Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
by Henry Hathaway
List Price:
Our Price: $7.00
You Save: $7.98 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.97 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
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
Movie Reviews of Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
Movie Review: Great Noir; great suspense; great performances
Summary: 5 Stars
Nick Bianco, played by Victor Mature, is a small-time hood who cannot get a break in honest society because of a past criminal record. Married with two little girls he robs a jewelry store and is caught. Facing hard time of up to 18 years he refuses an Assistant DA's(played by Brian Donlevy) offer to turn state's evidence and receive a lighter sentence or possibly parole. There is no way that Nick will be a "stoolie."
While in prison, though, his wife commits suicide in despair and his two little girls are placed in an orphanage. The shock and anger over his wife's death and his childrens' plight change Bianco's mind about cooperating with the DA's office. He gives them information about several cases that win him a parole.
This 1947 film noir is famous among film fans for the fantastic debut performance of Richard Widmark as the psychopathic killer Tommy Udo. The unforgettable scene of his pushing a woman in a wheelchair down the stairs while braying his famous and inimitable snarling laugh has been shown countless times for its shock value. It still shocks today, even in our violence-desensitized society.
Udo's nasal-toned "big man" contempt toward a better class of people, and Bianco in particular at the end of the movie, is another classic acting invention that Widmark created for his Oscar-nominated role. After Bianco testifies against Udo, and Udo walks anyway, it is only a matter of time for the violent denouement that ends the picture.
I found Victor Mature's performance surprisingly solid and low-key. It is a far cry from his later stereotype as the outsize overactor required in "Samson and Delilah," "Demetrius and the Gladiators," and "Hannibal," which are wonderful viewing for the 8-12 year crowd. He is right for the Bianco part. His acting is controlled and subtle. He is convincing as a film noir hero; a basically good guy who cannot catch a break. His redemption comes, of course, through righting a wrong.
Brian Donlevy does his usual solid acting job as the Assistant D.A. Coleen Gray is sweetness and light as the babysitter who becomes his second wife and a key player in Bianco's rehabilitation. She does a nice job of narration as well. Karl Malden has a bit part as one of the detectives in one of his early performances.
Widmark's performance is classic, but the movie itself is well worth seeing for its suspense and fast-paced plot. Ben Hecht was one of the screenplay writers. That is always a good sign that the movie will have crisp dialogue. Buy it if you like film noir and good moviemaking.
Summary 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
Similar DVD Movies
WhirlpoolWhirlpool; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
House on Telegraph HillBASEHART,RICHARD; Release date: 2006-03-07; DVD
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops:
Kiss Me DeadlySony; Release date: 2001-06-19; DVD
Best price: $5.48
Price in other shops:
Road House (Fox Film Noir)LUPINO,IDA; Release date: 2008-09-02; DVD
Best price: $7.16
Price in other shops:
This Gun For Hire (Universal Noir Collection)MCA; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $7.10
Price in other shops:
Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)Fox Home Entertainment; Release date: 2006-03-07; DVD
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops:
Nightmare Alley (Fox Film Noir)Fox; Release date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $5.93
Price in other shops:
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)Fox; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops:
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)Fox; Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Kansas City Confidential (MGM Film Noir)Sony; Release date: 2007-07-10; DVD
Best price: $0.71
Price in other shops: