Kiss the Blood Off My Hands

1948
Approved
1h 19m

IMDb RATING

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Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, and Robert Newton in Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)

Film Noir Period Drama Psychological Thriller Crime Drama Thriller

Fugitive Bill Saunders and lonely nurse Jane Wharton are crossed by fate when he hides out in her apartment.Fugitive Bill Saunders and lonely nurse Jane Wharton are crossed by fate when he hides out in her apartment.Fugitive Bill Saunders and lonely nurse Jane Wharton are crossed by fate when he hides out in her apartment.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

2.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos23

+ 17

Top cast60

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Joan Fontaine

Jane Wharton

Burt Lancaster

Bill Saunders

Robert Newton

Harry Carter

Lewis L. Russell

Tom Widgery

Aminta Dyne

Landlady

Grizelda Hervey

Mrs. Paton

Jay Novello

Sea Captain

Colin Keith-Johnston

Judge

Reginald Sheffield

Superintendent

Campbell Copelin

Publican

Leyland Hodgson

Tipster
(as Leland Hodgson)

Peter Hobbes

Young Father
(as Peter Forbes)

Harry Allen

Drunk
(uncredited)

Jimmy Aubrey

Taxi Driver
(uncredited)

Timothy Bruce

Boy Child
(uncredited)

George Bunny

Bookie
(uncredited)

Melinda Byron

Girl Child
(uncredited)

Valerie Cardew

Change Girl
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Trivia
Penicillin only recently had been introduced, proving to be a life-saving drug in WW2. In postwar Europe, the continent was still in shambles, with a huge black market for everyday necessities, including medicine. The noir classic The Third Man (1949) would further show the shadowy world of medical profiteering.

Goofs
The story takes place in England, where automobiles and trucks are right-hand drive; the truck Bill drives is left-hand drive. Caveat: There were many U.S. Army vehicles like this left in the U.K. after the war. This one looks like it could have been used in the war as an ambulance as it appears to be a Dodge WC-series 1/2-ton model. Other vehicles in the film are left-hand drive.

Quotes
Judge: [to Bill Saunders] ... furthermore, although these appear to be first offenses, in view of the brutal nature of the assault, I have no alternative but to direct that you receive eighteen lashes of the cat-o'-nine-tails.

Connections
Featured in Pulp Cinema (2001)

Soundtracks
Sobre las olas (Over the Waves)
(uncredited)
Music by Juventino Rosas

User reviews35

Review

Featured review

7/10

Doesn't sound like a Joan Fontaine movie, does it?

Set in England, it features some atmospheric film noir sequences, Burt Lancaster as an American soldier who's been in a Nazi prison and has what we would now call PTSD, Joan Fontaine as the upstanding woman whose apartment he sneaks into when he's running away from the cops, and Robert Newton as a thoroughly enjoyable over-the-top villain. Did I mention Burt's shirtless scenes? His eyes are photographed extremely well; I'm not sure if he looks more handsome in any other movie, even TRAPEZE. We even see (or rather, hear) Burt being flogged as part of the English justice system.

Fontaine and Lancaster make a reasonably good romantic couple. Director Norman Foster and his cinematographer, Russell Metty, add some noir styling. I found it a very entertaining film noir plus romance. The "oops, gotta follow the Code" ending seems tacked on, but it doesn't spoil the film. Burt Lancaster fans will certainly enjoy it.