Killer's Kiss (1955) Online

In 1955 a young man, who had produced a couple of 35mm. shorts and a feature which were so little known that they were never even shown in England, made a suspense thriller… From the fact that he co-produced it, wrote it, directed it and did the photography and editing himself you may deduce that he had more talent than backing… The movie was called "Killer's Kiss," and the multi-talented man who made it was the young Stanley Kubrick…

"Killer's Kiss" is a fascinating movie to look back as it is a notable thriller in its own right… It is a film about lonely people; alone people, which is not quite the same thing; their roots almost severed from a past which was once good and is now lost; solitary in the impartial big city at the end of the line…

It starts with a confident, quiet slowness that few directors would dare in the frenetic Seventies… It takes its time to develop, and for nearly half the film you can't guess what the plot is going to be… But this carefully measured film gives you a deep feeling for the characters and their context that leaves you, even after all the suspense, with an overwhelming feeling of the humanity of the movie…

The narrator, Davy Gordon (Jamie Smith) is a young and fading boxer, past it, but not defeated in his heart… The girl Gloria Price (Irene Kane), who lives in the same apartment block, has, like him, no family nor friends… She's come down to working as a dance partner in a shabby hall run by a baddie called Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera).

Kubrick slowly, and movingly, shows the two principals taking the downgrade: Davy fighting a losing bout in the ring while Gloria is trying to push off some heavy passes from Rapallo…

Even he, Rapallo, is made human, understandable… When he stands in his shadowed office, making up his mind to some malice, his eyes fall on cozy family photographs in nice domestic frames that he takes the trouble to keep there; and, when his mind is made up, he gestures irritably, guiltily, as if knowing he's letting them down and trying weakly to dismiss summarily aside their silent reproaches…

The whole story is condensed into three days… Yet it seems to have the natural, inevitable pace of real life; and the moments briefly taken out for little touches of New York street scenes add to the reality and place it in a context of truth…

Very little violence is actually shown except in Davy's boxing match which, in just a few minutes, gives a better feeling than most movies of what it's like to lose a fight in the ring… But, in spite of all, you're on the edge of your seat and you're glad to be there…

There is a classic chase over the rooftops, but even here there are human touches that kill cliché… These villains are not supermen, any more than Davy is: they can stumble on a fire escape, and not for laughs; one of them can fall as you or I would fall and drop out with a twisted ankle…

The suspense is not lessened by these touches: it is increased, because it is more real, seems less contrived…

"Killer's Kiss" was a first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique that Kubrick was to take to the limit in later years… And, after all, the ending was fair enough for the Fifties… In the Seventies, Gloria would probably have got raped by the railway porter, and there'd have been a lot of unlovely detail and no suspense at all…

This film, directed by Stanley Kubrik, is not seen often these days. It was a surprise that it was shown recently on cable as it gave all of Mr. Kubrik's fans the opportunity to watch one of his early works.

The copy that was shown is amazing in that it has been kept, or probably restored, with great care. Stanley Kubrik was a genius; he probably knew more about movies than many other of his contemporaries. Yet, his legacy is somehow meager, only sixteen full length features in almost fifty years as a director.

Killer's Kiss shows the Manhattan of 1955 like it has never been seen in other movies made in the city. Mr. Kubrik's attention to detail and style overshadows the story. The main problem is his screen play, it never involves the viewer in what he is seeing. This is exacerbated by the voice over one hears over the action. We never know what makes these people tick, much less what's going on in their heads at any given moment.

The story is told in a flashback. We see Davy waiting at the old Pennsylvania Station for the train that is to take him to Seattle. He had planned to leave with Gloria, but she seems never to appear; for all we know, he might be waiting in vain.

The streets of Manhattan come alive in the brilliant black and white cinematography by Mr. Kubrik, himself. That old New York that is no longer around, is captured by Mr. Kubrik in such brilliant detail that we mourn the fact those buildings and institutions are not around any more. The night scenes around Times Square, especially the stairway leading to the dance hall have a style that brings some of Edward Hooper's work to mind. Mr. Kubrik deserves credit for filming on location and never making it feel as though those scenes have been fixed to give that effect. In fact, that's where Kubrik's genius comes into play, we realize he had an eye for making things real.

The acting is not the main focus of this film. Frank Silvera makes a menacing Vincent, the mobster and dance hall owner. Jamie Smith and Irene Kane, go through the paces, but they don't convey to the viewer the passion that is supposed to be going on between them.

