Film Noir Flashback/The Breaking Point
February 26, 2025
I post reviews (here) of Film Noir movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age of Noir, the 1940s and 1950s. I write as an amateur film noir enthusiast, but not an authority as such.
Maybe, like me, you are looking to enjoy films that are different, or of a different era. Films you may not have seen, ones encompassing cynical detectives, seductive femme fatales, flawed sidekicks all tossed together into intricate plots. Not forgetting the snappy dialogue too.
Backstory: Film Noir has its roots in German expressionist cinematography and American crime fiction. During the 1930s Hollywood became a perfect storm of film artists fleeing the threat of Nazi Germany, emigrating to America, and specifically to the Film studios of Hollywood. This included great directors such as Fritz Lang, Jaques Tourneur, Michael Curtiz and Robert Siodmak.
This new dramatic visual style combined with American hardboiled crime stories (noir fiction), emerged during the Great Depression and produced many classic noirs. Some of these writers include: Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith, Jim Thompson and Mickey Spillane.
I hope to showcase some of these memorable noir movies here for you. And advance apologies for a mixture of British and US English occasionally and potential spoilers, although I will always try to avoid revealing the full ending. I have applied the link below, to the Amazon.com DVD of today’s featured film. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases).
Inspired by hardboiled detective stories and film noir, I have written the Sterling Private Investigator Series, set in present-day London. I have also posted a link to my books at the bottom of the page.
Today’s film is:
Kiss of Death
USA DVD (note: Pal, region 2): https://amzn.to/3R0PXLf Blu-ray DVD (note: pal, region 2): https://amzn.to/4buJ7XK
UK link DVD: https://amzn.to/3R0Qzk1 Blu-ray DVD: https://amzn.to/4khFYyh
“I’m the kind of guy you can’t hurt.”
Film Studio: 20th Century-Fox B&W/1947
Director: Henry Hathaway
Original Music: David Buttolph
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Film Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr.
Story: Eleazar Lipsky
Screenplay: Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer
Main Actors: Victor Mature, Coleen Gray, Brian Donlevy, Richard Widmark
Produced by: Fred Kohlmar
Run time: 99 minutes
Preview
Courtesy of Wikipedia:
Kiss of Death is a 1947 American film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. The story revolves around ex-con Nick Bianco (played by Victor Mature) and another hoodlum, Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark in his first film). The movie also starred Brian Donlevy and introduced Coleen Gray in her first billed role. The film has received critical praise since its release, with two Academy Award nominations.
Synopsis
Kiss of Death starts with a panoramic of New York City on Christmas Eve. A short narration begins with Nettie Cavallo (Coleen Gray) telling us that Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) has a prison record but cannot get a job. She shares with us, how, and where, he is going “Christmas shopping” this year. In actuality, it is a planned jewellery heist on the 24th floor of a department store. And presumably, he’s not needing their gift-wrapping services…
Nick Bianco is tall, dark, and handsome – and smartly dressed. Crooks always seemed to be well dressed (in movies at least), perhaps making it easier to blend in… Nevertheless, Bianco is joined in the elevator by two accomplices before entering the offices of Peacock Jewellers. Bianco pulls a gun on the associate, while his accomplices tie him up, and knock his colleague down. In possession of the filched valuables, they return to the elevator, making many time-consuming and tortuous stops at numerous levels on their way down to the lobby. A suspenseful scene.
Before reaching the main door to exit, an alarm is triggered by the victim. Police quickly throw a blanket over the exits. Bianco ducks through an alternate door (via a travel agency), hitting, then pushing past a policeman and escaping to the street. Witnessed by another officer, Bianco takes a bullet to the leg, he is then captured and placed under arrest. This year’s festive shopping spree is over.
The Assistant District Attorney (A.D.A.) Louis D’Angelo (Brian Donlevy) summons Bianco to his office. “Do you know why you’re here?” he asks him. “I’m supposed to squeal?” he asks in return. D’Angelo peruses Bianco’s file. “I want the names of those three men that were with you on that job,” he demands. His colleague turns to Bianco and tells him, “You’ll be up for fifteen years, maybe twenty.”
We learn that Bianco completed four years in jail previously and he hadn’t squealed. Nothing’s changed, he affirms. D’Angelo reminds Bianco he has two young kids and that he should think of them and be there for them. Food for thought maybe, but he is no stoolie… Besides, Bianco’s bent lawyer Earl Howser (Taylor Holmes), promises to keep an eye on his wife and kids. How reassuring that is, however, is an open question.
