User reviews

I can't believe that this film is not well known. Get rid of the terrible courtroom framing device, and you have a gangster masterpiece. Coming on the heels of Cagney's better known White Heat, this film takes violence and corruption to a new level. This film starts off with a brutal jail break and never slows down. The cold blooded violence portrayed is quite jaw dropping. Cagney was born to play this role. He is clearly relishing his cold blooded character. The freshness of this film is surprising. You are totally caught off guard. In this sense, it reminds me most of Kiss Me Deadly. For anyone with a passing interest in Cagney, or gangster films, or film-noir, or film violence, watch this film!!!!!!!

... and no this is not a remake. I just recently rewatched this, and for some reason I had thought Barbara Payton was actually Virginia Mayo. A second look taught me otherwise. I guess it was because that she looks so much like Virginia Mayo and she plays a role in this film similar to Ms. Mayo in White Heat.

Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) is a prison inmate who breaks out with the help of another inmate, or maybe that is vice versa, because everybody involved in helping them make a run for it is involved with the other inmate - his sister, Holiday (Barbara Payton), his friends.

The other inmate was shot by the guards trying to escape and, out of the view of the guards, Cotter kills the brother. This was probably seen as a necessity by Cotter to keep him from talking, but he didn't seem to not enjoy doing it. Cotter blames the brother's death on the guards. Back at her apartment, Cotter seduces his victim's sister, although his facial expression doesn't show affection, just conquest, probably as her apartment is a matter of convenience for him, a wanted man.

This is a great examination of a psychopath, part gangster picture, part film noir. From the perspective of Cagney's character it is a gangster picture. From the perspective of his new gun moll, Holiday, it is a film noir. The story of a girl who never did anything wrong until she tried to help her brother escape because she thought he was framed and was going stir crazy. And then it is downhill from there with Cotter in charge of her life. And plus you sense she might have always been a little crazy too. She's at least very hard on walls as far as throwing things at them whenever her temper is ignited.

Cagney pulls lots of questionable moves and crimes here that just happen to work out, some due to planning and bravado, some due to luck, some due to the fact that he has no conscience. Cagney does not get much meaningful dialogue, but he really doesn't need it. His character is written on his face. Cagney smiles when things are going his way. Expressionless when things are not with that cold stare.

But then a surprise. What started out as a meaningless incident in the middle of the film that may have you wondering - What is THIS doing here?, well that incident comes back around at the end to what would have been a lucky break for anybody else, but would be a trap for Cotter. But again, he just loves risk and decides to chance it. Taking on all of this danger, thinking he can handle anyone and anything is his undoing.

I said this was like White Heat in an alternate universe. And this is what I mean by that. Cagney is not doing a Cody Jarrett imitation but the comparison does hold up - cold and vicious yet he thinks on his feet. Payton's character is not like Mayo in White Heat. Mayo was as psychopathic as Cagney in that film and seemed to be married to him and staying with him for the high level of excitement and the occasional fur coat. But ultimately she loved nobody but herself. Payton's problem is that she loves him to death.

With William Frawley as a chatty creepy prison guard a year before he became Fred Mertz. And with Ward Bond in probably his meanest role as a crooked police inspector who can stand toe to toe with Cagney in his portrayal of someone with ice water in his veins. He makes baddie Barton McLane look tame by comparison. Quite a bit of range when you consider that just two years later Bond was friendly failed fisherman Father Lonagan in "The Quiet Man".

Highly recommended as a crime film where the tension never lets up.

Had a chance to watch KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE and although I don't agree with the claims of some that if you must see one "crime" film, this is it, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and that James Cagney was again terrific and on top of his game for this one. I also didn't get the feeling that this film was, in reality, WHITE HEAT 2, as some have said but it was a nifty follow up to that classic JC film. Cagney was indeed brutal and off his rocker, but it was more controlled and offset with his characters smarts and sense of humor. In WHITE HEAT, JC was just downright nuts, out of control and a lot more frightening IMHO. In KTG, Cags plays Ralph Cotter who after a daring and violent daylight prison break, uses his smarts to prove that he is no small timer and formulates a grand scheme to garner lots of cash and protection which involves crooked lawyers and crooked policemen. Cotter, in the end, is his own downfall as he goes too far and his romance with a high society girl with a very wealthy and powerful father, leads to his downfall because one thing you don't do is double-cross your moll! Excellent performance by all, including Barbara Payton and a near film stealing performance by Luther Adler as JC's eccentric and very crooked lawyer. Direction is robust and swiftly paced by Gordon Douglas and in the end, makes this film fun, breezy, yet violent, but also a very good watch.

