Freaktana
A Major Disappointment
Roxie
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
bettycjung
6/1/18. This is a classic film noir in which atmosphere and snarky looks from Widmark along with anxiety eyes from Mature go a long way. While over 70 years old, it's worth watching just for that iconic scene in which a woman in the wheelhair gets thrown down the stairs. Widmark won the Golden Globe for this and earned an Oscar nom. And, Mature gets to act with his clothes on, which is something for him, given the biblical epics he made at that time with major beefcake scenes.
Lee Eisenberg
Film noir became one of the primary genres in cinema in the 1940s: lowlifes, corruption, femmes fatales, and the like. One of the most famous examples is Henry Hathaway's Academy Award-nominated "Kiss of Death". Probably its most famous quality is Richard Widmark's chilling performance as the villain, constantly bearing his teeth like the old man in "Poltergeist 2". The most famous scene is the one on the staircase. It must've been shocking for the time. Victor Mature's protagonist is the typical man who's had a string of bad luck and has no choice but to turn to crime. Trying to make right, his past comes back to haunt him.It makes sense that film noir arose around the time that it became more common to film on location: it affirmed a sense of realism (and cynicism). "Kiss of Death"'s New York setting shows the grittiest aspects of the criminal underworld, as well as law enforcement. Obviously it wasn't as gritty as would be allowed in a few decades, but there's no sugar-coating anything here. As for the ending, it would've been interesting to see it go a different way, but we can still say that Nick achieved his goal.Anyway, an outstanding movie. This is everything that a movie should be. Coleen Gray, Brian Donlevy and Karl Malden offer fine support.
bsmith5552
"Kiss of Death" is probably best remembered for the scene in which Richard Widmark's character, Tommy Udo pushes a wheelchair bound woman (Mildred Dunnock) down a flight of stairs. But it is more than that.Shot on location in New York, Director Henry Hathaway use a documentary film noire style to give the film a reality not possible on a sound stage. He uses actual locations for the various prison scenes, buildings and offices which accentuates the realism of the story.The basic story line has small time crook Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) being arrested for a jewel robbery and being brought before Assistant District Attorney Louis D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy). D'Angelo tries to get Nick to rat out his partners in crime. No go. Nick goes to prison with the promise from his lawyer Earl Howser (Taylor Holmes) that he'll get an early parole. On the way to prison he meets the sadistic giggling psychopathic killer Udo, a friendship doomed to failure.After a personal tragedy happens while he is in prison, Nick reverses his stand and decides to contact D'Angelo and turn states evidence. He testifies against Udo and thinks that it's all over. Not so.Along the way, Nick Strikes up a romance with Nettie (Coleen Gray) and eventually marries her.Hathaway seems to have slipped a couple of things past the censors. The fact that Nettie was Nick's former baby sitter suggests that she is quite a bit younger than he and that he may have had his eye on her as a budding teenager. And because Hathaway used real locations, one might almost miss Mature flicking a cigarette butt into a real toilet in a jail cell, a no-no in those days. But not to worry, Nick and Nettie sleep in twin beds.The ending is pure Hollywood and therefore unbelievable. I mean, count the number of slugs both Nick and Udo take at the film's climax, yet both survive.I had a problem with some of the time lines in the picture. For example, Nick meets Udo on the way to prison but we don't see him again for at least a third of the film and never in the prison. When Nick turns states evidence, we casually learn that he has been away for three years and in the interim, Udo somehow has been released. And Nettie appears out of nowhere and seems to be carrying a torch for Nick in spite of their age differences.Victor Mature was always, in my opinion, a much better actor than his "hunk" image allowed. In this film he gives a powerful performance as the tragic Nick. Widmark, in his breakthrough role, steals the picture with his over the top performance as the demented killer Udo. I can't say that I agree with his make up consisting of an exaggerated over bite and fright wig used to apparently enhance his animal like mannerisms.Others in the cast include Karl Malden and Millard Mitchell as cops and John Marley as a convict friend of Nick.
William Giesin
I highly recommend this classic film noir story of a thief, Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) that is faced with the tough decision to turn "stool pigeon" and "rat out" a maniacal killer, Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark). Nick is a "two-time loser" and the only way he will ever get to see his orphaned kids is by "playing ball" with the cops (Brian Donlevy and Karl Malden). This film is magnificently directed by Henry Hathaway who directed such great films as True Grit, How The West Was Won, Rawhide, 13 Rue Madeleine, etc. I once read that Victor Mature was a close friend of Henry Hathaway, and that he was well aware of Hathaway's temper and reputation of mistreating actors on the set during the filming of his pictures. Consequently, Mature warned Hathaway going into the film that he "wouldn't put up with any temper tantrums or abuse during the filming". Hathaway complied in order to get Mature to agree to do the film. Richard Widmark remarked in an interview that "Kiss of Death" was his first film, and that contributed to that wonderful maniacal laugh he gave in many of the films most memorable scenes. The nervous laugh probably was also due to Hathaway's heavy handed direction. In any event, Hathaway threw a temper tantrum during the shooting that caused Mature to walk off the set and sit in a limousine for an hour or so until one of Hathaway's aides begged him to return. Mature's returned to the set on condition that Hathaway behave himself i.e. no more temper tantrums. Later during the filming when Hathaway once again started to go off into another outburst ... Mature politely raised his finger and said "Not even pantomime!". This is one of Victor Mature's best films...and newcomer Richard Widmark steals the show. Widmark was a very underrated actor and deserved a supporting actor Oscar for his performance!
