Kiss of Death

Victor Mature and Coleen Gray star in this 1947 suspense filled drama of violence and betrayal directed by Henry Hathaway. Richard Widmark makes his screen debut in spectacular fashion as a psychopathic killer with a cackling laugh. 

Rather than squeal on his associates in a botched jewel robbery Mature's character takes the rap and goes to prison. He's Italian and it's an unwritten code of honor.  However, his wife and two small children are left behind only to be abandoned by his so-called friends. His desperate wife takes her own life leading him to finally cooperate with the police. He is asked to infiltrate a criminal organization, something that puts him and his family in danger.

This crime drama was shot on location in New York City which really adds to its authenticity. The opening scene, shot in a crowded elevator in NY's Chrysler building is one of the great openings in film noir history. However, the most memorable and influential scene in the film comes later when Richard Widmark, playing the crazed killer Tommy Odo, pushes a wheelchair bound old woman down a flight of steps. ###

Richard Widmark and Victor Mature

Richar

The Killing

The Killing: Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray star in this 1956 heist caper directed in a revolutionary way by a young Stanley Kubrick at the outset of his famed career. Femme Fatale Marie Windsor practically steals the show along with a fine supporting cast that includes Elisha Cook Jr. and Ted DeCorsia. “The Killing” is tough, taut, tense, and one of the great heist thrillers. 84 minutes. CC. Here is a link to a fine intro to the film by TCM's Eddie Muller.

Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay, who has just been released from prison after serving a five year sentence for robbery. While in prison he developed a plan for a really big job that would set him up for life. His plan is to steal the daily proceeds from a race track that would amount to a couple of million. For help he turns, not to criminals, but to track employees and other ordinary men down on their luck and in need of money. The plan requires split second timing and the heist is pulled off without a hitch. But then things start to go wrong.

Stanley Kubrick regarded this low-budget film as his real starting point. From there he would go on to become one of Hollywood's most noted and respected directors. The horse racing scenes are especially dramatic, and make you wonder why anyone would want to ride a race horse.

 The musical score of the film was composed and conducted by Gerald Fried, a boyhood friend of Kubrick's from the Bronx. Fried had studied oboe at the Julliard School of Music and accepted Kubrick's invitation without any prior experience. He would go on to a multi Emmy award winning career. I met the wheelchair bound Gerald Fried a few years before his death in 2023 when I presented The Killing as part of a film series at a local Senior residence. He was in attendance and we had a nice chat afterwards where he passed on a couple of anecdotes about Kubrick and the film. 

Elisha Cook Jr. and Marie Windsor

Nightmare Alley

In this grim 1947 film noir Tyrone Power stars as a two-bit hustler working in a traveling  carnival where he learns the tricks of a mind-reading act that elevates him to the big time. He brings his act to fancy nightclubs and becomes the toast of high society until he meets up with a scheming psychologist, played by Helen Walker. Together, they plot to bilk her wealthy, credulous patients. 

Edmund Goulding directed this film that portrays 1930s America as “a sleazy, run-down carnival, where everyone is either on the make, a born sucker, or trapped in a real or psychological cage.” Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, and Mike Mazurka are featured as members of the carnival. 111 minutes. CC.

In Nightmare Alley Tyrone Power departed from his dashing leading man image and turned in a performance that he believed was the best of his career. The other members of the cast are equally fine especially the little known Helen Walker. This film was a box office flop in 1947 but modern critics like Eddie Muller of TCM's Noir Alley rate it very highly. Here is a link to Muller's intro.

Helen Walker and Tyrone Power