History Film / KissOfDeath

* GigglingVillain: Tommy and his super-disturbing giggle might be the TropeCodifier for film. He is especially prone to giggling when committing violence, like when he sends an old lady in a wheelchair on a short but exciting trip down the stairs. The character of Tommy is said to have influenced how ComicBook/TheJoker is played in various incarnations of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. Frank Gorshin stated Udo was his inspiration for The Riddler in the ''Series/Batman1966'' series.

Nick Bianco (Mature) is a small-time New York City hood who can't get a job in the straight world due to his criminal record, and thus is having problems supporting his wife and two small children. So as the film begins, he's returning to a life of crime by robbing a jewelry store on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately he gets shot and wounded at the scene and is arrested. State prosecutor Louis D'Angelo (Donlevy) offers Nick a deal if he will inform on other crooks, but Nick refuses, content with the mob's offer to take care of his wife and kids while he's in the slammer.

However, Nick finds out while in prison that the mob has completely failed to look after his wife and kids; his broke and despairing wife has killed herself and his children have been sent to an orphanage. Bitter at the betrayal and desperate to get his kids back, Nick belatedly accepts D'Angelo's deal and gets paroled. One of the people he informs on is Tommy Udo (Widmark), a seething psychopath of a villain with a highly unsettling, giggling laugh. Nick is therefore horrified when he learns that Udo was acquitted at the murder trial where Nick testified, and consequently is free and bent on revenge.

A loose remake, with Creator/DavidCaruso, Creator/SamuelLJackson, and Creator/NicolasCage, was made in 1995 as part of a short-lived and unsuccessful effort to make Caruso a big-screen star after he left ''Series/NYPDBlue''.

Nick Bianco (Mature) is a small-time hood who can't get a job in the straight world due to his criminal record, and thus is having problems supporting his wife and two small children. So as the movie begins he's returning to a life of crime by robbing a jewelry store in a New York skyscraper. Unfortunately he is shot and wounded at the scene and arrested. Prosecutor Louis D'Angelo (Donlevy) offers Nick a deal if he'll inform on other crooks, but Nick refuses, content with the mob's offer to take care of his wife and kids while he's in the slammer.

Unfortunately Nick finds out while in prison that the mob completely failed to look after his wife and kids, his broke and despairing wife killed herself, and his children have been sent to an orphanage. Bitter at the betrayal and desperate to get his kids back, Nick belatedly accepts D'Angelo's deal and gets paroled. One of the people he informs on is Tommy Udo (Widmark), a seething psychopath of a villain with a very unsettling, giggling laugh. Thus Nick is horrified when he finds out that Udo was acquitted at the murder trial where Nick testified, and consequently is free and bent on revenge.

Loosely remade in 1995 with Creator/DavidCaruso, Creator/SamuelLJackson, and Creator/NicolasCage, as part of a short and unsuccessful effort to make Caruso a movie star after he left ''Series/NYPDBlue''.

* TheGhost: Nick's wife Maria, referred to many times, who kills herself offscreen. This was due to [[invoked]]ExecutiveMeddling. Scenes were shot in which Nick's wife commits suicide after she is raped by Rizzo, a gangster who was in on the jewelry heist with Nick. This was deemed too disturbing by censors, so the character of Maria was cut from the film, leaving only an unexplained allusion to Rizzo somehow being responsible for her death.

* TheGhost: Nick's wife Maria, referred to many times, who kills herself offscreen. This was due to ExecutiveMeddling. Scenes were shot in which Nick's wife commits suicide after she is raped by Rizzo, a gangster who was in on the jewelry heist with Nick. This was deemed too disturbing by censors, so the character of Maria was cut from the film, leaving only an unexplained allusion to Rizzo somehow being responsible for her death.

* HappyEnding: Enforced by ExecutiveMeddling. The original idea had Nick [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing himself]], tracking Tommy down and basically letting Tommy shoot him so that Tommy would go to jail and Nick's family would be safe. That was deemed too much of a downer, so Nettie's narration tells that Nick survived and lived HappilyEverAfter with his wife--despite being shot by Tommy five times at close range.

* TheSociopath: Tommy Udo.

* PoliceAreUseless: First D'Angelo and the district attorney's office botch the case against Udo, leading to his acquittal and putting Nick in a very dangerous position. Then the police lose their tail on Udo, leaving him free to come after Tommy.

* WouldHarmASenior: Udo kills Rizzo's old, wheelchair-bound mother by pushing her down a flight of stairs.

* AgonizingStomachWound: DiscussedTrope, as unhinged Tommy Udo says he likes to shoot victims in the stomack to see them suffer.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/widmark.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Whee!]]

Unfortunately Nick finds out while in prison that the mob completely failed to look after his wife and kids, his broke and despairing wife killed herself, and his children have been sent to an orphanage. Bitter at the betrayal and desperate to get his kids back, Nick belatedly accepts D'Angelo's deal and gets paroled. One of the people he informs on is Tommy Udo (Widmark), a seething psychopath of a villain with a very unsettling giggling laugh. Thus Nick is horrified when he finds out that Udo was acquitted at the murder trial where Nick testified, and consequently is free and bent on revenge.