Inside the same holding cell, we see (and enjoy) Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) for the first time. A psychopathic villain who sizes up wardens (and cops) and spits out colourful menaces: “Stick both thumbs right in his eyes and hang on to he drops dead!” He laughs dementedly at a passing warden. Ironically, it is our own eyes that we can’t remove from watching him. “I wouldn’t give you the skin off a grape,” he says in follow up. You get the idea; charm isn’t his strongest suit. He’s a nasty piece of work. Fully unhinged, in fact.
Bianco is given a twenty-year sentence. Udo and Bianco are handcuffed together and under police custody, travel by train to Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Ossining, New York. “When you spit in that judge’s face, I said to myself, a buddy, a stand-up guy,” Udo says in admiration and taking a liking to Bianco.
Now doing time, Bianco hasn’t heard from his wife and he is worried about his kids. A man who has recently been interned knows of her. When Bianco is in the workshop, he asks a buddy to see if the newcomer has any news. When Bianco’s colleague returns, he nods his head and says simply, “She’s dead.”
Later, in the library, Bianco is still reeling from the disclosure. Finding a newspaper, he discovers his wife has committed suicide, and his children, aged four and five, have been taken to an orphanage.
A short while after, the children’s former babysitter, the sweet and attractive Nettie Cavallo visits Bianco in jail. And she appears to be infatuated by the prisoner. Nettie assures him that his kids are fine. During their conversation, Bianco learns that Pete Rizzo had something to do with his wife’s downfall. The exact action is left vague here (but was a rape depiction originally that was deleted). After her visit, Bianco requests to see the prison warden and writes a letter to Louis D’Angelo. “Tell him, Nick Bianco wants to cash in on his insurance policy.” And turn state’s evidence.
At the meeting, D’Angelo tells Bianco that three years has lapsed and he’s not in a position regarding that previous offer of help. “My insurance policy has lapsed?” Bianco wonders. “I would say, so,” D’Angelo says, then queries what has changed his mind. Bianco tells him his wife is dead and he wants to see his kids in trade for information, and by naming his criminal accomplices on the Peacock Jewellery job. D’Angelo agrees and makes a deal. The informer is then kept in the city jail, so he can more easily cooperate with the D.A’s office. As a reward, Nick Bianco goes to see his girls at the convent-orphanage.
Di Angelo asks Bianco if he was involved in a job he wasn’t charged for. He tells him the Thompson Fur Co. The A.D.A tells him that he will use this as a “cover” for investigating him. When Bianco summons his lawyer, he lies in order to deflect from his own admissions, telling Howser, he believes someone has squealed. He suggests it was Pete Rizzo because the two worked together on the Thompson Fur Co. job. Howser makes a phone call and leaves a message for, none other than, Tommy Udo. The lawyer asks Udo to make a hit on Pete Rizzo. When Udo visits the home of Rizzo, he discovers he’s skipped town, but his mother is there, whom he kills instead, and it is carried out in a brutal and shocking way (see must-see scene below).
Udo calls Howser and tells him that Rizzo will likely go to South America or somewhere because he’ll be reading something in the newspapers, and you will too, he says. Bianco continues to impart information to the District attorney’s office, and in particular some information relating to Tommy udo and narcotics. D’Angelo is convinced they can get a conviction.
Soon, Bianco is paroled and starts a new family life marrying Nettie Cavallo and moving to Astoria, in Queens. Their happy bliss is interrupted however, when Bianco is summoned to give testimony from the witness box. Unfortunately, the prosecutor’s case is not enough to convict Udo. He remains free and at large. Worse yet, Udo will very likely seek revenge against Bianco (and his young family) for his testimony. Nervous about their safety, Nick Bianco takes his family to the country and returns to confront Udo to resolve his nightmare once and for all.
Things to like
*After three years in prison, it is an emotional moment when Nick Bianco sees his daughters again. At the orphanage, the sisters bring the children from their class. After a slightly awkward re-introduction, the sister asks if they are going to give their father a hug. One daughter says to Sister Frances, “Nobody else here has a daddy have they, Sister Veronica. Nobody else.” And she’s right.
The father follows them into the music room to hear his daughter play the piano. This scene, while not necessarily the hard noir we might expect, does flesh out Nick Bianco’s character and shows his motivation for ratting on his accomplices. Probably the last thing he ever wanted to do, but here he is.
