El beso de la muerte

This film is "required reading" in the study of gangster films, mostly because of Richard Widmark's exceptional and truly frightening performance as Tommy Udo. Interestingly enough, 43 years later, actor Joe Pesci would also terrify movie audiences with his portrayal of another psychopathic gangster, who also had the rather benign name of 'Tommy'. However, unlike Pesci, Widmark never had another particularly memorable gangster role after this one.

While a lot of the story is realistic, some of it is far-fetched - mainly, the end. Only a complete lunatic would even think of walking into the headquarters of a gangster that he had just testified against and expect to come out alive. However, the tension in that restaurant confrontation scene is effective, and I suppose for the era in which this film was made, it was necessary to have the 'good hero' face down the 'bad bully' and put him in his place. In reality, of course, it just doesn't happen that way in the world of crime.

But what makes this film is Widmark, and to give an idea of just how effective he was, when this film first came out, a real-life NYC mobster(Joey Gallo) would watch it and earnestly try to imitate Widmark's style and mannerisms, thereby enhancing his own skill in intimidating others. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The bulk of Kiss of Death is a modest, based-on-a-true-story tale of crime and woe. There's nothing spectacular about Nick or his circumstances, and nothing particularly compelling about his turn as a stool pigeon. Kiss of Death is almost romantic-comedy-like in its execution: Man meets crime, man leaves crime, man hooks up with crime again. Crisis, resolution. Yet out of the nondescript foundation emerge a few noteworthy aspects.

The first and most noticeable is the realistic look of the film. Director Henry Hathaway goes straight to the source, shooting scenes on their actual locations. This is noticeable because the opening credits tell you so; how quaint to throw a little self-promotion right there in the intro! Fortunately, this hokiness doesn't detract from some truly beautiful camera-work achieved by cinematographer Norbert Brodine. New York has a distinct look, and Brodine makes the most of it. Establishing shots of lights and skyscrapers in silhouette lead into a New York in full seasonal glory, with Christmas shoppers amok in the streets. From posh nightclubs to gritty prisons, Hathaway and Brodine milk as much texture from the locations as possible.

The self-promotional focus on cinematography quietly gives way to Victor Mature's personable portrayal of Nick. Though he worked through six decades, Mature was never a big name or recognized star. Indeed, his relative lack of star quality allows him to succeed in this modest, intimate tale culled from the real life of a small time hood. Mature doesn't steal the show by any means, but he capably anchors it and gives Nick some plausibility and a sympathetic quality. When Coleen Gray arrives on the scene as Nick's former nanny, we can somehow buy their slapdash romantic entanglement. Gray is also capable in her role, sweet but not saccharine, petite but with a hint of spark. Her perkiness doesn't grate, and there seems to be more to her than just a pretty face and her status as Nick's love interest. She has the intriguing "I want to know more about this woman" vibe that characterized Judy Garland's stardom, though Gray would never reach those levels of fame.

Mature may not steal the show, but Richard Widmark does. Like Coleen Gray, Widmark made his debut in Kiss of Death. Unlike Gray's, his performance left an indelible mark on cinema and made Widmark a household name overnight. Tommy Udo is such a ruthless, depraved character, and his manner crawls under your skin so thoroughly, that Widmark is impossible to ignore. His characterization could so easily have spasmed across the line into caricature, or become smarmy or irritating. But Udo's manic, staccato laugh just skirts that edge, and his bitterly cold eyes and palpable menace invigorate later scenes. The unnecessary murder he commits on screen is shocking; it isn't hard to see why Joe Pesci would evoke shades of Tommy Udo in Goodfellas. In fact, Widmark's Oscar-nominated turn as Udo would inspire countless nods from subsequent maniacal mobsters.

These characters spice up an otherwise small, vague tale. Kiss of Death morphs though a series of focus shifts. It seems like a hardboiled crime saga at times, a political game at others, even a tale of family values and romance. It ends up in a dramatic knot of danger and redemption. Its inability to stick with one theme gives Kiss of Death a wishy-washy, gutless quality. But touches of depth, particularly the way Eleazar Lipsky's script makes the end of the film tense and involving instead of anticlimactic, keep the otherwise straightforward story fresh.