The criminal Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) and his partner Carleton (Neville Brand) flee from the prison, but Carleton is wounded and Ralph executes him with a bullet on the head. Carleton's sister Holiday (Barbara Payton) helps Ralph to escape and kills a guard. The clever Ralph manipulates Holiday and she becomes his lover. Then he blackmails and bribes the dirty Inspector Charles Weber (Ward Bond) and Lieutenant John Reece (Barton MacLane) and associates to the corrupt lawyer Keith 'Cherokee' Mandon (Luther Adler). Ralph gets a new identity and he gets a license to carry gun. When Ralph meets the wealthy Margaret Dobson (Helena Carter), Mandon advises him that she is a dangerous woman, since her father is the powerful Ezra Dobson (Herbert Heyes). But the ambitious Ralph does not pay attention to Mandon's advice and leaves Holiday with tragic consequences.

"Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" is a combination of film-noir and gangster movie perfect to James Cagney in his usual role. The violent story is developed in flashback and Ralph Cotter is a ruthless and ambitious criminal that ends his career due to a female fatale, in an environment of crooked cops and lawyer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Amanhã que não Virá" ("The Tomorrow that Will not Come")

One of the four films made by James Cagney and his brother William for Warner Bros. and directed by journeyman Gordon Douglas this was intended to capitalise on the success of 'White Heat' but failed to do so. This gritty, visceral and deeply cynical film is not without merit however. Strong performnces here from Ward Bond as a corrupt cop and Luther Adler as a seedy lawyer is almost Mephistophelian. What can one say about Cagney? Orson Welles considered him the greatest and in this he was not far wrong. Very few actors could play a psychopathic hood so convincingly yet still be sufficiently charming to capture the affections of the millionaire's daughter, played by classy former model Helena Carter. Critics found this ludicrous of course and made a point of emphasising Cagney's 'maturity'. Producer William was by all accounts thoroughly taken by the sexual charisma of Barbara Payton but of course he was far from being the only one! Of all the sad tales of Tinseltown hers was surely one of the saddest. No need to dwell on this as her bio is freely accessible on IMDB for those who can bear to read it. Mainly peopled by beastly characters with no redeeming features at all this film has sufficient twists and turns to maintain ones interest and has a mesmerising central performance by Mr. Cagney.

James Cagney pulled off one of his greatest gangster roles fairly late in his career in 1949's White Heat. You could see he was starting to get a little pudgy in the midsection and gray around the temples for that kind of role, but he still pulled it off.....big-time. What a lot of people don't remember is that he did it one more time - with this film, the following year.

Yup, "Cody Jarrett" was in business for one more tough-guy gangster character. Here, he plays "Ralph Cotter," and he is one nasty dude. It's great to watch Jimmy doing his cocky-thug routine. I wish he could have gone on forever.

The supporting cast, led by Ward Bond, was very good in this film and worth noting. It isn't just all Cagney. Barbara Peyton is realistic as the tough blonde and Helena Carter as the spoiled rich man's daughter. Both are decent at heart and vie for Cagney's affections.

Included in here are crooked cops, a crooked lawyer and other assorted characters. It's a rough movie. Nobody is trustworthy in this story, which is interesting all the way. It should be better known.

I've seen just about everything there is to see in the world of Cinema. I've seen Rouben Mamoulian, 68years ago, create the definitive monster movie, I've seen Pekinpah's Wild Bunch go out in slo mo glory, I've seen Chow Yun Fat bleed his way through two hours, I've seen Cagney go out in a white heat at the top of the world, I've seen Belafonte lay Odds Against Tomorrow. I had honestly thought I had run out of surprises, I had seen everything worth seeing.