This movie should be seen by the serious moviegoer as it shows Mr. Kubrik's tremendous talent. It might be a minor film, in comparison to his best work, but being one of his first movies, one can clearly see what will come later.

A young Stanley Kubrick's bare-budget film - perhaps his first "mainline" movie - shows him still in the minor leagues but very close to making it to the Major Leagues. In fact, he did so the following year with "The Killing," a film noir that still ranks among the best. At any rate, this is an opportunity to see Kubrick at work right before he "makes it" in the business.

With an almost-nothing budget you aren't going to draw too many professional actors, and that certainly was the case here, but still is worth watching. It's definitely a "B" noir that is more melodrama than crime until the ending when it gets very, very suspenseful featuring a chase over New York City rooftops and then into abandoned warehouses.

Jamie Smith and Irene Kane are the stars and if you've never heard of them, it's probably because they weren't exactly Humphey Bogart and Bette Davis, acting-wise. The other star, Frank Silvera, at least is a name I recognized.

Overall, the best feature may be the camera-work. It gives us a preview of the visual talents that Kubrick would bring to the big screen in following decade. On its own merits, if you are a film noir fan, you'll want this in your collection.

At an age when most wannabe filmmakers are still 'in training' Stanley Kubrick was producing full length feature masterpieces.

I'm still shocked at how many fans of Kubrick's later work do not appreciate Killer's Kiss. While the basic plot of the movie is nothing special and decidely more 'Hollywood' than Kubrick's later works there are more signs of his trademark style in this film than I feel there were in The Killing or Paths of Glory.

Kubrick's own cinematography in particular blew me away. The use of depth, light and shadow and of his trademark moving camera show us more skill and thought than directors with dozens of films and much better scripts under their belt. And Kubrick's trademark use of his camera to observe silently, capturing the true spirit of his characters when they are alone (no music, no dialogue) is seen over and over in the apartment. If Kubrick's direction could turn a story like this into such a masterful cinematic experience I shudder at what he would of done with this film had he made 10 or 20 years later.

If you love the unique cinematic idiosynchracies of Kubrick's later work then you MUST SEE KILLER'S KISS!

With 3 short films and a feature (Fear And Desire [1953]) under his belt, none of which had received any notice (in fact, Kubrick bought up all of the existing prints of Fear And Desire, because he thought it was poorly done [not to mention that it was being billed as a sexploitation film]), Kubrick decided to try out something new. He decided to go with Film-Noir.

The film is filled with Kubrick trademarks through and through. He uses boxing (which was the subject of his very first short Day of the Fight [1951]), zooming techniques, flashbacks (also used in his next film The Killing [1956]) and narration. The cinematography is exquisite, as usual, with many shots (particularly in the boxing studio and the train station) being backlit with a soft, grey light to give it a disconnected, almost rear-screen-projection feel. However, it is obvious that this is the early, naive Kubrick at work here. The entire movie, like Fear And Desire, is post-dubbed (much like a Fellini film), with all of the sound effects being done over by a meticulous Kubrick. And, of course, the Film-Noir. Davey Gordon (played to perfection by Jamie Smith) is the almost-stereotypical Noir anti-hero, with Irene Kane (aka journalist Chris Chase) as his anti-heroine. Frank Silvera, who had the lead role in Fear And Desire, is the slimy villain, whom you actually want to die (a good sign [for a villain]).

This Kubrick film can most be compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or Barry Lyndon (1975), in that, once you get past a slow beginning, the end is absolutely riveting. Kubrick knows that he wants to grab his audience, and he does so with perfection. Some of it is padded (the ballet sequence is not particular interest), but the rest it great, from the initial boxing sequence to the chase scene at the end. If you're a fan of Kubrick, see it. If you're a fan of great cinema, see it. If you're a fan of Film-Noir, see it (but take it with a pinch of salt). If you're none of these things, see it, and you will be.

Stanley Kubrick's career really took off in 1956, upon the release of his first masterpiece; "The Killing", after which he would go on to make many much loved cinema classics such as "Dr Strangelove", "The Shining" and "A Clockwork Orange", to name a few. This movie is, however, no masterpiece; but that's not to say it's without it's plus points.

First and foremost, this movie is admirable for it's directing, which is excellent. Of course Stanley Kubrick would go on to show himself as a genius behind the camera, and this movie is an early taste of that genius in the directorial department. Secondly, despite the B-grade cast, the acting is not bad at all. It's not marvelous, but considering the cast's accomplishments, previously and after this movie was made, it's better than one would expect.

