starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray
directed by Henry Hathaway
99 minutes
Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) gets nabbed by the police while trying to escape after robbing a jewelry store. He had partners in the job but the cops only catch Nick. Louis DeAngelo (Brian Donlevy), the assistant district attorney, tries to talk Nick into squealing on his accomplices but Nick would rather go to prison.
Three years into his prison term in Sing Sing, Nick changes his mind about giving the assistant DA what he wants after he finds out that his wife has committed suicide and that his two young daughters are in an orphanage. The ADA does what he can for Nick after he provides testimony.
Nick marries again, this time to Nettie (Coleen Gray), who used to babysit for him and his wife. Things are looking up until DeAngelo insists that Nick helps put away a hired gun, Tommy Udo. Nick provides testimony in court but Udo is not found guilty of the murder.
Udo knows that Nick testified against him which leaves Nick in a very precarious situation. DeAngelo tries to insist that they deal with Udo in his way but Nick can't go for that and comes up with his own plan.
Tommy Udo was played by Richard Widmark. Kiss of Death was his first movie. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporying Actor for his performance in Kiss of Death but did not win. Prior to this film I knew him best for Road House (1948) which I saw last year at Noir City DC 2023.
Kiss of Death was also nominated for but did not win the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story.
I really enjoyed watching this movie. It caught my interest in the first scene and didn't sag at all. It really gets tense towards the end. Credit is due to Victor Mature and Richard Widmark for their performances but I also think that the way it was shot, directed, and edited together had a lot to do with the tone of the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment