Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)

Starting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Harry Brown (screenplay), Horace McCoy (from "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye")

Stars:

James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Cagney	...	Ralph Cotter
Barbara Payton	...	Holiday Carleton
Helena Carter	...	Margaret Dobson
Ward Bond	...	Inspector Charles Weber
Luther Adler	...	Keith 'Cherokee' Mandon
Barton MacLane	...	Police Lt. John Reece
Steve Brodie	...	Joe 'Jinx' Raynor
Rhys Williams	...	Vic Mason
Herbert Heyes	...	Ezra Dobson
John Litel	...	Police Chief Sam Tolgate
William Frawley	...	Byers
Robert Karnes	...	Detective Tom Gray
Kenneth Tobey	...	Detective Fowler
Dan Riss	...	District Attorney
Frank Reicher	...	'Doc' Darius Green

Storyline

From the trial of the survivors, we flash back to amoral crook Ralph Cotter's violent prison break, assisted by Holiday Carleton, sister of another prisoner...who doesn't make it. Soon Ralph manipulates the grieving Holiday into his arms, and two crooked cops follow her into his pocket. Ralph's total lack of scruple brings him great success in a series of robberies. But his easy conquest of gullible heiress Margaret Dobson proves more dangerous to him than any crime...

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Plot Keywords:

robbery | blackmail | champagne | femme fatale | psychopath | 

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Taglines:

Unarmed... He's dangerous. Armed... He's Lethal.

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corazón de hielo

Filming Locations:

Chino, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Cagney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film that Phil Spector and Lana Clarkson were watching in Spector's chauffeured car on the way to his Alhambra mansion the night of her murder.

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Quotes

Holiday Carleton: He's too smart for you!
Ralph Cotter: Oh no, he stopped being smart when he took my money.

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Connections

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

User Reviews

Coal black, brutish, exhilarating noir!

How fickle film history is! To think that this most intense crime thriller has been totally overlooked. I wouldn't say underrated, because it seems that everyone who has watched it agrees with me.

I woke up ten minutes before this movie started on TV, flicked the switch, and thought, OK cool, a James Cagney movie. I wasn't prepared for the roller-coaster plunge through abyssal night. Or the violent way with which the riders carom off into the void. The ending scene is totally classic with dialogue and revelation that pitches the film into the darkest reaches of noir.

Everything about this movie is hyped, Cotter (Cagney) hasn't got a bottle of champagne, he's got a jeroboam, he hasn't got a revolver, he's got an automatic, he hasn't got one honey, he's got two, we don't do 100 kilometers per hour, we do 100 miles per hour, and in a car the size of a carnival float. The guy's a total psycho, but not in the Robert Ryan way that turns you against his character, in the Cagney way where it's all like some big game to him.

There are a lot of totally mesmerising scenes in this movie. Two stand out just for the sheer exhilaration factor - this is the bit where you coo out loud. When Barbara (Holiday Carleton) throws a pot of coffee at Cotter he says, 'No cream?', so she throws the cream at him, 'No sugar?' so he gets the sugar, and finally 'No cigar?'. I was on the floor. Then there is the scene where Helena (Margaret Dobson) takes him out for a drive in her sporty little number. She takes it up to a hundred to scare him, and then he stamps his foot on hers and takes it to 110 whilst she frantically swerves.

Some people have commented on how the framing device of the court-case doesn't work. But for me it's total brutality, the director doesn't waste time with the minutiae of court proceedings, he just uses them to makes plain right from the very start that its all gonna end badly. It's a complete train wreck of a movie, there isn't an honest man in sight, and the casual nature of the violence just shocks you. Cutting kills people like he's taking out the trash, it's just another chore.

There's also classic support from Ward Bond, in this movie he always looks like he's gonna screw you up and toss you away. This role stands apart from the usual supporting roles he gets, either buffoonish (Fort Apache), ineffectual (Johnny Guitar), foolishly vigilante (On Dangerous Ground).

OK so we got broads with pzazz, we got dialogue to die for, we got utter magnetism from the lead actor (as only Cagney can be), and we've got total, anthracitic, ebonic, pitch-black noir. 11/10