The tale is also enhanced by a couple of pure noir moments. The most obvious is Nick's nervous vigil when he knows Udo is coming for him. A car's headlights slice through the dark house and set off a game of hide-and-seek in the shadows. The pressure mounts, and you just know that someone is bound to die. I don't know how film noir can support such ludicrous amounts of shadow, but it does so to powerful effect. Noir jumps back onto the front burner when Nick takes matters into his own hands at the end of the film. A showdown with Udo over a restaurant table is fraught with peril and tension; mostly because of Widmark's scintillating menace, but partially because of the composition and the score.

A superb commentary by James Ursini and Alain Silver walks us through the nuances of the film without much pause or filler. The pair has an impressive understanding of film noir, and they're able to parlay that knowledge into an engaging commentary. Though I don't fault most of their specific points, Ursini and Alain Silver hold the film in higher esteem than I do. This is good for noir fans because the commentators highlight the positives in each shot, performance, and theme.

Nick Bianco is a smalltime robber who finds himself facing a long prison sentence. He is offered a deal which presents him with a tough dilemma. Can he reform? Does he have it in him to turn his back on his criminal pals? Is he capable of leading a useful life?

Manhattan is itself the very essence of film noir. What Lorca called "the extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm" of The City, this totally manmade environment, is both impressive and somehow sinister. Borrowing from German Expressionism, the makers of noir saw the Metropolis as a twentieth-century emanation of the Frankenstein theme - that by industrialising, we have created our own worst nightmare. In "Kiss Of Death" we get the obligatory Manhattan skyline, but more significantly Bianco's new home, outside which his little girls roller-skate, is overshadowed by brooding spans of bridges. No matter how Bianco may love his domestic idyll, The City is in him and around him, and he cannot escape "that good old hoodlum complex".

The screenplay by gifted noirists Hecht and Lederer is excellent. Complex strategy, both in Di Angelo's plans to outwit the witness-intimidators, and Nick's final showdown with the bad guy, is conveyed effortlessly to the viewer. The little touches by which Nick gains our sympathy (unfair treatment in the workplace, his good handwriting, etc.) are expertly laid. The scene in which Di Angelo gradually undermines Nick's hostility is a particularly fine piece of writing. Though a major criminal trial forms a plot pivot, the writers resist the temptation to wallow in courtroom drama. We see nothing of the trial, and the movie is slicker and tauter for it. In a similar vein, mobster Pete Rizzo is important to the story, but never actually appears onscreen. His presence would only slacken the narrative rhythm. The fact od Nettie's marriage is communicated to the viewer with elegant concision, and her happy home life is shown symbolically, without being dwelt upon.

Richard Widmark is simply marvellous as Tommy Udo, the creepy psycho. His oscillation between manic levity and unhinged viciousness is fascinating to watch. The scene where Udo humiliates his "moll" Buster is a masterpiece of cruelty which tells us a great deal about both characters.

As the intelligent bulwark of right-thinking society, Brian Donlevy gives a memorable performance in the role of Assistant District Attorney Louie Di Angelo. Coleen Gray is ideal in the part of Nettie, the thoroughly nice girl who falls for Nick. She even takes over the movie's narration, making an interesting shift in tone from terse, authoritative male voice to the softer 'social conscience' theme of which her character is the embodiment.

And the film is not afraid to espouse the liberal cause. Nick loves his children, and a heartless, uncaring society won't give him a job. He is wrong to stage the hold-up to get money for Christmas presents, but what choice have we hypocrites left him? "Nobody's cried over me for a long time," says Nick. We believe him.

Henry Hathaway brings quiet assurance to the directing. The suspense is developed masterfully in two key places, neither sequence relying on dialogue at all for its emotional power. The first is the interminable elevator ride at the start of the film, and the second is Nick's long vigil near the end, as he waits alone for his nemesis to arrive.

Earl Howser is played by Taylor Holmes in a superb depiction of a crooked attorney, the glad-handing, glib-tongued "eminent shyster with connections". In the second conference at Osning, the unctuous Howser says "Sit down, son, sit down," then casts a wily look at Nick which reveals his reptilian cunning.

