THE KILLING (1956)

Stanley Kubrick, 1956

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Elisha Cook Jr

After he’s released from prison, smalltime criminal Johnny Clay plans to run one final heist before marrying his faithful girlfriend, Fay. His idea is to rob a local racetrack when they’re counting down the sizeable bets they receive during the day. His team includes two insiders, a teller at the racetrack, George, and a bartender, as well as a dirty cop, a sniper to shoot the winning horse and cause a distraction, and a wrestler to start a fight and cause a distraction near the counting room. Unfortunately George blabs a little to his wife, Sherry, who is greedy and hopes to steal the money with the assistance of her boyfriend, Val. Though the plan goes off with nary a hitch, Sherry’s betrayal could cause the ruin of all.

Though he made two features before this, namely noir-melodrama Killer’s Kiss, The Killing can be seen as director Stanley Kubrick’s first serious work. It was something of a breakthrough hit and has gained critical momentum over the years. This was also the beginning of the partnership between Kubrick and producer James Harris, who recognized Kubrick as a brilliant young talent and financed part of The Killing with his own money. They would go on to work together for the following decade and the success of The Killing allowed them to make Paths of Glory together. Based on Lionel White’s novel Clean Break, the film was apparently initially intended by Hollywood to be a Frank Sinatra vehicle.

Kubrick and Harris made the brilliant decision to hire noir novelist Jim Thompson (The Killer Inside Me) for the script, which is excellent, particularly the dialogue. Overall, The Killing is a highly imaginative and influential heist film. Though it has much in common with John Huston’s earlier heist-noir, The Asphalt Jungle, including the presence of star Sterling Hayden (Johnny Guitar). I have to admit that I just don’t get Hayden’s appeal. I think he’s going for the sort of gruff aloofness that John Wayne pulled off so charismatically, but I find him to be flat, unemotional, and utterly boring in every film. He certainly doesn’t do The Killing any favors, though part of its charm is how roughly and coldly it treats the characters.

Like Killer’s Kiss, this shows a distinctly shabby side of life that exists amongst the city’s glitz and glamor. The characters are generally unlikable, although these men want the money not just out of greed, but to improve their lives (and often for the sake of a woman). Some are simply in it out of a sense of loyalty to Johnny Clay, such as my favorite character, wrestler Maurice (played by real-life wrestler Kola Kwariani, apparently a chess buddy of Kubrick’s). Aside from the dull Sterling Hayden, there are some great performances. Noir regulars Ted de Corsia, Timothy Carey, and Marie Windsor all shine. Windsor, as a femme fatale and unfaithful wife, is perhaps the most colorful character and is shown in various stages of dressing and undressing, applying makeup or removing it.

Noir staple Elisha Cook Jr is equally memorable as her runty, rundown husband, always trying to accomplish the Sisyphean task of pleasing a woman obsessed with wealth and glamor. It’s certainly difficult to imagine how they got together in the first place – though there is the suggestion that he promised her a lifestyle he hasn’t yet delivered on – and it is this greed that brings the whole enterprise crashing down around their heads. As with Killer’s Kiss, Kubrick uses noir tropes only where they advance the film, such as with frequent voice-over narration, and a non-linear plot structure (rather than the flashback sequences of Killer’s Kiss). The non-chronological tale often has the same events shown from different characters’ perspectives, resulting in a truly elegant film.

There is a lengthy, though genius heist scene where each character looms large in their individual tasks and everyone from the wrestler to the sharpshooter, as well as Sterling Hayden with his clown mask and shotgun, are unforgettable. Kubrick waits until the last possible moment to realize the explosive, sudden violence at the film’s conclusion, which sharply contrasts earlier scenes of heavy dialogue. The nihilism and hopelessness, such a staple of the noir genre, is contrasted with unexpected moments of black humor. The greedy, nagging wife’s parrot squawks loudly when she dies, and Johnny’s failure at the film’s conclusion is surprisingly (and somewhat uncomfortably) hilarious.

