Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
| Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Gordon Douglas |
| Produced by | William Cagney |
| Written by | Story: Horace McCoy Screenplay: Harry Brown |
| Starring | James Cagney Barbara Payton Helena Carter |
| Music by | Carmen Dragon |
| Cinematography | J. Peverell Marley |
| Editing by | Walter Hannemann Truman K. Wood |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | August 4, 1950 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is a 1950 film noir starring James Cagney, directed by Gordon Douglas and based on the novel by Horace McCoy. The film was banned in Ohio as "a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and an extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission."
Supporting Cagney are Luther Adler as a crooked lawyer, Ward Bond and Barton MacLane as two crooked cops, and Cagney's brother William (who produced the film) as Ralph Cotter's brother.
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[edit] Plot
Ralph Cotter is a career criminal who escapes from prison, then murders his partner in crime. Along the way he attempts to woo his ex-partner's sister (Barbara Payton) by threatening to expose her role in his escape.
Cotter quickly gets back into the crime business, only to be shaken down by corrupt local cops.
[edit] Cast
- James Cagney as Ralph Cotter
- Barbara Payton as Holiday Carleton
- Helena Carter as Margaret Dobson
- Ward Bond as Insp. Charles Weber
- Luther Adler as Keith 'Cherokee' Mandon
- Barton MacLane as Lt. John Reece
- Steve Brodie as Joe 'Jinx' Raynor
- Rhys Williams as Vic Mason
- Herbert Heyes as Ezra Dobson
- John Litel as Police Chief Tolgate
- William Frawley as Byers
[edit] Critical reception
The film, often compared unfavorably to White Heat, received mixed reviews. Fred Camper, film critic for The Chicago Reader, called the film mis-directed, writing, "Gordon Douglas's direction is almost incoherent compared to Raoul Walsh's in White Heat (1949), which features Cagney in a similar role; the compositions and camera movements, while momentarily effective, have little relationship to each other, and the film reads a bit like an orchestra playing without a conductor."[1]
Film critic Dennis Schwartz generally liked the film and wrote, "This is an energetic straightforward crime drama based on the book by Horace McCoy (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) and the screen play, which hardly makes sense and is the root of the film's problems, is by Harry Brown. Gordon M. Douglas (Come Fill the Cup/Only the Valiant) helms it by keeping it fast-paced, brutal and cynical, and lets star James Cagney pick up where he left off in the year earlier White Heat as an unsympathetic mad dog killer. This was an even tougher film, but the crowds didn't respond to it as favorably as they did to White Heat (which seems odd, since it's basically the same type of B-movie)."[2]
[edit] Restoration / re-release
A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in coöperation with Paramount Pictures, funded by the Packard Humanities Institute.[3]
The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture and track negatives and a 35mm safety print.”[3]
The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 14, 2011.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Camper, Fred. Chicago Reader, film review. Last accessed: february 11, 2010.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, January 23, 2007. Last accessed: February 11, 2010.
- ^ a b c Todd Wiener. "UCLA Film & Television Archive: Cry Danger (1951) Kiss tomorrow Goodbye (1950)". http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-03-14/cry-danger-1951-kiss-tomorrow-goodbye-1950. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye |
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye at the Internet Movie Database
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye at the TCM Movie Database
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye analysis by film journalist John O'Dowd
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye film trailer at You Tube