I was wrong.

I picked up, pretty much because of reviews I read here, this movie KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE. A little nothing, throwaway flick, that was done on the heels of Cagney's wildly popular WHITE HEAT, and was pretty much ignored upon release. It's said Cagney disliked the idea of doing another gangster picture. Thank goodness he decided to do it anyway, because this movie... out and out floored me!

It's hard to call a movie from 50years ago brutal, and justify it. However that's just what this movie is, deep in the bone, teeth rattling, brutal. In a world of Scorcese and Coppola Gangster riffs, Hong Kong Cinema, Slasher movies, and the nightly news it's hard to account for this movies impact.

There's nothing tangible in this movie, in a world of shock cinema, that one could call shocking. But yet... this movie has power, and energy, and yes a sense of brutality that blows away any dozen modern movies full of blood, or body parts.

This movies appeal is difficult to explain, but I guess if you had to sum it up in three words, it would be Cagney...CAGney...CAGNEY!!!

Today's movies for all their CGI brilliance lack the type of center, and ,if you like, romanticism that actors like Cagney and Bogart and Raft, and directors like Raoul Walsh, and in this case Gordon Douglass, brought to the table. Particularly in the hard-boiled flicks, a menace that was somehow felt, rather than seen, and therefore more powerful.

I could go on, but all you need to know is that this movie in a world that has forgotten it, outgrown it, outbled it, is the finest of its breed. Better than those that came before, superior to those that came after. It is the quintessential Gangster Pic. Highest Recommendation!

p.s. And I have to mention, I thought the courtroom scenes were well done and necessary, and everyone turned in great performances, especially the beautiful Holiday Carleton as Barbara Payton, who becomes Cagney's reluctant partner in crime. Cagney turning in his most ferocious and seductive performance, is matched by Holiday. Her tension, and wild lilting ferocity and fear, burning through the movie like a fuse, until it explodes! Mesmerizing!! A must see movie!

So you liked White Heat, with psychotic mamma's boy Cody Jarret going way over the top? Well, here's one just like it, only without any pretense at psychological probing of Cagney's character. Ralph Cotter is just plain evil, that's all there is to him. Unfortunately any comparison with White Heat shows up the deficiencies of this movie. There's simply no real reason to be all that interested in any of the characters. They rob and steal, scheme and cheat, but there's no real drive to their actions. You keep wondering why you should spend any time with these nasty people; even Cagney lacks that vicious charm he usually gives to these gangster roles.If you can watch Cagney do anything you may like this movie, for me it held too little appeal.

How fickle film history is! To think that this most intense crime thriller has been totally overlooked. I wouldn't say underrated, because it seems that everyone who has watched it agrees with me.

I woke up ten minutes before this movie started on TV, flicked the switch, and thought, OK cool, a James Cagney movie. I wasn't prepared for the roller-coaster plunge through abyssal night. Or the violent way with which the riders carom off into the void. The ending scene is totally classic with dialogue and revelation that pitches the film into the darkest reaches of noir.

Everything about this movie is hyped, Cotter (Cagney) hasn't got a bottle of champagne, he's got a jeroboam, he hasn't got a revolver, he's got an automatic, he hasn't got one honey, he's got two, we don't do 100 kilometers per hour, we do 100 miles per hour, and in a car the size of a carnival float. The guy's a total psycho, but not in the Robert Ryan way that turns you against his character, in the Cagney way where it's all like some big game to him.

There are a lot of totally mesmerising scenes in this movie. Two stand out just for the sheer exhilaration factor - this is the bit where you coo out loud. When Barbara (Holiday Carleton) throws a pot of coffee at Cotter he says, 'No cream?', so she throws the cream at him, 'No sugar?' so he gets the sugar, and finally 'No cigar?'. I was on the floor. Then there is the scene where Helena (Margaret Dobson) takes him out for a drive in her sporty little number. She takes it up to a hundred to scare him, and then he stamps his foot on hers and takes it to 110 whilst she frantically swerves.

