Rent Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)
3.4 of 5 from 54 ratings
1h 19min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Bill Saunders (Burt Lancaster), disturbed ex-soldier, kills a man in a postwar London pub brawl. Fleeing, he hides out in the apartment of lonely nurse Jane Wharton (Joan Fontaine). Later, despite misgivings about his violent nature, Jane becomes involved with Bill, who resolves to reform. She gets him a job driving a medical supplies truck. But racketeer Harry Carter (Robert Newton), who witnessed the killing, wants to use Bill's talents for crime.
- Actors:
- Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton, Lewis L. Russell, Aminta Dyne, Grizelda Harvey, Jay Novello, Colin Keith-Johnston, Reginald Sheffield, Campbell Copelin, Leyland Hodgson, Peter Hobbes, Harry Allen, Jimmy Aubrey, Timothy Bruce, George Bunny, Melinda Byron, Valerie Cardew, Jack Carol, Harry Cording
- Directors:
- Norman Foster
- Producers:
- Richard Vernon
- Writers:
- Leonardo Bercovici, Ben Maddow, Walter Bernstein, Hugh Gray, Gerald Butler
- Aka:
- Blood on My Hands / The Unafraid
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Burt Lancaster
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 14/11/2022
- Run Time:
- 79 minutes
- Languages:
- English Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentaries with Josh Nelson on 'Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'
- The John Player Lecture with Joan Fontaine (1978): archival audio recording of the much-loved star in conversation
- The Heel with Sex Appeal: Nick Pinkerton on Dan Duryea
- Return to Europe: Christina Newland on Robert Siodmak
- Absolute Magnetism: Lucy Bolton on Gloria Grahame
- Film Noir Festival Q&A with Victoria Price (2018): archival video recording of Vincent Price's daughter in conversation
- United Action Means Victory (1939): documentary short written by Ben Maddow
- Skirmish on the Home Front (1944): short film starring William Bendix
- A Salute to France (1944): short film starring Claude Dauphin
- Easy to Get (1947): short campaign film directed by Joseph M Newman
- The Cinematographer (1951): documentary short directed by Jerry Hopper
- 'Kiss the Blood Off My Hands' Trailer
- Image galleries
- UK premieres on Blu-ray
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Reviews (2) of Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
Burt on the run - Kiss the Blood Off My Hands review by NO
Over melodramatic with London portrayed rather gloomily.Dissapointing for a Lancaster film.Newton relishing overacting as a villian & Fontaine rather meek.Unrealistic ending.
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Despite the noir trappings, a stinker - Kiss the Blood Off My Hands review by MB
You might think this seems interesting, given its lurid title, cast and setting, but I'm here to assure you that it's not. Like other famous big budget stinkers - Goldcrest's 'Revolution' or Hitchcock's 'Under Capricorn' - the problem was precisely that the script didn't come through a major studio. The latter had a long process of developing stories and scripts and it's rare to find something as bad as this from e.g. MGM or Columbia (though maybe a bit more likely from the Poverty Row producers).
Burt Lancaster produced it - it was his first film as a producer - and wanted a role to show his physicality - which it does - and then didn't apply his mind to the rest. Basically, there's no motivation for anything here; and no plot to speak of. Characters just do what they want at the moment. It's all happenstance, from the opening fight/encounter onwards. Awfully thin unsatisfying stuff, which even a decent director and DP's noir touches can't hide.
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