I can only echo previous reviews here on the excellence of this movie. Why IS is not better known? Because, even with a major star like Cagney, it is probably just too grim for most viewers. Many "popular" films noirs have a certain degree of romantic interest (Bogart & Bacall, or Ladd and Lake)to soften the violent elements. "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" (a gem of a noir title if there ever was one, bespeaking a bleak, fatalistic vision) contains no romantic subplot, unless you count the Cagney character's involvement with the rich woman, which is more about greed and rebellion than love. This film is a great of example of pure noir: dark vision of damned characters rushing headlong into doom. The casting of Cagney in the lead could hardly be improved upon: he is relentlessly corrupt and arrogant. Ward Bond gives one of his most intimidating performances as a perhaps more corrupt law officer. Even Barbara Payton, the sole ray of light in this tale, holds her own in this truculent company. The courtroom framing device is effective for introducing the story as one long flashback (a hallmark of film noir) and the cinematography is suitably grim. This was presumably a follow-up to "White Heat" and was not as popular--again, because it is dour and violent, or perhaps for the general audience of 1950, this type of gangster film had seen its day. Yet, "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" can be seen to foreshadow violent gangster films to come:"The Godfather" series "Goodfellas" or the Al Pacino version of "Scarface."