Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Blu-ray Movie Review

Beige Heat.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 23, 2013

What a difference a year makes. In 1949, James Cagney, who had spent at least some of the preceding decade attempting to move beyond his typical gangster roles by essaying parts like his Academy Award winning turn in Yankee Doodle Dandy (yet to appear on Blu-ray), took the world by storm once again as a vicious criminal in Raoul Walsh’s lauded White Heat. 1950 saw Cagney in a somewhat similar property, but according to many critics at the time, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye was Exhibit A in the “lightning never strikes twice” display. Cagney and his producing brother William (who also appears in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye) had dug themselves a rather deep financial hole in their attempt to wrest Cagney away from Warner in the early forties, forming an independent production company that never was able to capitalize upon Cagney’s stardom. Ironically, Cagney had earlier left Warner briefly in the thirties, in yet another attempt to escape his consignment into one gangster role after another, only to return to the studio a couple of years later to make Angels With Dirty Faces, yet another big hit for the actor. And so with history having repeated itself twice, perhaps the Cagney siblings were simply resigned to the fact that Cagney as Criminal was what sold, and who were they to argue with the paying public? There are certainly similarities between White Heat and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, though some of them are simply coincidental, as the second film was sourced from a novel by Horace McCoy which had appeared in 1948 (McCoy’s novel turns up in a “cameo” in Jean Luc-Godard’s neo- noir Made in U.S.A., a tip of the hat to an author whom many cite as having inspired French filmmakers’ interest in the hard bitten crime milieu).

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye actually begins by figuratively embracing yesterday—in the form of flashbacks. The film opens with a trial, the kind of trial you only find in films, where a septet of defendants willingly marches right up to the witness box and testifies—for the prosecution. D’oh! But of course it’s simply a conceit which allows the story to play out. We’ve been told all seven are on trial for murder or accessory to murder, and the story of how these seven came to be in this sad predicament is now spun out in a number of witness “confessions”.

The film’s main story therefore travels back in time to introduce Jimmy Quinn, who is working on a chain gang of sorts— at least at night, when all the prisoners are chained together by their ankles in their beds. They’re woken up one morning by a couple of overly sarcastic guards (including one named Byers rather incredibly played by Fred Mertz himself, William Frawley). Another of the guards comes over to unchain Jimmy and gives him a curt nod, which Jimmy returns, in turn nodding at the guy next to him (Neville Brand in an uncredited role). Obviously something is up.

The prisoners actually are working on a farm, and Jimmy tries to calm his cohort’s nerves, telling him everything will be all right. Jimmy feigns a fever and Byers agrees to take him down to a nearby stream so that he can get a drink of water. The conspiratorial guard is waiting there and keeps Byers occupied while Jimmy retrieves a gun that’s been stashed in a rubber boot. Once Jimmy gets back into work formation, a nearby car horn alerts him that his getaway is ready, and he takes Byers down with one well aimed punch. Brand’s character panics and is quickly shot by one of the guards, but is only wounded. Jimmy takes one look at the situation, sizes up the alternatives, and quickly puts a bullet squarely in his partner’s head, evidently to keep him from squealing. This is only the first of what will be many examples of the amoral viciousness of this character, one which Cagney plays with some evident glee.

Jimmy runs toward the getaway car, where someone is perched in the shrubbery shooting a rifle and taking out some of the guards who are chasing Jimmy. Rather incredibly, that turns out to be his now dead partner’s sister, Holiday (Barbara Payton). Holiday is understandably distraught that her brother has been killed, but at the moment she, Jimmy and getaway driver “Jinx” (Steve Brodie) need to get Jimmy out of his prison garb and into hiding. They pull into a mechanic’s shop in a little town run by a guy named Mason (Rhys Williams). Mason seems unusually pleased to see Jimmy, and even tells him so, since it turns out Holiday is deeply in debt to Mason, and Mason is sure that Jimmy’s proclivities can bring in some cash quickly.

Jimmy decides to put the moves on Holiday first, and in what turns out to be an interesting turn of the grapefruit (so to speak), Holiday aims a few items in Jimmy’s direction (in a couple of scenes). But she’s desperately lonely and guilty, and Jimmy is there to lend a broad shoulder and some comforting words. Within minutes, he’s also cased the local grocery store and manages a heist of several thousand dollars, though he seriously injures the store manager in the process. Holiday is shocked and even angry, even though Jimmy has paid off her debt to Mason. Things turn desperate when Mason tips off some crooked local cops named Reece (Barton MacLane) and Weber (Ward Bond), who arrive to put the squeeze on Jimmy.

