Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Harry Brown (screenplay)
Horace McCoy (novel)

Release Date:

4 August 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

As only James Cagney can portray it!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Courtroom | Beautiful Woman | Blackmail | Jail Break

Cast

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

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #14661) | Sweden:(Banned)

Company:

William Cagney Productions

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.

Quotes:

Ralph Cotter: Why, I thought you were the law-abiding type.
Holiday Carleton: I guess I'm just whatever you make me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

One More Tough Guy For Jimmy

James Cagney pulled off one of his greatest gangster roles fairly late in his career in 1949's White Heat. You could see he was starting to get a little pudgy in the midsection and gray around the temples for that kind of role, but he still pulled it off.....big-time. What a lot of people don't remember is that he did it one more time - with this film, the following year.

Yup, "Cody Jarrett" was in business for one more tough-guy gangster character. Here, he plays "Ralph Cotter," and he is one nasty dude. It's great to watch Jimmy doing his cocky-thug routine. I wish he could have gone on forever.

The supporting cast, led by Ward Bond, was very good in this film and worth noting. It isn't just all Cagney. Barbara Peyton is realistic as the tough blonde and Helena Carter as the spoiled rich man's daughter. Both are decent at heart and vie for Cagney's affections.

Included in here are crooked cops, a crooked lawyer and other assorted characters. It's a rough movie. Nobody is trustworthy in this story, which is interesting all the way. It should be better known.