Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950 film)

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Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Directed by	Gordon Douglas
Produced by	William Cagney
Written by	Harry Brown Horace McCoy (novel)
Starring	James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter
Music by	Carmen Dragon
Cinematography	J. Peverell Marley
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 4, 1950 (U.S. release)
Running time	102 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) is a film noir directed by Gordon Douglas 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.

1 Plot
2 Critical reaction
3 Cast
4 Quotes

[edit] Plot

Cagney in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

James Cagney plays Ralph Cotter, a career criminal who escapes from prison, then murders his partner in crime. Along they 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 shook down by local corrupt cops.

[edit] Critical reaction

The film, often compared unfavorably to White Heat, receives mixed reviews. The Chicago Reader calls the film mis-directed writing: "the film reads a bit like an orchestra playing without a conductor." Time Out Film Guide gives the film only praise calling it, "the best of the post-war gangster movies."