|
|
Tarfumes.com - Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
|
List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $9.99
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 33% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Starring: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes
Directed By: Henry Hathaway
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0024543183532
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-12-06
Running Time: 99
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1947-08-27
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Henry Hathaway's directorial skills brought a heightened sense of realism to crime dramas in this classic 1947 original that marked Richard Widmark's Oscar -nominated debut. When a small time crook (Victor Mature) gets a twenty year sentence for robbery, he refuses to reveal his accomplices, even after a D.A. (Brian Donlevy) offers to help him. But he changes his mind once he learns that his wife has committed suicide and a psychopath (Widmark) has threatened his children.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: HENRY HATHAWAY, OPUS 33
Comment: ****1/2 1947. Directed by Henry Hathaway. Richard Widmark, in his first role, earned a Golden Globe (Most promising newcomer) and an Academy award nomination, so does Eleazar Lipsky for the screenplay. Victor Mature accepts to become a snitch in order to be with his children. KISS OF DEATH is a classic film noir shot on location as often in movies produced by 20th Century Fox at that time. Classic scenes like the murder of Rizzo's mother by Widmark, the first hold-up or Richard Widmark's laugh already belong to history. Highly recommended and a valuable addition to your library.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST MOVIES . . . . .
Comment:
Funny, being born during WWII and growing up in the late 40s-early 50s, I thought movies such as this were just movies. I came of age in the midst of these black and white, stark reality jobs, that we now term 'noir'.
Yes, I'm aware the term was one applied by the French to describe some American movies after WWII, but believe me, the average viewer didn't call them 'noir' back then. They were just movies, and we expected to see them whenever we went to see a 'detective' show. Generally, if you did not see a western at the local bijou, you saw a movie similar to this one. They rather proliferated back then, now they have come to define an age.
I know I have seen this one before, but recently on the movie channels I have had the chance to see both A KISS BEFORE DYING and now KISS OF DEATH and just want to say how good it is to see them again. The actors, the scriptwriters, and the producer/directors are no longer with us to ever make these type movies again. As with the big band era, the film noir era has passed and will never pass this way again. But since it once did pass this way, we have these wonderful films on hand to relive it all.
Not everyone's 'cup of tea' no doubt, but I relish the films, with none being better than this one, KISS OF DEATH.
Semper Fi.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Kiss Of Death
Comment: The movie "The Kiss Of Death starring Victor Mature and Brian Donlevy and introducing Richard Widmark is a fine film of the noire genre. Richard Widmark one acclaim as Johnny Udo, psychopathic killer with a sinister laugh. I am a big Victor Mature fan. He does a great job as an ex-con who is asked by DA who is played by Brian Donlevy to try and pretend to be friends with Johnny Udo while trying to get the good on him. At first he doesn't want to do it but then he sees what kind of a man Johnny Udo is and he changes his mind. I believe anyone who likes a good drama with action will enjoy this movie. I give it five stars.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Kiss of Death Movie Review
Comment: Shot on location in New York, which few films could claim back in 1947, Henry Hathaway's Kiss of Death is a sensationally thrilling film noir that features one of the most memorable movie villains. A typical hard-boiled gangster film, Kiss of Death sports the essential elements of classic noir, including a confused anti-hero, devious villains, gunplay and action, incompetent cops and sets that cast shadows on everything that steps past the screen.
Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is a common mob criminal with a stirring sense of decency, hidden beneath his stone-like demeanor. Caught during a jewelry store heist, he refuses to rat out his accomplices and is sentenced to a harsh term in Ossining (that's Sing Sing for you gangsters). His silence comes from faith in his lawyer Howser, who regularly defends mobsters and assures him that he will get an early release and soon be reunited with his wife and kids. But as time passes and he hears nothing from his lawyer, he gets word from a fellow inmate that his wife has committed suicide and his kids were sent to an orphanage.
Distraught at his loss and his inability to help his children, he decides to aid the district attorney with nailing the other criminals involved in his organization, in return for a lightened sentence. When he is able to provide sufficient evidence against mob hitman Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark), a trial is set, but the jury finds Udo innocent. Realizing the dangers of a stoolie, Bianco sends his newfound girlfriend Nettie (Coleen Gray) away with his kids for safe keeping so that he can settle the score against the vengeful Udo.
Bianco is a classic noir anti-hero who is not an entirely bad guy but is caught in harsh times - he wants to go straight but is doomed to never be able to fully remove himself from the criminal lifestyle. Although he eventually breaks free from his sense of duty to the mob, the ilk that surrounds him returns to pull him back in. Seeing an anti-hero continually make mistakes despite his overall decency is nothing entirely new, but Bianco's gentle-giant temperament assists in defining a character that we can't help but admire and pity. In addition, the police incompetence forces the character to take on odds and stress that would shatter a man with less gumption.
However, nothing can outdo Richard Widmark's show-stealing performance as the unhinged Tommy Udo, a villain so sinister not even a mother could love. Slapping dames, antagonizing the innocent, cackling like a madman at every word and throwing wheelchair-bound old ladies down flights of stairs is just the beginning of Udo's vicious character development, which leaves the audience grinning with glee at how innovative this gangster from the 40's was. His unique design was a stepping stone for future criminals who all outperform the protagonists we're supposed to be rooting for. "He's nuts and he's smarter than you are," quips Bianco to district attorney Louis D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy) after Udo weasels past the jury with charges of murder.
A luxurious noir score also presides over the events of the luckless Bianco, with thanks to composer David Buttolph who carefully submerges us in the moody atmosphere of this hard-boiled thriller. Nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Widmark's outstanding supporting performance, and one for the original screenplay (with Nettie's sultry voice to narrate), Kiss of Death is indispensable film noir.
- Mike Massie
Customer Rating:
Summary: Was the "Wheelchair giggle" scene cut?
Comment: This film is terrific, and the video transfer is great. But I have a question for anyone who can answer. I have a distinct recollection from many many years ago when I last saw this film, that when Richard Widmark pushes Mildred Dunnock down the stairs in a wheelchair, after she crashes, we see Widmark standing at the top of the stairs, giving that giggle that made this scene one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history. Yet on this DVD, after he pushes her down, we see her crash, and then the screen goes to black, and then to the next scene. Did I remember this wrong, or has some cretinous censor at Fox truncated the scene. Does anyone remember this the way I do?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
