Kiss of Death (1947)

(On Cable TV, July 2021) Often hailed as one of the classic film noirs, you can see in Kiss of Death something that did not often exist in prior movies: Richard Widmark’s psychopathic performance (in his film debut!) as a two-bit hoodlum, with a wide-eyed smirk and sadistic laughter right before sending an old lady tumbling down a staircase. It’s a performance that does wonders with an underwritten part, and film historians tell us that this marked a turning point in the history of movie villains. (Widmark got an Academy Award nomination for the performance, and you can find echoes of it all the way to Heath Ledger’s Joker.)  Surprisingly enough, it still works well even after decades of psycho killers in films far worse than this one — and much of the effectiveness goes in establishing the protagonist as someone with a lot to lose, with two daughters and a new wife to protect against the evil antagonist. But it’s hard not to be impressed by most aspects of the film’s production — from a screenplay by classic Hollywood legend Ben Hecht to a credible use of location shooting to a result filled with procedural details and cynical dialogue, Kiss of Death is already a superior noir from the moment the actors step on set. Victor Mature does a good job in the lead role, a protagonist dealing with the suicide of his first wife while he’s in prison and turning informant in order to protect his two daughters sent to an orphanage. Colleen Gray provides the narration and some further dramatic heft to the film as a babysitter turned wife. It all wraps up in a good package, with a happier ending than is the norm in noir.