Product Details

• Actors: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes
• Directors: Henry Hathaway
• Writers: Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, Eleazar Lipsky, Philip Dunne
• Producers: Fred Kohlmar
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: June 6, 1995
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301863194
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,830 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Richard Widmark's bravura debut as snickering gangster Tommy Udo, and particularly his infamous encounter with an old woman in a wheelchair, enjoys such pop cachet that the movie itself has been somewhat underrated. More's the pity. Henry Hathaway's third entry in 20th Century–Fox's series of post–WWII thrillers is just about the best of the bunch. These films incorporated the semidocumentary techniques and wondrously persuasive on-location shooting Hollywood learned from Italian neorealism and the wartime filming of some of its own best directors. Kiss of Death is more fictional than documentary in thrust, with a solid script by ace screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. But that only makes its imaginative, atmospheric use of real places and spaces--e.g., a superb opening robbery sequence in a New York skyscraper--the more remarkable.

Victor Mature belies his rep as one of the Hollywood star system's bad jokes with his intense performance as Nick Bianco, a career criminal driven to turn squealer. Nick's motivation is family values: although he had gone to Sing Sing (yes, they filmed there, too) as a stand-up guy, "the boys" failed to take care of his wife and daughters as promised, with devastating results. Despite the best efforts of an assistant D.A. (Brian Donlevy), Nick is forced to lay everything on the line to rescue his family's future. The movie abounds in evocative texture, thanks to the no-frills excellence of Norbert Brodine's camerawork and an exemplary supporting cast including Millard Mitchell (as a sardonic police detective), Karl Malden (another D.A.), and Taylor Holmes (a flannel-mouthed Mob shyster). Kiss of Death was remade twice, as a Western titled The Fiend That Walked the West and as a straight thriller again in the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Tommy Udo, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kiss of Death [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Sylvester Stallone of his time, Victor Mature was regarded as little more than a joke until his fine performance in the crime drama "Kiss of Death." Unfortunately for Mature, a New York stage actor was making his film debut in the Henry Hathaway directed thriller, and "Kiss of Death" remains famous for having introduced Richard Widmark to film audiences. As the giggling, psychopathic Tommy Udo (is there a true film buff anywhere in the world unfamiliar with that name?), Widmark would create a character much imitated in the years that followed, though still not surpassed for cruelty. It is in this film that Widmark pushes an old lady tied into her wheelchair down a flight of stairs, maniacally cackling as she makes her way to the bottom. The scene is still quite chilling, and there isn't a moment nearly as memorable in the adequate 1995 remake with Nicolas Cage and David Caruso taking over for Widmark and Mature. The rest of this original "Kiss of Death" holds up pretty well, too.

37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid classic, March 15, 2000

By 

Lee J. Stamm (Kennewick, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kiss of Death [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This great piece of cinema has lost none of its punch in more than 50 years. Even more starkly photographed than most "film noir." Makes you realize, if you don't already, that filmmakers and actors knew what they were doing back then, frequently producing results far superior to most of their modern counterparts.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What A Film Debut!, April 1, 2000

By 

James L. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss of Death [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Kiss of Death is a crime thriller that kept me more involved then I was expecting. Perhaps it's the fact that the Victor Mature character is pretty sympathetic. Mature (a better actor than he was given credit for) plays the internal conflicts of his character with a lot of conviction. The location filming and the straightforward direction help to add a lot of realism to the film. The supporting cast, with the exception of Colleen Gray, contribute good performances. But it's Richard Widmark, in his film debut, that leaves the strongest impression. His giggling, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo is one of the most memorable characters you'll ever see, and the wheelchair scene is justifiably famous. Kiss of Death is a gripping crime drama.