Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 21, 2023

Norman Foster's "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands" (1948) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by critic Jeremy Arnold and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

If you alter just a couple of very small details in Norman Foster’s Kiss the Blood Off My Hands you would quite easily replicate the drama that is depicted in Robert Hamer’s It Always Rains on Sunday. These films even promote the same image of post-WWII London as a giant noirish playground where serious trouble is always around the corner and life is as cheap as a pack of cigarettes.*

In Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Burt Lancaster plays Bill Saunders, a traumatized war veteran who accidentally kills a man in a London pub and instantly becomes a fugitive. While trying to stay a few steps ahead of the police, Bill enters the home of single nurse Jane Wharton (Joan Fontaine) and takes her hostage but seemingly against all odds the two begin a rocky romantic relationship. After that, you will not have trouble figuring out how Kiss the Blood Off My Hands is going to end because their relationship is rather quickly defined by the most common cinematic cliches about the charismatic ‘bad’ guy stealing the heart of the hopelessly romantic ‘good’ girl that permanently alters his philosophy of life. In other words, the entire story that is told in Kiss the Blood Off My Hands is yet another variation of the old opposites attract theme that has appeared in countless other films over the years.

But I did not think that any of these common cinematic cliches made Kiss the Blood Off My Hands vulnerable to serious criticism for the same reason they are harmless in It Always Rains on Sunday. In the real world, charismatic ‘bad’ guys and hopelessly romantic ‘good’ girls connect all the time and frequently go through the same mistakes that are highlighted in these films. I think that these mistakes are responsible for the magic in the relationship which ultimately resets their lives and makes them feel invincible and free. The only variable is the nature of the inevitable drama that their relationship would produce.

As you can tell, I did not expect to be impressed by the evolving drama in Lancaster and Fontaine’s relationship. I expected London to overshadow both and, in the process, make their relationship appear unique. The first fifteen or so minutes were quite reassuring. Despite emphasizing various foggy dark and wet streets and alleys in much the same way It Always Rains on Sunday does, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands made London appear like a brand new giant noirish playground that could produce some serious thrills. So, I was confident that my expectation will be met.

Unfortunately, it quickly became obvious that Lancaster was trying very hard to impress in a drastically different film where London would remain a secondary, easy-to-forget character. Indeed, there are only a few sequences where Lancaster does not sound or behave like an overly ambitious actor trying to impress a panel of judges that would soon be handing prestigious awards. Fontaine’s performance is a bit more uneven but still disappointingly melodramatic as well. For example, her crucial mental breakdown at the end is so poorly managed that it conclusively destroys the credibility of Kiss the Blood Off My Hands.

Robert Newton is the only actor that handles his character right. Newton becomes an excellent grifter who witnesses the murder in the pub and later attempts to blackmail Lancaster but underestimates him and pays for his mistake.

Foster’s director of photography was the great Russell Metty, who a decade later would collaborate with Orson Welles on the classic Touch of Evil.

*Foster and Metty were never in London. They shot Kiss the Blood Off My Hands on Universal’s lots.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from the same recent 2K master that British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films used to produce this release of the film. However, Kino Lorber were the first to introduce the 2K master.

Even though the film looks slightly softer than it should, I think that the overall quality of the visuals is very good. There is room for minor cosmetic improvements that could make the surface of the visuals more attractive, plus a few stabilization enhancements. An elaborate restoration could improve the dynamic range of the visuals as well. But the basics that we address in our reviews are strong, so even on a very large screen the entire film boasts a fine organic appearance. The grayscale is very convincing, though in a couple of areas some light crushing is easy to spot. The encoding is good. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Excluding some minor unevenness in a couple of areas. The dialog is very easy to follow. I revisited the film the other night and to be honest I am unsure whether there is any room for meaningful improvements even in the areas where the unevenness is present. I suspect that this is probably how the original soundtrack was finalized. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Kiss the Blood Off My Hands. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Jeremy Arnold.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A different, more restrained male star would have made Kiss the Blood Off My Hands appear a lot like It Always Rains on Sunday and Odd Man Out. (Is it a coincidence that the three films were made between 1947 and 1948? I don't think so). Burt Lancaster was not the right actor to play the traumatized war veteran who becomes a fugitive and accidentally falls in love with the perfect girl in post-war London. His performance is so exaggerated that for nearly ninety minutes it creates the impression that he is trying to dazzle a panel of judges that would soon be handing prestigious awards. It is too bad because Russell Metty's lensing produces some pretty striking visuals. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a very good recent 2K master.