Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Kiss of Death Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 12, 2017

Nominated for two Oscar awards,Henry Hathaway's "Kiss of Death" (1947) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Signal One Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; edited version of an archival interview with Richard Widmark; and audio commentary with writers and film noir experts James Ursini and Alain Silver. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"The same thing happened twenty years ago to his father..."

One could easily come up with a very long list of great things to say about Henry Hathaway’s film Kiss of Death, but Richard Widmark’s astonishing acting debut should be at the very top of it. Simply put, there really isn’t another one quite like it.

A jewelry heist goes terribly wrong and one of the bad guys, Nick Bianco (Victor Mature, Violent Saturday), gets caught by the police. Soon after, assistant D.A. Louis D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy, The Big Combo) offers him a simple deal: Squeal and you will have your life back. But instead of ratting out the rest of his crew, Nick chooses to remain silent and instructs their attorney, Earl Howser (Taylor Holmes), to take care of his wife and children while he serves his sentence.

Months later, however, Nick accidentally discovers that his wife has committed suicide because she has been unable to make ends meet and that his children have been placed in an orphanage. Overwhelmed by anger and determined to deal with Howser and his shady pals as quickly as possible, Nick goes back to D’Angelo ready to accept his deal but is told that it is no longer on the table. Nevertheless, the two agree on a different arrangement that could potentially put behind bars a cocky gangster named Tommy Udo (Widmark) that Nick knows well and possibly even a few other hotheads with long records. Nick is then granted parole and, while trying to rebuild his life with a young beauty (Coleen Gray, The Killing) who once tried helping his wife, he promptly revives his relationship with Udo. Eventually Udo falls in the trap that D’Angelo and his boys have set for him and Nick is called to testify so that he is locked up for good, but against all odds the creep walks away. Nick’s life then quickly spins out of control because a lot of very dangerous people, including Udo and his buddies, realize that he has become a squealer.

Director Hathaway shot practically the entire film on location in and around New York City and as a result a lot of the footage in it has a raw, borderline documentary appearance. Also, all of the discussions that address the evolving relationship between the district attorney’s office and Mature’s character are done with a very precise understanding of the legal options the two sides have that adds a great deal to the credibility of the narrative.

The biggest reason this film is widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest noir classics, however, is the brilliance of its stars. Mature plays to perfection the tough robber who attempts to reverse his life but his past quickly comes back to haunt him with a vengeance. It is largely a predictable character transformation, but it is not done with the type of conventional cinematic filtering that usually erodes the authenticity it needs to be convincing. Indeed, until the very end Mature truly does look like a man who wants to redeem himself and do the best he can with the second chance that he has been given in life. (This is exactly the reason why various critics and film historians have also argued that there is an obvious Christian theme running through the film). Widmark does not have as much time in front of the camera, but his performance is equally powerful. There is something genuinely unsettling about the way in which he evolves into a vile maniac who can do some absolutely despicable things on the spur of the moment. It is truly extraordinary that this was in fact his first major role.

*The original material for Kiss of Death comes from a story written by Eleazar Lipsky, who during the early 1940s worked as an assistant district attorney for Manhattan. The script for the film, however, was written by two of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters, Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer.

Kiss of Death Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Henry Hathaway's Kiss of Death arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Signal One Entertainment.

The overwhelming majority of the film looks terrific, with the daylight footage in particular boasting excellent depth and clarity (see screencaptures #5, 15, and 17). The color grading is also convincing. Blacks and whites appear properly balanced and there is a nice range of nuanced grays. For the most part density is very good, but there are select parts of the film with obvious fluctuations that have an impact on the depth. It is obvious to me that these are inherited fluctuations, but I am not entirely sure if they are present because of natural aging or because at some small parts were incorporated from a different source (possibly an interpositive; see the footage from the factory). Still, the overall image balance is very good, while image stability is excellent. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Finally, there are no large distracting cuts, debris, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Kiss of Death Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Clarity and depth remain pleasing throughout the entire film, but if the volume is turned up quite often it is rather easy to hear some extremely light background hiss. It is hardly distracting, but there are modern digital tools that can easily eliminate it. There are no distortions or audio dropouts to report.

Kiss of Death Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - an original U.S. trailer for Kiss of Death. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Richard Widmark Interview - presented here is an edited version of an archival interview with Richard Widmark in which the iconic actor discusses his life and career in the film business. Richard Widmark also shares a few excellent stories about his relationship with the great producer Darryl F. Zanuck, John Ford and John Wayne, and his work with Henry Hathaway on Kiss of Death. The interview was conducted at the National Film Theatre in 2002 as part of the Crimescene Festival. (The complete version of the interview, which is approximately 72 minutes long, is included on the BFI's Blu-ray release of Jules Dassin's classic noir film Night and the City). In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, writers and film noir experts James Ursini and Alain Silver discuss the production history of Kiss of Death (from its conception to the alternative title producer Darryl F. Zanuck apparently wanted for it to the specific locations where various segments were shot) the interesting narrative structure (from the unusual decision to use a woman as a narrator to the quick profiling of Victor Mature's character to the Christian symbolism throughout the film) and its appearance.

Kiss of Death Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is pretty difficult to argue that Hollywood has not changed for the worse when you compare films like Henry Hathaway's Kiss of Death with, well, everything that you are going to see in your local cinema this summer. This isn't an elitist opinion -- though I will be the first to admit that there are plenty floating around produced by people who are under the impression that every black-and-white film is a 'classic' -- it is a fact, and my feeling is that as time passes by it is only going to get more obvious. On the international stage there is a similar trend as well, as there are fewer and fewer films each year that are worth seeing because of global trends in the film industry that are 'evening out the playing field'. Thankfully, we have Blu-ray, and this wonderful format has made it easier than ever before to access true classics, such as Kiss of Death, and discover great forgotten films that are now easier to restore and offer to the public. Signal One Entertainment's Blu-ray release is sourced from a solid recent master that was prepared by Twentieth Century Fox in the United States and has some good supplemental features. It is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.