*A scene shortly after Udo’s murder of Rizzo’s mother. Bianco feigns to run into Udo after a boxing match. He’s been waiting for him in reality. Udo is pleased to see him: “We’re pals,” he says. They head out to the nightclubs. There is a sense of unease as Bianco befriends Udo. Bianco is now working as an informer and attempts to extract pertinent information so he can pass it along to D’Angelo. Tommy Udo is a dangerous and deranged man. Anyone in his presence senses this. That unease transfers to the viewer too.
Udo, his gal and Bianco sit drinking at a table, at first, enjoying the live jazz band and the champagne. Bianco is laid back and calm whilst Udo is all nervous energy, flipping between gregarious and apoplectic and soon sending his gal packing. He tells her to go home; “Stay in your joint and wait for me.” Though she’d be well advised to pack up, and move to a place far, far away.
*The guard calls out “Ossining” as the train arrives at the prison. We then see actual footage of the imposing facility from the rear carriage window.
*We see Tommy Udo’s name before we see him. His first actual scene is in a holding cell together with Nick Bianco. He marks his screen debut with his characterization of Tommy Udo, a sadistic killer, which elevated him to the very top of noir.
*Unusual noises and car headlights in the night all make Nick Bianco jittery and jumpy. He – and the viewer- presume Tommy Udo is coming for retribution.
Quotes
Tommy Udo: “You heard about me, didn’t you?”
Nick Bianco: “No.”
Tommy Udo: “In all the papers… Picked me up for a murder rap. It was in all the papers.”
***
Prison Warden: (reading a handwritten request) “Nick Bianco; urgent business… Did he write this himself?
Guard: “Yes sir.”
Prison Warden: “Good handwriting.”
Guard: “He’s not a bad guy.”
***
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.”
***
Tommy Udo: “Dames are no good it you wanna have some fun.”
***
Nick Bianco: (Talking to Udo) “… Maybe I know some other tunes. When we were together you told me a lot of things. You got your eyes full of smoke and you talk plenty, just like the squint you are. You talked your fool head off and I ain’t forgetting any of it.”
***
Sister: (Looking to the two detectives and the prisoner) “Which one of you is Mr Bianco?”
Must-see scene
There are a couple of must-see scenes (one is leading up to the finale). The other is this, the famous “wheelchair scene”:
A taxi pulls up right outside one of those big old New York tenement buildings; an apartment “walk-up”. Like a dark rain cloud emerging, we see Tommy Udo climb out and head up a set of steps. A cigarette hangs from his mouth, set, as if a permanent feature. An oversize fedora and a glazed look complete the picture.
In the entrance hall, he pauses, locating the bell for Rizzo’s apartment. He is buzzed in and progresses through the inner door, heading up the steep communal stairs. Upon knocking, he hears a woman’s voice, “It’s open,” she calls out. He goes in. An elderly woman in a wheelchair (Rizzo’s mother) sits in a side room and cranes her head in curiosity. Udo sees her, throws his cigarette onto the floor, running his foot over it. “Where’s the squirt?” He demands. The nervous woman tells him her son will be back tonight after dinner, “sometime”.
Udo snoops around, pausing in the bedroom where he sees the dresser drawers pulled out and fully empty. He checks the wardrobe. Every hanger is devoid of clothes. He knows the mother is lying. He returns to the woman who has been sitting silently in the other room. Now sneering, as if a switch has been flicked, Udo almost coughs up (and out) that maniacal staccato laugh. (And what a sinister laugh it is).
“Where’s that squealing son of yours?” He demands again. Unhappy with her non-committal answers, he begins a sadistic rant about what he does to squealers. First ripping out the phone cable from its socket, then forcibly tethering her tight to her chair. She screams in terror. He grabs the handles and pushes her out the front door, onto the landing, and then thrusts the wheelchair – with her still tied in it – down the stairs and to her death.
Summary
Kiss of Death is a highly engaging and entertaining gangster noir with great New York locations and rich photography. A film that is lifted to a higher level by Richard Widmark’s performance, deservedly Oscar-nominated. And it could be argued a performance he may have equalled but never bettered.
Victor Mature plays it straight and with a good dose of reality. The two leads are sharply contrasted. The likable Nick Bianco (having taken a wrong turn) has a heart and a conscience. Tommy Udo has neither; he’s evil to the core. This 1947 classic noir is one to add to your film library.
USA Link: Film Noirs & Spanish Guitars (eBooK): https://amzn.to/43k8wBg (paperback): https://amzn.to/4bjlGk5
UK Link: Film Noirs & Spanish Guitars (eBook): https://amzn.to/4ilvs7C (paperback): https://amzn.to/4bolEY4