Tonight's Movie: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

One of my favorite new-to-me films at last weekend's Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival was KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (1950).

KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, like SWELL GUY (1946) and LUST FOR GOLD (1949), featured a villain front and center, in this case James Cagney. Cagney plays Ralph Cotter, a gangster not too dissimilar from his infamous Cody Jarrett in WHITE HEAT (1949).

What was especially fun was when I got home from the festival I could rewatch the film thanks to the Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema XXIII collection, but this time with a commentary track by Alan K. Rode. Rode, of course, is also the producer and host of the Arthur Lyons Festival and the person we saw introduce the film last weekend! It was a very "full circle" viewing.

The 102-minute movie is told in flashback as various people testify at a criminal trial. We learn that Ralph Cotter escaped from prison with the help of Holiday Carleton (Barbara Payton), who provided cover for the break by shooting at the guards.

The lonely Holiday becomes Ralph's mistress, despite his brutal betrayal of her brother (Neville Brand) during the escape.

Ralph quickly becomes involved in more crimes, aided and abetted by his henchman Jinx (Steve Brodie), corrupt cops (Ward Bond and Barton MacLane), and a wily attorney (Luther Adler).

Ralph takes up with wealthy Margaret (Helena Carter) and is on the verge of having it all -- a gorgeous wife and tons of money. But he hasn't counted on how Holiday will react when she finds out her man has gone astray.

I thought this film, written by Harry Brown based on a novel by Horace McCoy, was excellent. It's got a good script and performances, directed by Gordon Douglas.

The characters are all disturbed to one degree or another, yet like some of the other great crime films -- i.e., GUN CRAZY (1950) -- the viewer can't help being fascinated as their stories play out.

Cagney might have been even more amoral in this one than WHITE HEAT; I think this film may have been in the shadow of its predecessor, but it deserves to be acknowledged on its own as an outstanding crime film.

I did wonder a bit what the movie's beautiful young women saw in a man who was 50 when this was in production, but Cagney's charisma is such that those thoughts were easy to chase away.

Barbara Payton's role and performance are somewhat reminiscent of Virginia Mayo in WHITE HEAT, yet Payton puts her own unique stamp on Holiday; she's terrific. A scene where she hurls crockery at Ralph is especially memorable, and Payton's overall work here causes the viewer to especially regret her early career slide and death.

Carter is also outstanding as the daring playgirl who's excited by Cagney's tough guy, though she has no idea just how bad he truly is. I wish viewers had been given a moment where she learns the truth. I find Carter a very interesting actress and wish she'd appeared in more than the 13 films she made from 1947 to 1953. I found a nice appreciation of Carter by Stephen Vagg which others might enjoy reading as well.

The supporting cast includes many familiar faces including Kenneth Tobey, John Litel, William Frawley, Dan Riss, Rhys Williams, King Donovan, and Matt McHugh. Tobey and Litel, incidentally, were each in a couple of movies seen at the festival.

A great bit of trivia is that Bond and MacLane, this movie's crooked cops, were partnered as the good cops in THE MALTESE FALCON (1941).

The film was shot in black and white by J. Peverell Marley. Locations included Chino and Glendale, California.

Kino Lorber's good-looking Blu-ray print is from an HD master by Paramount Pictures from a 4K scan.

Extras include the previously mentioned commentary track plus the trailer. Two additional trailers for other films starring Cagney are also included.

Alan Rode's commentary tracks are always excellent, and among other things I was glad to learn more about the right-hand-drive car Helena Carter drives in the movie; it was French and worth $17,000 in its day.

The other films in this set are ROPE OF SAND (1949) and NEVER LOVE A STRANGER (1958), to be reviewed here in the future.

KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE is recommended viewing.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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