the-top performance puts a lot a spark into this film which, otherwise would have wound up more as a melodrama.

Two other actors have key roles in here: Brian Donlevy and Colleen Gray (making her credited film debut, too1). Donlevey plays a character who never see in modern-day films: a compassionate district attorney who goes out of his way to help "Nick." It's refreshing to see, for a change. Gray becomes Nick's love interest and is a very appealing wholesome type, as are the two sweet little girls Nick had with his former wife who killed herself while Nick was in prison. Gray becomes the step-mother.

Although not spectacular, the film is entertaining, especially the suspenseful last 20 minutes. It's quite dated in spots but Widmark's character alone is worth investigating this film if you've never seen it. I'm surprised there aren't more reviews of this.

Except for the stunning but a bit implausible end,"kiss of death" is close to perfect.Hathaway was anything by sentimental (except maybe in his romantic dream "Peter Ibetson" )and his "kiss of death " is a film noir extraordinaire .The story is partly told by Nattie's voice over ,a voice who tells us in the first minutes that if the hero acts as he does,he has no choice cause all his attempts at getting a job have failed.

In this cruel world,Hathaway introduces quiet lovely scenes:the music lesson in the orphanage is a great moment which sharply contrasts with the rest of the movie.The cast is first rate: Mature who was certainly more intelligent than he was given credit for plays a good guy down on his luck and who tries to pick up the pieces and to enjoy a home with his daughters and his new wife;Donlevy gives a subtle performance ,and it's he who gives the kiss of death of the title;and last but not least,the absolutely outstanding Richard Widmark,who steals every scene he is in:his laugh is unforgettable,and the scene with Rizzo's disabled mother is in anyone's memory.

No clichés,no femme fatale,no heroes,but a human being trying to survive in the urban jungle.The last part of the film is almost Hitchcockesque:Nick and his wife,in the night,fearing anything: a door which slams,a car in the streets ,a shadow on the wall."Wherever we were,HE would be waiting,waiting".

Another great movie by Hathaway as brilliant in film noir as he was in adventure movies ("lives of a Bengal lancer")

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.

A tense, gripping film noir, most notable for the remarkable debut of Richard Widmark as a psychotic thug, but also for a fine performance by an actor whose performances, I think, were too often denigrated, not least by himself, namely Victor Mature.

Both their performances plus the extensive use of actual New York locations and a gritty, contemporary screenplay by the celebrated screen-writing team of Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, help elevate this already fine feature to a different level.

Widmark plays Tommy Udo, a small-time crook, who dresses in what he thinks is a stylish suit and an unusual dark shirt and light tie combination, not to mention white socks. The local police, particularly local captain Brian Dunlevy, are anxious to get Udo back behind bars and when they catch Mature's Nick Bianco at the scene of another robbery, knowing that he's a past associate of Udo's, they lean on him to give up Udo on unsolved past crimes they carried out together. At first, Mature turns down flat the police proposal, but then Dunlevy promises him a new identity in a new town, with his family, if he'll turn State's evidence and get Udo sent down. Although worried about being perceived as a stool-pigeon by the criminal fraternity with whom he was once associated, especially after we learn that his wife has recently committed suicide for reasons unspecified but obliquely linked to another gangster connected to Udo, Mature, with a new young girlfriend in tow, finally takes the cheese, trusting in so doing that his evidence against Udo will be sufficiently corroborated to finally see the villain incarcerated, at least that's what Dunlevy's character assures him. But this is a film noir and you can bet that fatalism as ever, interferes with reality, and Udo gets off.

Now, living in fear, especially after he learns that Udo has disposed of another informant's uncooperative wheelchair-bound mother by callously rolling her down a stairwell to her death, Mature packs off his kids and new girl to an out of town location and prepares both himself and Dunlevy for the final showdown between the two thieves who have fallen out...

Widmark is absolutely chilling with his projected buck teeth, dress sense, wicked cackle and above all, his hair-trigger temperament. Mature is a fine counterweight for him, with a measured performance as a criminal desperate to make his way in the world despite his past.

A tough, archetypal noir movie, directed with style and intelligence by the veteran Henry Hathaway, you'll go a long way before you find a better one than this.

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!

Nick Bianco is caught during a botched jewellery heist. The prosecution offer him a more lenient sentence if he squeals on his accomplices but he doesn't roll over on them. Three years into the sentence an event changes his mind, leading him down a very dangerous path.

Good crime-drama. Interesting plot with a decent degree of intrigue. Great performance by Richard Widmark, in his cinematic debut, as the insanely fiendish Tommy Udo. Widmark got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance.

Not brilliant though. The tension is never dialled up enough and certain plot developments aren't entirely plausible. Some flat, listless periods that slow the momentum.