Some people have commented on how the framing device of the court-case doesn't work. But for me it's total brutality, the director doesn't waste time with the minutiae of court proceedings, he just uses them to makes plain right from the very start that its all gonna end badly. It's a complete train wreck of a movie, there isn't an honest man in sight, and the casual nature of the violence just shocks you. Cutting kills people like he's taking out the trash, it's just another chore.

There's also classic support from Ward Bond, in this movie he always looks like he's gonna screw you up and toss you away. This role stands apart from the usual supporting roles he gets, either buffoonish (Fort Apache), ineffectual (Johnny Guitar), foolishly vigilante (On Dangerous Ground).

OK so we got broads with pzazz, we got dialogue to die for, we got utter magnetism from the lead actor (as only Cagney can be), and we've got total, anthracitic, ebonic, pitch-black noir. 11/10

Spoilers here.

If they made this movie today, they would call it "White Heat 2: Cody Lives". Cagney is as ruthless as in White Heat, but here, his pathology is under control, (brain surgery after his Oil Tank "accident" in Part 1?) so he can blackmail cops and smoothly double-cross his erstwhile moll while skimming wherever else and whenever he can. In the first couple of minutes of the film, he shoots a fellow prison escapee "just because". His sense of loyalty to his supposed accomplices goes downhill from there.

Barbara Payton is a more resonant and convincing actress than Virginia Mayo, and it can be argued that her strength as an actress creates much of the tension here: We want to see her get wise to the Cagney character's dirty game, and also succeed in avenging her brother's death (the fellow escapee shot in the beginning of the film). And unlike the case of Virginia Mayo's unsympathetic moll in White Heat, we actually do root for her to gain a comeuppance against the Cagney character. But we're torn. Cagney has so much natural charisma, even when playing a snake, that we can never entirely want him to get his. There is a sense of justice and inevitability to the ending. But there remains the nagging hurt feeling at what Cagney-- with all that bristling energy and industry and charisma-- COULD have accomplished if he hadn't succumbed to the dark side. Ten stars. See it!

Jimmy Cagney and his real life brother bankrolled this movie believing it to be a winner. With Horace McCoy as the writer and Gordon Douglas as the director, this film could go nowhere but up. The movie begins with a Cagney special, a shoot-em-up a Prison break. His name when the movie begins is Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) an escape murderer who with his friend's sister (Barbara Payton) make their get-a-way and immediately land right back into trouble. With a score of quick hold-ups they begin with minor success, when they run smack in to two Dirty cops (Ward Bond) and Lt. John Reece (Barton MacLane) who shake them down for a percentage of their loot. With the cops in tow, they join a scheming lawyer who in turn introduces Cotter to high society and a rich man's daughter. In between hold-ups. love-scenes, mayhem and extortions Cotter gets to dreaming of making it big. Were it not for his ambivalence towards good advice, he stands to lose everything. The movie is in Black and White and displays Cagney at his troublesome best. Fine cast members help to shore-up the movie. Members like William Frawley, Kenneth Tobey, Neville Brand and and Steve Brodie as Joe 'Jinx' Raynon. The movie is easy to follow, though a bit melodramatic, but it has a final scene where Cagney does what he does best, , , ,entertain. ****

Free of the nagging headaches of White Heat James Cagney once again goes to his bread and butter gangster role for the second time in row after putting it on sabbatical for a decade. He's no Cody Jarret but homicidal nonetheless.

Ralph Cotter (Cagney) busts out of prison with the help of an inmate's sister (Barbara Payton). Returning to his life of crime other opportunities become available when he switches his identity. Soon he has a pair of corrupt cops in his pocket while being ably assisted by a crooked lawyer and the cash begins to roll in. When he falls for a society dame matters get tenuous.

Unlike Jarrett Cagney's Cotter has the intemperate rage under better control in Goodbye allowing him to convey his cocksure threatening arrogance with a degree of sanity and control. More grounded without the mother fixation it extends his reach in things both criminal and romantic.

