The kiss of death
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The kiss of death |
| Original title | Kiss of Death |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1947 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK cinema: 16, DVD: 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Henry Hathaway |
| script |
Charles Lederer , Ben Hecht |
| production | Fred Kohlmar |
| music | David Buttolph |
| camera | Norbert Brodine |
| cut | J. Watson Webb Jr. |
| occupation | |
| |
The Kiss of Death (Original title: Kiss of Death ) is an American crime film by the director Henry Hathaway from 1947 based on a story by Eleazar Lipsky . The premiere in Germany was on September 1, 1950.
action
One Christmas Eve , Nick Bianco and three accomplices rob a jewelry store on the top floor of a New York skyscraper. But before the men could leave the house, the business owner raised the alarm. Nick is caught and arrested. Prosecutor D'Angelo tries to get Nick to reveal the names of his accomplices. Nick has a wife and two daughters. In return, he is to be granted relief from prison. Nick refuses because he is certain that his attorney Howser and his accomplices will take care of his family. He is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After three years in Sing Sing , Nick learns that his wife has committed suicide and that his daughters have been taken to an orphanage. Nettie Cavallo, a kind of childminder for the children, visits Nick and tells him that one of his accomplices, Pete Rizzo, attacked his wife. Nick tells everything to the prosecutor, but he can't do anything because too much time has passed. But if Nick would help the police in another case, he could see his children. D'Angelo questions Nick about an unexplained robbery he committed with Rizzo.
Meanwhile, Howser hires the hit man Udo to kill Rizzo. Udo does not meet Rizzo, but instead kills the mother, who is confined to a wheelchair. Nick is released on honor by D'Angelo. He falls in love with Nettie and continues to work for D'Angelo. He meets Udo, with whom he goes to some bars. Udo tells Nick in a frenzy that he is being paid for a murder so that he cannot be arrested. Nick marries Nettie and lives with her under her name in the suburbs. Udo is charged with the murder of Rizzo's mother and acquitted despite Nick's statements.
Nick sends his wife and children to the country. Then he looks for Udo and finds him in a restaurant. Before he goes to Udo, Nick D'Angelo calls and sends him to the nearest police station to wait for a call from him. Nick speaks to Udo, who threatens Nick's family. Nick warns him that if he did, he would give the police information about Udo's other crimes. Udo leaves the restaurant and prepares to ambush Nick. Nick calls D'Angelo and tells him about the meeting and Udo's intention to kill him. Then Nick goes to Udo's car and tells Udo to shoot him, which Udo does too. Before Udo can escape, the police catch him. Severely injured, Nick survives and can start a new life with Nettie and the children.
background
Leland Fuller and Lyle R. Wheeler were responsible for the film construction. Thomas Little took care of the equipment , while Fred Sersen was responsible for the special effects. The costumes were created by Charles Le Maire , the orchestra conductor was carried out by Lionel Newman . Richard Widmark made his feature film debut in The Kiss of Death .
In 1995 director Barbet Schroeder shot a remake that was released in Germany with the original title Kiss of Death .
Reviews
For the film service , The Kiss of Death was "[e] in an excitingly staged, almost documentary-looking, dark thriller in the tradition of 'film noir' with melodramatic accents, atmospherically dense and intense". For the evangelical film observer it was "[e] in an exciting crime film of above-average format for the genre".
Awards
At the Academy Awards in 1948 , the film was nominated for an Oscar in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Richard Widmark) and Best Original Story (Eleazar Lipsky) , but was subject to competition. Widmark received the Golden Globe for Best Young Actor that same year .
The script won a prize at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1948 .
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created in 1950 by Ultra Film Synchron GmbH Munich under the dubbing direction and based on the dialogue book by Hans Hinrich .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Bianco | Victor Mature | Curt Ackermann |
| D'Angelo | Brian Donlevy | Hans Hinrich |
| Nettie | Coleen Gray | Eleanor Noelle |
| Udo | Richard Widmark | Otto Arneth |
| Howser | Taylor Holmes | Walter Holten |
Web links
- The kiss of death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The kiss of death at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Film information, criticism, poster on der-film-noir.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The kiss of death. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Evangelical Press Association, Munich, Review No. 51/1962.
- ↑ See synchrondatenbank.de ( Memento of the original from April 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
