kiss tomorrow goodbye be a violent thriller which simply exude energy . it story be tell at an exhilarate pace and james cagney give a superb high octane performance and the character he depict be an incredibly drive psychopath who pursue his own agenda with an extraordinary sense of purpose and determination . ralph cotter ( cagney ) be a real force of nature and his action have a powerful effect on everyone he encounter . he completely oblivious to the rule of law and totally cynical in his attitude to other people . amusingly and the fact that the other character in the story be nearly all corrupt seem in a perverse way and to almost vindicate his attitude towards them . cotter be a vicious criminal who together with another convict and escape from a prison farm . when his accomplice be injure and cotter shoot him in the head without any hesitation or compunction to ensure that his own chance of freedom isn not jeopardise . a plan and a car be wait for him and accompany the driver and jinx raynor ( steve brodie ) be the dead man sister holiday carleton ( barbara paynton ) . during the exchange of gunfire that follow and holiday shoot a prison guard and later cotter tell his co conspirator that holiday brother be kill by one of the guard . holiday clearly dislike cotter initially but after an incident where he smack her around the head with some towel and her demeanour change and she start to become attracted to him and agrees to him stay at her apartment . cotter and raynor carry out a robbery and be subsequently trace by two corrupt police officer who relieve them of some money and order cotter to leave town . cotter later record an incriminating conversation involve the two policeman and with the assistance of a shady lawyer and turn the table on them . cotter then get involve with another woman and the daughter of a wealthy businessman and after the couple get marry and jealous holiday discovers who kill her brother and cotter problem start to escalate alarmingly . holiday relationship with cotter have an unhealthy dimension a can be see on a couple of occasion when she respond positively to him follow violent incident . cotter on the other hand be able to get his way by use both brutality and cunning . when necessary he use coercion to get holiday to fall into line with his wish and again us plenty of guile in order to get the upper hand with the corrupt cop . kiss tomorrow goodbye be a very good movie in which james cagney be at his brilliant best and the support cast all contribute fine and effective performance .