Barbara Payton in her first big role shines and shows great promise in a career that would nosedive as fast as rise while Falcon detective duo Barton McClain and Ward Bond, stretching his role more than usual, reprise their occupations but this time they are on the take. Luther Adler's corrupt lawyer 'Cherokee' Mandon gives an excellent understated performance buttressing Cagney by being a worthy adversary and advocate in attempting to keep Cotter on his game.

Prolific director Gordon Douglas ( 5 features in 1950, 4 more in 51) keeps things moving along at a decent pace with straightforward storytelling and handling of subplots that clearly in comparison lacks the desperation and intensity of Heat but remains a decent follow-up worth the watch.

James Cagney positively oozes malevolence in this gritty and dark thriller. He is "Cotter", a violent man who escapes from prison with the help the rather naive "Holiday" (Barbara Peyton). Pretty soon she is putty in his hands, swiftly followed by a couple of bent cops - and before we know it, he is running quite a successful little crime syndicate with a brand new identity. A chance encounter with the wealthy socialite "Margaret Dobson" (Helena Carter) tantalises the avaricious young man, despite warnings that her father was not a man to be trifled with. Soon, she too is captivated and when he leaves "Holiday" to take up with her, it starts to look much more perilous for all concerned. This story is told by way of a courtroom retrospective, but unusually that doesn't rob the film of much of it's jeopardy. We don't know quite what happened, and to whom, until quite an effective ending that I felt quite fitting. Cagney is on great form, and with Peyton and Carter offering us fine examples of women who are just so enamoured that they cannot see past this cruel and manipulative man. There is also a solid supporting cast - Ward Bond and Luther Adler amongst them, the dialogue is tightly scripted and delivered and the whole thing has a sleazy and grizzled outlook that I found appealing and appalling in equal measure. If you like a good film noir, then this ought to pass muster.

"Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" is about a jail convict (James Cagney) who escapes from prison and goes on the run, relentlessly pursued. He eventually winds up in a small town where he gets a girl and starts a normal life, but begins to corrupt everyone around him.

The movie is not very well known and I'm not sure quite why. Although this movie might not be definitive film noir it surely carries certain elements of the genre, and of course it's got James Cagney in it, one of the ultimate veterans of the genre! Cagney delivers a really solid performance and comes across as both likable and despicable. We feel for him and those around him as his bad influence spreads and the tragic tale takes a turn for the worst.

Although it's a very clear moral tale and ends up exactly where we can expect, "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" is nevertheless a very good, underrated film whose virtually nonexistent reputation is as depressing as the film itself.

Jimmy Cagney escapes from the chain gang, although his partner, Neville Brand, takes a bullet. Cagney takes up with his sister, blonde Barbara Payton and knocks over a grocery store. Who comes knocking but corrupt Inspector Ward Bond and Lieutenant Barton Maclane. With the help of attorney Luther Adler, he involves the on-the-take cops in a plan to steal a bookie's take. However, Cagney also romances and weds brunette heiress Helena Carter, despite her powerful father's objections. Can the marginally insane Cagney keep all the balls in the air?

It's a fairly film noir picture for Jimmy, even though cameraman J. Peverell Marley shoots it in straightforward fashion. Jimmy is megalomaniacal; Payton's playing hints at incest. It's not one of Cagney's great pictures; he's calculating rather than a fore of nature. Still, given the top cast, with a goodly assortment of Warner's Irish Mafia in small roles. it's a great show, even though Gordon Douglas' direction is efficient more than atmospheric.

James Cagney shines, and at times even seems to glow in the dark in this rugged follow-up to White Heat, directed with great verve by Gordon Douglas. It's a somewhat neglected film, maybe because it's basically a gangster picture rather than a noir, and rather late in the day for such things. The supporting cast features Barbara Payton; Luther Adler, in a Howard Da Silva role, as an eccentric lawyer, and who almost steals the show from Cagney; Rhys Williams, effortlessly playing an American; William Frawley, for nostalgia; and Ward Bond, neanderthal as ever, as a dogged, corrupt plainclothesman. Good, fast-paced and at times surprisingly violent, this movie will not put you to sleep.

