Good start, but then it gets ruined

Admirable film.

Absolutely brilliant

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The criminal Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) and his partner Carleton (Neville Brand) flee from the prison, but Carleton is wounded and Ralph executes him with a bullet on the head. Carleton's sister Holiday (Barbara Payton) helps Ralph to escape and kills a guard. The clever Ralph manipulates Holiday and she becomes his lover. Then he blackmails and bribes the dirty Inspector Charles Weber (Ward Bond) and Lieutenant John Reece (Barton MacLane) and associates to the corrupt lawyer Keith 'Cherokee' Mandon (Luther Adler). Ralph gets a new identity and he gets a license to carry gun. When Ralph meets the wealthy Margaret Dobson (Helena Carter), Mandon advises him that she is a dangerous woman, since her father is the powerful Ezra Dobson (Herbert Heyes). But the ambitious Ralph does not pay attention to Mandon's advice and leaves Holiday with tragic consequences. "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" is a combination of film-noir and gangster movie perfect to James Cagney in his usual role. The violent story is developed in flashback and Ralph Cotter is a ruthless and ambitious criminal that ends his career due to a female fatale, in an environment of crooked cops and lawyer. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Amanhã que não Virá" ("The Tomorrow that Will not Come")

This gangster movie opens in a court room where seven people including two police officers, a lawyer and a prison officer are on trial for murder or being accessories to murder; the prosecuting attorney explains that really there should be eight people on trial but the worst of the bunch isn't there. We then flash back to when the story really starts; with the Eighth Man, Ralph Cotter, in a prison farm. He isn't there long though; he escapes and is picked up by the sister of a man he was meant to escape with; she doesn't know it but he killed her brother during the escape.Once away from the prison he doesn't lay low, he robs a store, savagely beating the manager in the process. It looks like he will be quickly caught when the police turn up but it turns out they are as corrupt as he is. They take his cut of the proceeds and tell him to get out of town. He has other ideas and sets about blackmailing them by recording second meeting where he outlines another robbery. He sends one copy of the recording to his brother and plays another to the police; now it seems he can work with impunity so long as the cops get their cut. Things are complicated though as he gets involved with two women; the blonde who helped him get away from prison and a brunette who is the daughter of a wealthy and powerful man… she could be his salvation if he doesn't cross the wrong people.This less well known James Cagney film isn't up to the standards of his better known works like 'White Heat' and 'The Public Enemy' but it is still fairly entertaining. Cagney himself puts in a solid performance as Cotter; the sort of character he has played many times before. Barbara Payton was good enough as blonde Holiday Carleton and Helena Carter was delightful as brunette Margaret Dobson. The rest of the cast were pretty solid. The story was gripping even though anybody familiar with this sort of film will have guessed Cagney's fate long before it happens. For the most part I thought the film had aged well although the scene where Cagney and Helena Carter are shown in separate beds on their wedding night seemed rather silly… if rules of the time forbade them from sharing a bed on screen it would have been better to not show them in bed! Overall I'd say that while this might not be a classic fans of films of this era and particularly fans of Cagney are likely to enjoy it.

The smash hit of "White Heat" (after years of mostly forgettable crime films) made Warner Brothers take James Cagney again, keep him brutal, throw in some high society hijinks, another floozy blonde (this time Barbara Payton), repeat the violent nature of his anti-hero and hope success will strike again. The result is mixed, a confusing narrative told through flashbacks from courtroom witnesses, of how Cagney basically got law makers to become law breakers. One classic scene (Payton tossing coffee at Cagney as he humorously keeps asking her for the extra ingredients) is a valentine to the famous grapefruit scene from "The Public Enemy". However, the remainder of the movie is poorly edited that makes the film flow awkwardly.This film attempts to soften the brutality of Cagney's epileptic character from "White Heat" with the introduction of a thrill-seeking socialite (Helena Carter) which leads into the slow-moving mid section that covers more of how Cagney bribed and blackmailed each of the participants involved in his robbery scheme, introduced in the opening scene where Cagney's whereabouts are in question by the audience.As for the replacement of Virginia Mayo (who moved on to light-hearted musical comedy's) with Payton, they've got a new vixen on their hands, one you watch go from innocent to vindictive, in spite of being the typical blonde floozy with extremely black roots. This makes her multi- dimensional character even more interesting than Mayo's especially when Cagney confronts her with a broken booze bottle. Her rising anger, expressed though rage in her eyes, makes her character unforgettable.

James Cagney is in top form in this rare & obscure gem, obviously made to cash in on the success of White Heat. If you enjoyed White Heat you will relish Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. Cagney does not disappoint & shows that he is still at his best as a gangster. No matter how evil & despicable Cagney was you could never really hate him. That was how charismatic & electrifying James Cagney was & only he could have played Cody Jarrett & Ralph Cotter. Cagney is more in control & more clever & manipulating as Ralph Cotter. Everyone gets sucked in & gets caught in his web from Crooked Cops played by Ward Bond & Barton Maclane, a crooked lawyer (Luther Adler), the moll (Barbara Payton), the wealthy businessman & his spoiled daughter. I like the scene where Cagney sets a trap for Inspector Webber (Ward Bond) by recording a conversation about plans for a bogus heist on record to blackmail & use against him to get what he wants. Cherokee Mandan says "Let's try it on for size", he gets Ralph a gun permit & later Cagney even gets the inspector to give him a policeman's uniform to undermine & cash in on a criminal racket."Any business that pays 50 grand is a good business to be in". Cagney seemed unstoppable & was in control of every situation, pushing the envelope & it's easy to see why Holiday Carlton (Barbara Payton) had to kill Cagney in the end for killing her brother during the prison break. I almost wished he hadn't of gotten killed by her because it seemed like the rich father & his daughter had some kind of good influence on him, Ezra Dobson later approves of their marriage & decides not to have it annulled & offers Cagney a proposition of managing his daughter's money(Helena Carter)who's richer than her father. When she asks Ralph why he carries a gun she asks to see it & intentionally tosses it in the water. "You don't need it any more", he was heading in a new direction & starting a new life of respectability & leaving his criminal life behind. Or would Ralph have just gotten greedy to their millions of $$ & bumped them off as well or would he have reformed ? We'll never know. Watch this movie, I highly recommend it !!