One of the movie's major flaws, however, is its lack of ideas. There are some nice ideas in the film, such as the part where Gloria tells her story to a backdrop of her sister doing ballet, and the Rear Window style way that the Gloria and Davy meet, but as the film is only 67 minutes long, it felt at times that Kubrick was spending too long on certain sequences, which is a problem if the movie is as short as this one is as it looked as though Kubrick was just dragging things out in order to meet an acceptable running time. That might be so bad in a longer film, but here it's not good.

This movie is a nice, taut little thriller and is definitely recommended to people that want to see some early Kubrick and thereby see how he developed as a filmmaker, but it's not a great film and I don't recommend going into this movie expecting it to be one.

Killer's Kiss is a 1955 movie produced, directed and written by a 27 year old Stanley Kubrick. Coming off the heels of a poorly received first effort, 1953's Fear and Desire, Kubrick stormed back with an interesting little story set in the heart of New York City. The film's protagonist Davy Gordon, is a struggling local boxer who gets involved with a woman, Gloria Price who's ex, Vincent Rapallo hasn't let go of her yet. Kubrick slowly, and movingly, shows the two principals taking the downgrade: Davy fighting a losing bout in the ring while Gloria is trying to push off some heavy passes from Rapallo.

While the pair try to flee the city, Rapallo and his henchmen foil there escape. Price meanwhile, has changed her mind and decides she's better off with a real man, Rapallo. In the thrilling climax, Gordon and Rapallo battle it out in a run-down mannequin factory which foreshadows his technique shown in later masterpieces.

"Killer's Kiss" was a first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique that Kubrick was to take to the limit in later years. After all, the ending was fair enough for the Fifties. Out of a possible 5 stars, I give young Stanley Kubrick's "Killer's Kiss" 4 stars.

It's just over an hour long and even so we have the trademark Kubrick opening, where he takes his own sweet time in letting us know what the film is about but somehow draws us in all the same. Look: it's an hour long, and it's a slight, hour-long kind of story. Don't expect anything more. I think there's also rather clearly a moment when Kubrick realised that he didn't know how he was going to end it all - to be honest, I have a sneaking suspicion that a similar thing happened on "2001", "Eyes Wide Shut" and even "Dr. Strangelove". In each of these cases it was the prompt for a daring and unconventional conclusion. I wish I could say that was the case here.

This doesn't prevent it from being involving while it lasts. Kubrick once again demonstrates the he could point a camera at anything at all and make it interesting - the images are amazing, yet entirely functional. If you have ever loved any black-and-white camera work you'll love this. It's also a masterpiece of violence-without-violence, if you know what I mean. It deserves to be more well-known than it is.

**Spoilers** Stanley Kubrick's debut film about obsession and murder on the gritty and dangerous streets of midtown Manhattan and the empty and deserted factory lofts along the Brooklyn waterfront. With a number of fine performances by Jamie Smith & Gloria Price as the two unlikely lovebirds Davy Gordon & Irene Kane and especially Frank Silvera as Irene's jealous and obsessive former boyfriend Vicent Rapallo. Who runs the Pleasureland Dance-Hall where Irene works as a dance partner for the customers who go there for their nightly entertainment.

Davy who's a professional boxer just came back from the sports arena after getting his brains scrambled by the up and coming world welterweight contender 22 year-old "Kid" Rodriguez, who knocked him out cold in the first round of their match. With his boxing career on the ropes the 29 year-old washed-up fighter was nursing his wounds when he hears a scream across the other side of his apartment building. With the women, Irene, in question being beaten up by her boyfriend,Vincent, and comes to the women's rescue as Vincent flees the scene.

Irene had just broken up with Vincent who's also a part-time hoodlum as well as dance-hall manager. After spending the next morning with Davy, who had breakfast in her apartment, Irene decides to leave New York City with him for Seattle. It's there where she can live and find work together with Davy on his uncle's horse farm. Davy and Irene plan to meet after they both get paid at Penn. Station in mid-town Manhattan for a train to Washington State.

Davy gets in touch with his fight manager Albert, Jerry Jarret, and tells Jerry to meet him at the Pleasureland Dance-Hall to pick up his check for his fight with "Kid" Rodriguez. Meanwhile Irene also goes to the dance-hall to get her severance pay from her former boyfriend Vincent. After having it out with him, when he begged her to please stay, Vincent sends two of his thugs outside the dance-hall to kidnap Irene and also work over Davy who's expected to meet her outside the place. Instead they mistake Jerry for Davy and end up beating him to death as they grab and take off with the terrified Irene.

