Fans of Richard Widmark who can’t get enough of his giggling psychopath routine, Kiss of Death is for you. This is where it all started, in 1947, a crime drama notable not only for being Widmark’s screen debut but also for delivering a really good performance by Victor Mature. Having grown up in a household where Mature’s presence on the small screen was usually greeted by titters, I personally wasn’t quite ready for this. But good he really is.
He plays Nick Bianco, a smalltime crook who gets caught doing a jewellery heist but refuses to name his accomplices when taken in by the police. All this changes some way down the road when Nick’s wife kills herself after being raped, which propels Nick into the arms of the Assistant DA (Brian Donlevy). As a way of taking revenge, Nick goes full stool pigeon, naming names and shopping criminal associates, making sure along the way to incriminate the man he believes is the rapist.
It’s a grim and bizarre plot, delivering on the promise at the opener that this will all be the real deal “shot on the actual locale associated with the story”, though when it came to it, the scenes of Nick’s wife’s rape and suicide were cut from the film before it debuted.
Widmark fits in as Tommy Udo, a batshit loon Nick met in prison. Early on he pushes a woman in a wheelchair to her death down the stairs because she won’t tell him where her husband is. Credentials established as a heartless, cold killer, Udo sets off after Nick and his two young daughters when he discovers Nick has squealed. That’s the back half of the film, Nick trying to start a new life after his wife’s death, family-man style, and waiting for the inevitable arrival of the vengeful, implacable Udo.
There is a voiceover, providing background and surmises, but unusually it’s a female one, delivered by Coleen Gray, who plays the sweetheart who used to babysit Nick’s daughters and now wants to babysit Nick.
Director Henry Hathaway is discreet and purposeful early on but comes into his own in the second half of the film, which builds up a sense of impending doom with sombre lighting by Norbert Brodine and an ominous score by David Buttolph, though it’s Hathaway’s use of silence to generate tension that’s really impressive.
Great cast. Mature, tamped down and underacting for once, even if Nick’s transition from honour-among-thieves criminal to willing police accomplice is too abrupt. Widmark, Oscar-nominated for a memorable performance as the disturbed Udo. Donlevy, civic virtue personified as the Assistant DA on a mission. Gray, all sweetie-pie innocence as the new woman in Nick’s life (how quickly he gets over his grief!). Taylor Holmes as bumptious mob lawyer Earl Howser, exuding malignant vibes every second he’s on screen.
A digression: Frank Gorshin is said to have borrowed elements from Widmark’s performance here when he played The Riddler in the 1960s Batman. There’s footage on YouTube of an eye-rolling, choking Gorshin impersonating Widmark, so the dots do join up.
Digression over. This is not just a really good looking film but also a fascinating one, playing with audience sympathies for the main character and asking it to guess which way it’s going to go for Nick – is the criminal going to get his just desserts or is the family man going to be given a second chance?
Kiss of Death – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
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© Steve Morrissey 2026
