August 27, 1947 –
20th Century Fox’s classic film-noir, crime-drama, Kiss of Death, directed by Henry Hathaway, and starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, and Richard Widmark, premiered on this date.
When New York mobster Joe Gallo–a vicious killer known as “Crazy Joe“–was starting out as a small-time hoodlum, he saw this movie and instantly idolized Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark). Afterwards, Gallo began wearing his suits with black shirts and white ties in emulation of Udo. He also began acting in a more crazed manner, thus giving rise to his “Crazy Joe” persona, which lasted until the gangster’s death in April of 1972, when he was murdered by rival gangsters in Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy.
The Haus of Dcaligari 