Davy getting to the dance-hall late, due to him chasing these two wackos who stole his scarf, goes home and takes his belongings to go to the train station the next morning thinking that Irene left and deserted him. Checking Irene's apartment Davy finds it empty but as he's there he sees outside the window into his apartment two police officers talking with his super about him being suspected of murdering his manager Jerry earlier that night.

Realizing now what really happened and him being framed for Jerry's murder Davy get's a taxi to Vincent's place at the dance-hall. After taking him hostage Davy has Vincent drive him to a Brooklyn warehouse where his two hoods, who murdered Jerry, Mike Dana & Felice Oriandi are holding Irene captive.

Exciting final with Davy battling both Vicent and his two henchmen with a real knock around battle with Vincent in a garment factory loft filled with mannequins that are used as deadly weapons in the fighting; together with axes and steel-hooked poles, with Vicent ending up dead and Davy arrested for murder.

Davy is later vindicated at the police station for Vicent's death due to self-defense but Irene whom Davy rescued leaves the precinct without going with him to the train station to leave for Seattle, as she said earlier she would. We see this all in a flashback by Davy, reflecting on what he went through the last three days. Feeling hurt and dejected as Davy's about to get on the train by himself he spots running to the train station Irene! The film ends with Davy now knowing that he's not alone as he and Irene both kiss and leave for Seattle together like they planned to do in the first place.

Stanley Kubrick showed in his first major motion picture "Killer's Kiss" just what the movie going public could expect from him in the future when he has more money and experience to put into the movies. Movies that he'll make and direct. And after some 44 years up until his death in 1999 the movie going public were never disappointed in any of his cinematic efforts.

I saw this film about two weeks ago on AMC. It was in the morning so there was no tag by Bob Osborne when it ended and since I did not catch the very beginning, I did not see the credits. I saw the boxing match and it was BRUTAL. What a fighter goes through was never conveyed more clearly and more succinctly. I remember Frank Silvera from other films (and it was his name that I looked up to find here at IMD. The actors were unknown and the two leads were not that convincing but the story was riveting. I was prepared for an ending suitable to the type of dark film it had been up to that point. I really liked the ending that was revealed. I came here to read comments on this little known film and was totally surprised to learn that Stanley Kubrick directed it. He told a story in a lean, sparse way that was different from the way he told later films but his genius was showing here. Bravo to all connected with this little gem!

Spoilers herein.

There's nothing like this stuff. If you ever thought Kubrick was a genius, you should consider that such an eye is not learned, and one would expect to see it in the young man. Here's where he is taking chances.

He produced, wrote, directed, photographed, and edited this effort.

Here you see some real energetic expression of more controlled notions you see later on:

-- time and space symmetries, lots of them

-- lots of narrative in inanimate objects from the environment

-- dancing/boxing: life as a test performance, with the space between being dead time

-- narrative folding

-- a mimimalist, deceptively symbol-laden story that all but ignores the actors

-- a consistent `eye,' often from waist level when the lovers are together

-- stylized voice-over

All this is fascinating enough. But an extra treat is to see this next to Welles' near masterpiece `Lady from Shanghai' of "48. Check out showdown in the manikin warehouse compared the manikin part of `Lady's' funhouse at the identical part of the story, with the same loser-woman dynamic.

Irene Kane has real presence despite her relatively poor acting. Kubrick married her ballerina `sister.' Wonder what happened to her?

Wow: right from the start, Killer's Kiss shows a noticeable step up from Fear and Desire- we open in a train station, and will see many people and large sets for the rest of the film.

More than a technical advance, Killer's Kiss is an excellent noir with a tight plot and much larger scale than what actually happens. There's a boxer, a dancer, a gangster and his goons, and one big flashback. From the first scene, and the beginning of an ongoing narration, we see that Gordon is alone, so we can focus on the why- it relates to the message.

There are great scenes in Killer's Kiss. The boxing is raw, much better than fight scenes of the time: it feels like you have front row seats. The ballerina and exposition of Gloria's life, and the climatic chase and mannequin mangling. The acting is fair, but Rappello is a real slimeball.

This is a huge step up from Fear and Desire technically. The shooting is excellent, feeling large and small at the same time. We get treated to some artistic shots as well. The editing is fine, and the lighting is true- noir. The music is fantastic, very upbeat, fast and fitting, adding to the tension where needed. This is visionary directing with funds.

