Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
Encyclopedia
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands is a 1948 film noir
, directed by Norman Foster. It stars Burt Lancaster
, Joan Fontaine
and Robert Newton
.
Saunders is involved in another fight -- this time with a police officer. He ends up behind bars, but Jane, who is now in love with Saunders, gets him a job driving a truck delivering drugs for her medical clinic when he's released.
Meanwhile, hoodlum Harry Carter, who witnessed the earlier bar fight, threatens to expose Saunders to the police. In return for his silence, Carter demands that Saunders cooperate with a planned robbery of his next drug shipment.
When Saunders does do the delivery, Jane rides with him, forcing Saunders to make the delivery as planned to avoid getting Jane involved in the possibly dangerous theft. This betrayal of Carter puts the lives of Saunders and Jane in even greater danger.
appreciated the direction but was tough on Burt Lancaster, writing, "Norman Foster has directed Kiss the Blood Off My Hands with keen appreciation for the story's emotional content and he has handled the scenes of violence with striking sharpness. The long chase that starts the film on its way, with Lancaster desperately racing through winding streets and alleyways of the London waterfront, vaulting fences and scrambling up on roofs, is high-tension excitement. Mr. Lancaster's performance is good, but he would do well to drop some of his tenseness and get more flexibility into his acting. Robert Newton, as a cockney schemer who witnessed the killing and attempts to blackmail Saunders, is somewhat flamboyant but still he gets over an effective characterization."
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, directed by Norman Foster. It stars Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
, Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
and Robert Newton
Robert Newton
Robert Newton was an English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys...
.
Plot
Bill Saunders (Lancaster) is a former prisoner of war now living in England, whose experiences have left him unstable and violent. He gets into a bar fight in which he in kills a man and then flees. He hides out with the assistance of a nurse, Jane Wharton (Joan Fontaine), who believes his story that the killing was an accident.Saunders is involved in another fight -- this time with a police officer. He ends up behind bars, but Jane, who is now in love with Saunders, gets him a job driving a truck delivering drugs for her medical clinic when he's released.
Meanwhile, hoodlum Harry Carter, who witnessed the earlier bar fight, threatens to expose Saunders to the police. In return for his silence, Carter demands that Saunders cooperate with a planned robbery of his next drug shipment.
When Saunders does do the delivery, Jane rides with him, forcing Saunders to make the delivery as planned to avoid getting Jane involved in the possibly dangerous theft. This betrayal of Carter puts the lives of Saunders and Jane in even greater danger.
Cast
- Joan FontaineJoan FontaineJoan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
as Jane Wharton - Burt LancasterBurt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
as William Earle "Bill" Saunders - Robert NewtonRobert NewtonRobert Newton was an English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys...
as Harry Carter - Lewis L. RussellLewis Lord RussellLewis Lord Russell was an American actor of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s who starred in a number of vaudeville shows, Broadway dramas, and Hollywood films, including The Lost Weekend and the Marx Brothers film, A Night in Casablanca .-Early life and work:Born "George Lewis Lord" in Farmington,...
as Tom Widgery - Aminta Dyne as Landlady
- Grizelda Harvey as Mrs. Paton
- Jay NovelloJay NovelloJay Novello was an American radio, film, and television character actor.Born in Chicago as Michael Romano, of Italian descent, Novello began his career as a radio actor, playing Jack Packard on the Hollywood version of I Love a Mystery for a brief period, circa 1944...
as Sea Captain of Pelicano - Colin Keith-JohnstonColin Keith-JohnstonColin Keith-Johnston was a British actor. As well as film appearances, he appeared onstage as Stanhope in the first production of Journey's End in the United States.-Partial filmography:* Somehow Good...
as Judge - Reginald SheffieldReginald SheffieldReginald Sheffield was an English-born actor.He was born as Matthew Reginald Sheffield Cassan in the St. George Hanover Square District of Surrey near London, to Matthew Sheffield Cassan and Alice Mary Field...
as Superintendent - Campbell Copelin as Publican
- Leyland Hodgson as Tipster
- Peter ForbesPeter ForbesPeter Forbes is a Scottish actor.In the theatre he has appeared in the musical Mamma Mia! at the Prince Edward Theatre in London, Twelfth Night, Richard III and A Midsummer Night's Dream...
as Young Father
Critical reception
When the film was released The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
appreciated the direction but was tough on Burt Lancaster, writing, "Norman Foster has directed Kiss the Blood Off My Hands with keen appreciation for the story's emotional content and he has handled the scenes of violence with striking sharpness. The long chase that starts the film on its way, with Lancaster desperately racing through winding streets and alleyways of the London waterfront, vaulting fences and scrambling up on roofs, is high-tension excitement. Mr. Lancaster's performance is good, but he would do well to drop some of his tenseness and get more flexibility into his acting. Robert Newton, as a cockney schemer who witnessed the killing and attempts to blackmail Saunders, is somewhat flamboyant but still he gets over an effective characterization."