KISS OF DEATH easily ranks among the best film noirs of the '40s and it's widely remembered now as the first time audiences got a peek at RICHARD WIDMARK and what a fine actor he was. But it also served to remind us that when given a strong enough role, VICTOR MATURE was more than able to deliver the goods. He's excellent as Nick, the jewel thief kept back from holding decent jobs because of his prison record.

When a nice D.A. (BRIAN DONLEVY) offers him a deal in exchange for squealing on some hoods, Nick finally takes the offer. The rest of the story deals with the consequences of his hard choice.

Some nice supporting roles for MILDRED DUNNOCK, KARL MALDEN, COLEEN GRAY and MILLARD MITCHELL help turn this thriller, directed in taut style by Henry Hathaway, into a winner. Widmark deserved his Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor and Mature proved that he was more than just "a hunk of man" as he was labeled in those days.

Paroled when he turns state's evidence, Victor Mature soon finds himself trapped in a web of deceit involving corrupt advocates and ruthless hoddlums. Mature must now watch his back constantly. And turned informant, he has an enemy, Richard Widmark, a violent and powerful villain who seeks to destroy him. The Police chief Brian Donlevy attempts to help him. When things go wrong, he is left to do the time, and his whole life is turned upside-down, but if that wasn't enough, the cops won't leave him alone when he gets out... , It will mark you for life as it marked him for... Betrayal. From her lips there is no escape!. He rules the streets. He owns the game. But he doesn't own all of the players.

This laborious urban crime thriller is magnificently made by Henry Hathaway, it is a classicc Noir Film , nominated for two Oscars in 1948: Best secondary actor and best original story. This excellent film is a peculiar vision of the most terrifying sort of existence, one where nothing is certain, and everything is dangerous.

A great crime drama keeps the far-fetched genre conventions in check until the end. Stars Victor Mature (The robe), Richard Widmark (Judgment at Nuremberg) and Brian Donlevy (Beau Geste). Here Mature revealing himself a more sensitive actor than many suspected, gave one of his best interpretations in this brisk thriller as a petty thief turned stoolpigeon . Even so, the performance honours went straight to Richard Widmark, making his film debut a big hit, thanks to a chilling role. Richard Widmark does his best to pump up the psycho-villain, as he's able to convey a level of mercilessness and depth that'll make you wince. The wonderful trio of protagonists: Mature, Widmark, Donlevy accompanied by other good supporting actors, such as: Collen Gray, Taylor Holmes, Howard Smith, Karl Malden, Robert Adler, Susan Cabot, among others.

One of two remakes of films that feature Richard Widmark, Kiss of Death (1947) remade under the same title in 1985. The other being Night and the City (1950), remade under the same title in 1992. Richard Price wrote the screenplay for both remakes. In 1985 , Barbet Schroeder made a homonymous remake with David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Kathryn Erbe and Jay O. Sanders .

All scenes in this motion picture, both exterior and interior, were photographed in the State of New York on the actual locales associated with the story. This well-paced in cracking style flick Kiss of Death(1947) was stunningly directed by Henry Hathaway and usually works very well , being capable handled in spectacular photography , adding enjoyable scenarios. Henry Hathaway does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in large frames with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action. His fetish actor was John Wayne , both of whom collaborated in various sincere Westerns , they included ¨North to Alaska¨ , ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨ and Wayne's Academy Award-winning ¨True grit¨, among others . Hathaway himself was only even nominated for an Oscar , but his movies themselves are testimony to his skills to heighten narrative tension and shoot action so exhilarating it made adrenalin run . Henry was a craftsman who had a long career from the 30s with successful films , and especially Westerns , as ¨Brigham Young¨ and ¨Raw Hide¨ . In his 60s Hathaway still got the vigour to make some fiery movies as ¨How the West was won¨, ¨Nevada Smith¨, and ¨Shoot out¨ . He was an expert on Western genre as he proved in ¨True grit¨ , ¨Five card stud¨ , ¨Nevada Smith¨ , ¨How the West was won¨ , ¨Rawhide¨ , ¨Brigham Young¨ , ¨Buffalo Stampede¨, ¨Garden of evil¨ , ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨ and, ¨From Hell to Texas¨. Henry directed the classic 20th Century-Fox movie about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and also set in World War II North Africa, ¨Rommel¨, (1951). Hathaway's other movies about the Second World War were all for studio Twentieth Century-Fox and included ¨The House on 92nd Street¨ (1945); ¨Wing and a Prayer¨ (1944); ¨You're in the Navy Now¨ (1951) and ¨13 Rue Madeleine¨ (1947) and his last film : Raid on Rommel that was a massive flop and was quickly withdrawn from theaters .Although Hathaway was a highly successful and reliable director film-making within the Hollywood studio system, his work has received little consideration from reviewers . Rating Kiss of Death: 7.5/10. Above average.

This movie is a bore fest. There's an enormous useless sub plot with this annoying kids that just brings the entire film down. I mentally checked out once this came into play. The film became slow and laborious.

I love film noir. This isnt really that. It's more of a straight drama.