Jimmy doesn’t take this lying down, of course, and instead conspires with “Jinx” to record the cops talking about their ill gotten gains. This is one of the more unintentionally humorous sequences in the film, where Jimmy and “Jinx” discuss the “technology” which will allow them to surreptitiously capture the cops’ unwitting confessions. Despite the Dark Ages aspect of acetate and turntables, Jimmy actually does manage to get the goods on the cops, and enlists local shyster Keith Mandon (Luther Adler) to ensure they know that they’re playing Jimmy’s game now.

Jimmy has actually been informed about Mandon by a former crook who now runs a sort of Theosophical Society, in one of the film’s most decidedly whimsical elements. At one of this spiritual group’s meetings, Jimmy meets and is soon infatuated with pretty socialite Margaret Dobson (Helena Carter). Margaret is used to getting her own way one hundred percent of the time, and she’s fascinated by this guy who doesn’t take any of her attitude. The two actually marry, though Margaret’s father initially thinks Jimmy is just aiming for her money. When Jimmy refuses a large payout from dad-in-law, he has second thoughts and thinks Jimmy might be just the guy to manage Margaret’s vast fortune. Whether or not Jimmy is playing the odds becomes moot once Holiday finds out about the blossoming relationship, providing the film with its titular piece of dialogue.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye was rather infamous in its day, managing to get banned in several states for its no holds barred violence and the general unseemliness of virtually every character in it. Critically the film was a major letdown for Cagney, with virtually everyone comparing this outing unfavorably to White Heat. Looking back now from the vantage point of some sixty plus years, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is flawed and at times virtually incoherent, but it’s also incredibly bracing and energetic. Some of Cagney’s physicality in this film is amazing. He just flat out assaults several people, including a really amazing towel whipping he gives Payton in an early scene. Many people have claimed that lackluster direction by Gordon Douglas is the main culprit the film isn’t better, but Douglas, while admittedly pedestrian, elicits uniformly good performances and keeps the film tightly paced and increasingly suspenseful. Even the maligned screenplay by Harry Brown is decently if not brilliantly written, providing Cagney with one of his most memorable roles. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye might simply have suffered from following in the wake of White Heat. Without the shadow of that great film hovering over it, this film might have been at least marginally better appreciated than it seems to have been through the years. Perhaps this new Blu-ray will be cause for a reevaluation.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye underwent a rather substantial restoration by UCLA a few years ago, but it's unclear whether this transfer was sourced from that work (I tend to doubt it, since Olive chose not to use UCLA's restoration of The Quiet Man, and there is no credit given to UCLA on the disc). That said, the elements here are in remarkably good shape. About the only issue that may bother some videophiles are sudden shifts in contrast and sharpness which occasionally pop up. You'll notice the first one at around 5:23 into the film, where quite suddenly things get a bit darker, grainier and softer, but then rather quickly return to the generally sharper, clearer look of the bulk of this presentation. That anomaly repeats at various times throughout the film, usually just for a few moments at a time. Aside from this issue, the rest of this presentation looks very good indeed, with excellent gray scale and good looking blacks and natural film grain in evidence. As with virtually all Olive releases, there doesn't appear to have been any digital tweaking applied to this release.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix which reveals just the slightest hint of distortion during the opening Warner fanfare and theme music (by Carmen Dragon—father of future "Captain" Daryl Dragon of The Captain and Tennille). Other than that brief moment, the rest of this track sounds fine, if shallow. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and there's an occasional spike in dynamic range due to some gunfire as well as some violent sequences.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, like every hapless convict in the joint, has been given a bum rap through the years. No, it's certainly not at the level of White Heat, but it's also a good deal better than you may have been led to believe. While it's patently ridiculous at several key turns, there's just no denying the awesomely despicable character that Cagney creates, certainly nearly as memorable as his work in the Walsh film. Payton is also excellent in what was probably her finest film showcase, and the rest of the supporting cast is filled with a number of top flight actors doing great work. This Blu-ray features generally excellent video and very good audio and comes Recommended.