- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 12
- Studio: Bfi
- DVD Release Date: 15 Oct 2007
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000SKKCZK
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 81,291 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
KISS OF DEATH--IN HIS FILM DEBUT-RICHARD WIDMARK-STEALS THE FILM AS A BRILLIANT GIGGLING PSYCHOPATH,
By
This review is from: Kiss of Death [DVD] [1947] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
KISS OF DEATH,1947,black and white,is a brilliant Film Noir,that stars-VICTOR MATURE[Nick Bianco],BRIAN DONLEVY[D'Angelo],COLEEN GRAY[Nettie],RICHARD WIDMARK,[Tommy Udo]who was in his film debut,and he literally stole the film away from the other actors[who were also all great]as his brilliant portrayal as the giggling psychopath,Tom Udo. Also starring in this film is KARL MALDEN[Sgt.William Cullen].
It is Christmas in New York City and Nick Bianco[Mature]has a past criminal record and no job. He goes christmas shopping for his children by robbing a jewelry store,but before he can make an escape,a jeweler sounds the alarm. Nick is wounded in a shootout with the police. After Nick recovers he is taken to a police station and offered a reduced sentence if he informs on other criminals. At first he refuses and is sent to prison. But then something happens in his personal life and he reconsiders. So Nick Bianco is now a police informant,with constant demands for criminal activities,he risks not only his own life but his family's,if found out by the gangsters. The police want to nail a sadistic killer,Tommy Udo[the giggling psychopath brilliantly played by Richard Widmark]and the police force him to testify against Tom Udo. But when Udo is acquitted,Nick lives in fear of the killer's revenge. Sending his family away,Nick seeks out Udo,but is ambushed and shot several times,seriously wounded,he is taken away by ambulance. He eventually survives and starts a new life with his family. Nick Udo has been shot dead,by police while making his getaway on foot after his ambushing Nick Bianco. A brilliant Film Noir classic brilliantly acted by entire cast.-RICHARD WIDMARK-in this his film debut,does literally steal the film away in his brilliant portrayal as a giggling psychopath of the ruthless gangster,Tommy Udo. This dvd comes with a very informative leaflet[four pages]about this films story. Regards,Bill.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard hitter from Hathaway, Hecht and Lederer.,
By Spike Owen "John Rouse Merriott Chard" (Birmingham, England.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Kiss of Death [DVD] [1947] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
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 fan. 8.5/10
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard hitter from Hathaway, Hecht and Lederer.,
By Spike Owen "John Rouse Merriott Chard" (Birmingham, England.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Kiss Of Death [DVD] [1947] (DVD)
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 fan. 8.5/10
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