Some people here are claiming that this is very similar to WHITE HEAT down to Cagney playing a violent villain in the same vein as Cody Jarrett . I disagree . Ralph Cotter is a violent anti-hero and that's what he is - an anti-hero where as Cody Jarrett is one of the most terrifying psychotic screen villains committed to celluloid which on that score alone makes WHITE HEAT an all time classic of cinema . KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE is a much lesser known film and there might be a very good reason to this

The good points are that it stars Cagney . Let's be blunt and say Cagney was never an actor but he was a movie star and his idiosyncratic style can carry the most mediocre of material . The story for the most part is very engaging and what makes Ralph Cotter an anti-hero the audience can empathise with is the fact he's usually only killing and blackmailing villains , stool pigeons and corrupt officials . Do your job , don't grass on your friends , behave yourself and you'll have nothing to worry about from Ralph

Where the story falls down quite badly is that there's a couple of character subplots involving dames . One involving a female called Holliday Carleton makes some sense but the other involving Margaret Dobson does not and it's impossible to believe this young woman would have any romantic attraction to Ralph . You also have to overlook the fact that Ralph is a hunted man and yet nearly everyone from traffic cops to Margaret's father fail to recognise Ralph . These two romantic subplots seem merely to exist to set up the ending . In other words the story structure is painfully contrived in order to bring the story to an end and it's this that stops KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE from being a classic crime drama instead of being a watchable thriller

There's always at least one main reason for any film with me and it was the cast in 'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye'. Very hard to go wrong with the likes of Ward Bond, Luther Adler and particularly James Cagney in a kind of role he always excelled in. It is hard to resist any film with such a great title and the plot synopsis also grabbed the attention. Have always made a big effort to appreciate all film genres and all decades, and there are plenty of great noir-ish gangster films out there.

'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye' is one of those great ones. It is great to see others regard it so fondly, but it is sad that it isn't as better known than it is. Despite a great reputation over the years, it is still criminally underrated with most probably have not even heard of it. 'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye' may not be one of my favourite films, but of all the films in this genre released in the 50s it is for me one of the better ones as well as one of the most pull no punches and tautest.

Did think that the film could have done without the romantic subplots, which were unnecessary and ones that the film does very little with. Merely there for setting up plot device reasons.

Cagney however is on cracking form, maybe he is too old for the role but he has the perfect amount of grit and menace, the charisma burning the screen. Barbara Payton has the most interesting and most developed character, she puts a lot of intensity and heart into her performance especially in her off the charts chemistry with Cagney, when she is confronted for instance the terror felt very realistic. Bond is suitably sleazy as one very corrupt character, while Adler plays his unsettlingly amoral role with relish. Gordon Douglas' direction is taut and unfussy, he could do this sort of material in his sleep effortlessly but it doesn't feel in any way that there was any sleepwalking or phoning in.

While the budget is modest, to me 'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye' did not look cheap and did have some nice moody atmosphere in the photography and lighting. There is nothing exceptional about the music, but when it is used it fits the mood and doesn't over-emphasise or intrude. The film further benefits from a very pacey, gritty and pull no punches script.

As well as a tightly paced, no frills or fuss, unyielding story that is never predictable and has a lot of eerie edge and suspense. The action excites, choreographed with verve while also not shying away, this is very daringly uncompromising stuff here. The characters are all unsympathetic with no exception, which will upset anybody who watches films for rootable characters, but in a morality story where there are no morals or ethics this was not in any way a detriment and actually added a lot to the film's edge.

In summary, truly great and deserving of a lot more credit. 9/10.

The film is perfect but terrible. It's all about corruption, how one after the other is led to take part in a criminal racket of burglary by greed and murder, and there is only one person in the plot who opposes this and ultimately takes the law into her own hands on the right side, while all the survivors are convicted.

James Cagney may be a super hero as an actor on film in all kinds of roles, as gangster, singer, entertainer, dancer and whatever, a real multi-tasker, but he is never smpathetic. His appearance is almost alien in its cold expressionless total control of every situation, and although he gets killed in a number of films, always as gangsters deserving it, he always leaves a bad taste behind. I am sorry, but I can't remember a single film where I really liked him.