"Kiss of Death" is a fairly standard noir drama made memorable by the presence of Richard Widmark as the maniacal gangster Tommy Udo. All the time while watching him though, I kept thinking of Frank Gorshin as The Riddler in the campy 'Batman' TV show of the mid-Sixties. Probably because I was a teenager when 'Batman' came out, and I had already seen Gorshin doing his impression bits on variety shows of the era. It would be interesting to surmise that Gorshin based his Riddler on Widmark's Tommy Udo, but his own explanation removes that possibility.
Without Widmark, this story would probably be relegated to 'just another crime drama' status, even though a good performance is turned in by it's principal, Victor Mature, as a criminal attempting to go straight via the 'stoolie' route. His character, Nick Bianco, is portrayed as a caring family man who becomes even more conflicted after his wife commits suicide while he's in the can. That's where he and Tommy first hook up, with their entanglement proceeding on the outside when both are paroled.
What makes the picture particularly interesting for me were all the great location street scenes that give the picture it's New York City flavor. Did you ever see such brand spanking new looking taxi cabs as those shown here, courtesy of Yellow Cab and Sky View? Try finding one as classy today and you'll be looking a long time.
What you don't want to do while watching is put this film under the microscope for some of the credibility defying moments that creep into the story. There's that tense shadowy scene when Nick Bianco waits for Tommy Udo and his goons to show up at his house, and it turns out to be Assistant D.A. D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy). Then when Nick confronts Tommy at the restaurant, you have to wonder why he made it past the front door. But the question that really nagged me throughout the story was this - why did every hood in the big house always wear a suit and tie?
Without Widmark, this story would probably be relegated to 'just another crime drama' status, even though a good performance is turned in by it's principal, Victor Mature, as a criminal attempting to go straight via the 'stoolie' route. His character, Nick Bianco, is portrayed as a caring family man who becomes even more conflicted after his wife commits suicide while he's in the can. That's where he and Tommy first hook up, with their entanglement proceeding on the outside when both are paroled.
What makes the picture particularly interesting for me were all the great location street scenes that give the picture it's New York City flavor. Did you ever see such brand spanking new looking taxi cabs as those shown here, courtesy of Yellow Cab and Sky View? Try finding one as classy today and you'll be looking a long time.
What you don't want to do while watching is put this film under the microscope for some of the credibility defying moments that creep into the story. There's that tense shadowy scene when Nick Bianco waits for Tommy Udo and his goons to show up at his house, and it turns out to be Assistant D.A. D'Angelo (Brian Donlevy). Then when Nick confronts Tommy at the restaurant, you have to wonder why he made it past the front door. But the question that really nagged me throughout the story was this - why did every hood in the big house always wear a suit and tie?