Then there's the ending. No spoilers. This was an 8 the whole way through, I was loving it, but then the last scene shatters the message as well as the score. You'll roll your eyes at Gordon's reaction. If you want to see a much better film, end it with 1 minute left.

But overall the film is excellent and I feel it's better to have too much than too little- you can edit the ending yourself. A solid noir, and even more promise than Fear and Desire, despite the contradictory ending. 6.6/10

Stanley Kubrick was the director, cinematographer, editor, co-producer and co-writer of his second movie and commendably, despite his lack of experience and an obviously low budget, "Killer's Kiss" proved to be an extremely enjoyable and visually impressive film noir drama.

Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) is a washed up boxer who meets and falls in love with a dance-hall hostess called Gloria Price (Irene Kane) and together they plan to relocate to Seattle. Unfortunately, Gloria's violent employer Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera) has designs on her and dispatches two of his henchmen to deal with Davey. However, due to a couple of unexpected coincidences, the plan goes wrong, the two men kill Davey's manager and the police suspect that Davey is the murderer. In order to prove his innocence, Davey pursues Rapallo and this eventually leads to a final confrontation between the two men when they engage in a spectacular and well choreographed fight for supremacy.

Throughout the story the action takes place in locations which seem claustrophobic and often the framing of the shots emphasises this impression. Davey and Gloria's living areas and Rapallo's office are all small. Camera positions which look down on the characters when they're on the stairs in the couple's tenement building and in the dance-hall entrance area also appear to significantly constrict the space they occupy. During a boxing match in which the two boxers are already confined within the ring, when Davey's opponent stands up to start the bout, he is seen from a low viewpoint behind the still seated Davey, with the result that the space which he visually inhabits is made even smaller as he is then seen framed by Davey's right leg. Even the outdoor sequences in the latter part of the film convey the same impression as narrow streets and alleyways surrounded by very high buildings seem to close in on everyone who enters those areas.

Some good ideas are also used to make the film visually interesting. Davey's face is seen peering through the water in a fishbowl and the viewpoint is the position of the wall behind the bowl.. Similarly, when Rapallo throws a tumbler at a picture on the wall of his office, the glass is seen shattering from the viewpoint of the picture. A dream sequence is photographed in negative and the final confrontation between Davey and Rapallo is staged in a warehouse full of mannequins in a sequence which is rather reminiscent of the "hall of mirrors sequence" in "The Lady From Shanghai". There is also a brilliantly composed shot of the streets down which Davey is being pursued by Rapallo and his men where the lit area of the street and buildings is reduced to a limited area on the bottom left hand side of the frame with everywhere else being bathed in black shadow. Rapallo's thugs are also shown in silhouette when they attack Davey's manager and their elongated shadows on the walls of the alley seem to exaggerate the sense of danger involved.

The night time street scenes shot in Times Square are particularly good and the other New York locations are also portrayed in a manner which powerfully conveys their squalor and potentially threatening atmosphere.

"Killer's Kiss" is rather short and contains some dead pan performances but its real strength lies in its incredible visual impact and its ability to evoke threatening and oppressive atmospheres so successfully.

I saw this film quite a few years ago in a film appreciation class I

took. I am a Kubrick fan so I was interested in seeing it. The

acting is pretty bad in this film, but Kubrick was pretty much

producing this independently (in the mid-50's when that was not

done too often) and probably could not get very good actors. The

filmmaking was great. There were great tracking shots, wonderful

use of mise on scen, great long shots and close ups. In fact a lot

of sequences were similar to sequences in many of Kubrick's

famous films. Kubrick fans should see this movie at least once.

Killer's Kiss is an incredible film technically. The lighting, set and cinematography are nothing short of stunning. The cinematography was incredible, and the lighting showed only what Kubrick wanted to be seen.

Where the film comes up short is in the plot and the character development. The character's are boring (a great feet to accomplish with a title like Killer's Kiss). The audience doesn't really get involved in the story. The acting isn't wonderful, but at least it's believable. The plot line is extremely poor.

Killer's Kiss, shows us where his talents are: Directing, and Cinematographer; and more-so where they don't: Writing. Killer's Kiss is a wonderful film to watch if you like to see good lighting and cinematography, or if your a Kubrick fan. Otherwise, it's not worth the hour.