Hathaway and his Director of Photography, Norbert Brodine, have come up with one of the best, and best-looking, of all films-noirs. The unrelenting geometry of the wall bricks in the cell area, and the daunting shadow of the bars, represent symbolically the way in which an unyielding society has caged Nick Bianco and closed down his options. Osning's rigid architecture, shot in exaggerated perspective, is the emblem of society's inflexibility. Shadows of prison bars slant across characters' faces. We are all enclosed and limited by the industrial monster which we have created. The prisoners carry out meaningless work in the machine shop, the crazily spinning bobbins standing for the barren bustle of modern life, and the ubiquitous twine the web of capitalism in which we unfortunates are ensnared. The clang and rumble of el-trains invades living-rooms, the heartbeat of the evil giant entering every facet of our lives.

"Kiss Of Death" was shot in genuine locations rather than on studio sets, and the use of real buildings gives it an interesting look. Doorways are used throughout the film for clever dramatic effects. Nick's first kiss with Nettie is shot through a doorway, suggesting furtiveness, putting the viewer in the position of a disapproving janitor. The doorway of the bordello opens to Udo, but is slammed in Nick's face. He does not belong here. A moment of sincere mutual affection between Di Angelo and Nick - the only one in the film - happens in a doorway, as if these two men from different worlds can only ever coincide in this transitory way. At the orphanage, a doorway allows us to glimpse a stained-glass crucifix just as Nick is about to embrace his daughters - and redemption. The reunion with Conchita and Rosaria is very moving, and beautifully acted by Mature.

Verdict - A Superior Noir.

Victor Mature had no illusions about his acting; when he was rejected for membership to a golf club because he was an actor, he said, "I'm no actor, and I've got 65 movies to prove it." However unpretentious he was, when he was cast in the right role, he came off well, as he does here in the noir "Kiss of Death." Mature plays Nick Bianco, a con who becomes a stool pigeon for the D.A. (Brian Donlevy) so that he can get a parole and retrieve his kids from an orphanage. He marries a friend of his late wife's (Coleen Gray) and uses another name so that his kids won't be tainted by his old criminal life. It all goes well until he has to testify in court against Tommy Udo. Then his life and that of his family are in grave danger.

"Kiss of Death" is notable for being the auspicious debut of Richard Widmark, and few actors have had such a powerful introduction to an audience. As the sadistic Tommy Udo, Widmark's raw laugh and smirk are chill-inducing. His famous scene - maybe the most famous scene of his career, as well as being a famous scene, period - occurs when he throws an old woman in her wheelchair down a flight of stairs. And laughs. A fantastic performance.

The beautiful Coleen Gray plays Nettie, Nick's wife. Despite her looks and good acting, Gray never achieved big stardom, though she had some excellent roles. I wonder if she just wouldn't play ball with Zanuck. Now 89, she is an attractive woman who continues to make public appearances, usually at screenings of the film "Nightmare Alley." Here she's perfect as a loving, worried woman. She also narrates.

Mature gives a solid performance as Nick -- he was really in his métier here and in films like "I Wake Up Screaming," though he graduated (or was demoted) to beefcake roles in period pictures later on. He had the physique but he wasn't a great actor and somehow, it was more apparent in those movies.

I feel very privileged to have met and spoken with Coleen Gray and to have heard the remarkable Richard Widmark speak in person, so I have an affection for this film. Even if I didn't, it's still good and well worth seeing.

I always enjoy watching things like this for the first time. Always wondered just What was the big deal w/ Widmark and the infamous wheel-chair scene? Now I know. It's pretty effective and sure, there wasn't anything else like it on film in '47, no sir.

What about the rest of this? Well--others have pointed out-the romance happens rather suddenly, I thought Widmark played a little too much by the rules towards the end-why didn't one of his goons just off him in the restaurant-?? and sure, they tacked on the wife's suicide rather conveniently-but, for the most part, this does work.

Look for Karl Malden in a smallish early role. I also enjoy watching Brian Donlevy, he usually played sgt majors and the like, here you can see why. Kudos to Victor Mature too-nothing great, but a solid role for him, too.

*** outta ****, worth watching.