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Kiss of Death (1947)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
27 August 1947 (USA) moreTagline:
It will mark you for life as it marked him for... Betrayal morePlot:
With his law-breaking lifestyle in the past, an ex-con, along with his family, attempt to start a new life, unknowing a betrayed someone from the past is bound to see otherwise. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins moreNewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Actor Widmark Dies (From WENN. 26 March 2008, 12:11 PM, PDT)
Actor Richard Widmark Dies at 93
(From IMDb News. 26 March 2008)
User Comments:
Good crime drama moreCast
(Complete credited cast)| Victor Mature | ... | Nick Bianco | |
| Brian Donlevy | ... | Asst. Dist. Atty. Louis D'Angelo | |
| Coleen Gray | ... | Nettie | |
| Richard Widmark | ... | Tommy Udo | |
| Taylor Holmes | ... | Earl Howser, Attorney | |
| Howard Smith | ... | Warden | |
| Karl Malden | ... | Sgt. William Cullen | |
| Anthony Ross |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
98 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColour:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Certification:
UK:12 (DVD rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #12356) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Originally, Patricia Morison played Victor Mature's wife, who is attacked and raped by a gangster who is supposed to be watching out for her while Mature is in prison, and afterwards commits suicide by sticking her head in the kitchen oven and turning on the gas. Both scenes were cut from the original print at the insistence of the censors, who wanted no depiction of either a rape or a suicide, so although Morison's name appears in the credits, she does not appear in the film at all. Mention is made later in the film about Mature's wife's suicide and a now obscure reference is made by Nettie that the unseen gangster Rizzo contributed to the wife's downfall. moreQuotes:
Tommy Udo: I'm askin' ya, where's that squealin' son of yours?[weird laugh]
Tommy Udo: You think a squealer can get away from me? Huh?
[crazy laugh]
Tommy Udo: You know what I do to squealers? I let 'em have it in the belly, so they can roll around for a long time thinkin' it over. You're worse than him, tellin' me he's comin' back? Ya lyin' old hag!
[maniacal laugh]
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Love, American Style: Love and the Modern Wife/Love and the Phonies/Love and the Single Couple (#1.5)" (1969) moreFAQ
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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.