The Killing comes highly recommended. It’s the first Kubrick film where he really comes into his own. Check out the Criterion Blu-ray – certainly the best presentation of the film in the U.S. – which also includes Killer’s Kiss as a supplement. If you enjoy heist films or crime caper movies, this is an absolute must-see.

KILLER'S KISS

Stanley Kubrick, 1955

Starring: Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Frank Silvera

Davey, a washed up boxer, and Gloria, a struggling taxi dancer, are neighbors in an apartment complex. They can see into one another’s rooms across a courtyard and become attracted to one another. The night that Davey loses a fight, Gloria’s boss, Vincent Rapallo, follows her home and attacks her because she continually repels his advances. Davey rushes to save her, causing Rapallo to flee. Davey protectively stays the night and he and Gloria strike up a sudden, intense relationship. They decide to go out of town, but Rapallo is determined to keep her, even if it means murder and kidnapping.

This is director Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film (though he tried to hide and repress his first effort, Fear and Desire), which he also wrote and produced. It’s certainly an early American independent effort; he borrowed money from his uncle to make the film and the budget is noticeably very low. Due to its mainstream subject matter and noir stylings, Kubrick expected it to be mainstream enough to garner him some success. Though it was mostly ignored, he was able to sell the film to United Artists, though they insisted on a happy, romantic ending where Davey and Gloria are reunited at the last possible moment at the train station. Despite this minor setback in his vision, it allowed Kubrick to make a bigger budget follow up – The Killing – which was his first true cinematic success.

I’m not overly fond of Killer’s Kiss – and it has a lot of flaws – but it is a worthwhile look at the developing skills of an auteur director. The grungy, sleazy view of ‘50s New York definitely makes the film worth watching and the shots where Kubrick breaks up the plot to show New Yorkers in action are wonderful (keep an eye out for the people who refuse to ignore the camera). This gives it more than a hint of Cinema verité and a sense of realism found in later independent film. If you like Godard or, more appropriately, Cassavetes, this might be worth checking out for the visual similarities.

Killer’s Kiss isn’t quite film noir, but Kubrick includes plenty of noir tropes that are used well. The main characters are a boxer, a taxi dancer (loosely a sexless, in-club escort, a young woman who is paid per dance by men at a dance hall – an earlier, more wholesome counterpart to the strip club), and a gangster and his thugs. The story is told with flashbacks and voice overs, both Davey and Gloria have had rough lives with little hope for the future. People hang around in alleys and worn out buildings thick with shadows, where they smoke cigarettes and brood. I don’t think this is really a spoof of noir, but Kubrick either cleverly used the tropes to make a dark and violent melodrama, or he just really bumbled his way through this film.

Make no mistake – despite its interesting elements, Killer’s Kiss is deeply flawed. Probably the strongest element is an excellent chase/fight sequence, which takes Davey and Rapallo through the city, into a mannequin factory where they struggle (with an axe) against faceless, life-sized white dolls. Aside from this somewhat brilliant moment, the story is little more than a loosely sketched love triangle where an honorable, though struggling boxer and a successful, though sleazy nightclub owner fight for the ownership of a young dancer. The performances are incredibly basic. Frank Silerva (Viva Zapato) is a dead-ringer for Burt Lancaster, though he can’t quite muster the same brooding charm. Frank Silvera (from Kubrick’s Fear and Desire) often seems like little more than a cartoon villain. The beautiful if blank Chris Chase, billed here as Irene Kane, had a brief acting run (which included a role in All That Jazz), but became known for her career as a writer. She was also the sister of Kubrick’s then-wife, prominent New York ballet dancer Ruth Sobotka. Sobotka appears as the ballerina in Killer’s Kiss, Gloria’s dead sister, dancing in flashback.

I can’t say that the film comes recommended, but Kubrick fans will definitely want to check it out. Killer’s Kiss is available on DVD, but you should really pick up the Criterion release of The Killing – a must see film – which includes Killer’s Kiss as a special feature. Though I didn’t love the film, you certainly wouldn’t be wasting your time with it. It has a fairly short running time, moves at a good pace, and is full of some wonderful New York scenery.