Missed this great film of director Stanley Kubrick in 1955. The black and white effect was perfect for this depressing story. However, it was enjoyable watching these two actors, Jamie Smith (Dave Gordon),"Only Fools & Horses '81 TV Series" and Irene Kane(Gloria Price) "All That Jazz" '79, look at each other through the windows of their one room apartments in the same building, dressing and undressing and looking very depressed and down in the dumps. Jamie was a down and out prizer fighter and Gloria was a dance for hire gal, who was down on her luck working along Broadway, NYC and being taken advantage of by the villian, Frank Silvera (Vincent Rapallo) "Valdez Is Coming" '71". Stanley Kubrick wanted this film to be a very realistic film about two people being drawn together by hard luck, therefore, he had these actors act just the way ordinary people would act in REAL LIFE, it makes it appear that they are both poor actors, which is far from the truth. It was great to see a man and a woman become drawn to each other and be able to try and cope with their horrible situations in life. This a great Classic film by Stanley Kubrick!!

The techniques of "Killers Kiss", shows a lot more familiarity when it comes to your expectations of a Kubrick picture. A young boxer towards the end of his career, eventually begins to grow closer to a woman who lives in the apartment blocks next to his. A relationship then begins as the two grow closer, as they also plan to collect money from her violent employer. Does things ever go smoothly in these scenarios?

I found myself enjoying this work much more than Kubrick's earlier effort "Fear And Desire" (1953), which Kubrick himself tried to remove from circulation. Shot when he was 26 years old, it shows a fantastic use of light when it came to emphasis and also a lot more confidence in narrative and framing. There is a long dance sequence where the Ballerina is played by Kubrick's second wife (Ruth Sobotka), and the sound was post dubbed as the microphone would interfere with the lighting system.

Final Verdict: Unfortunately I can't say much about it compared to his previous and later works, as well as only talk mindless movie trivia. But it is worth your time if you can find it, it is usually boxed as an extra in the Home release of Kubrick's next picture "The Killing" (1960). 6/10.

With minimal budget and no real big name stars, Stanley Kubrick directs a straight forward simplistic script,with no frills,drama. Davey Gordon(Jamie Smith)is a washed-up boxer with a glass jaw. At this point in his career, he gets the little, last minute fights that pay just as small. Davey gets several glimpses of Gloria(Irene Kane) that lives in the apartment across from his. She is going through hard times too. She is a taxi-dancer that is trying to break away from her job and her boss Vincent Rapollo(Frank Sivera). The fighter goes with the dancer to collect her last paycheck. The jealous and lustful Vincent gets the idea that Davey and Gloria are now an item and he is willing to commit murder to have her for himself. Rounding out the cast: Mike Dana, Jerry Jarrett, Barbara Brand and Falice Orlandi. KILLER'S KISS is what it is and just happens to be a worthwhile film.

Decent, B-NeoNoir with the expected trimmings--boxer, dame, thugs, dingy walk-up apartments--given some class (to use the noir vernacular) via Kubrick's lush direction, and a wildly unsettling finale amongst disemboweled mannequins. Earns a place on your "must" list for its remarkable on-location NYC photography, some of the best of any noir. Two locales in particular--the cavernous original Penn Station (already on the road to ruin) and 1955 Times Square with its acres of movie palaces and neon marquees--get plenty of footage, serving as an irresistible time capsule. It lends great realism to one of the least glamorous urban films since the Warner pre-Code era.

"Killer's Kiss" (1955), acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick's second feature film, starred Jamie Smith, Irene Kane and Frank Silvera.

The story looks like it was partly inspired by Robert Siodmak's The Killers (1946): A boxer called on the slide Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith), is awakened from a dream (a stunning piece of surrealism, it's only fault being that it is too short) by the screams of Gloria Price (Irene Kane), who lives on the other side of his apartment block, as her lecherous boss Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera) forces himself on her. Gordon goes to her help, but Rapallo escapes. He falls in love with Gloria, a "dancer" at a nightclub run by Rapallo, but in doing so, he faces Rapallo's wrath and his deadly vengeance.

While the plot may be slightly run-on-the-mill stuff, the movie as a whole is certainly not. Shot on the streets of New York by Kubrick himself, the picture benefits enormously by this "breathing" quality, making the story more believable as it's set and shot in a real place, a rare practice at the time (one wonders if Kubrick did this for purely aesthetic reasons: the budget of the movie was only $40,000 or so, extremely cheap even then for a movie). The camera-work is very high contrast black and white, all the automobiles surfaces gleaming and enabling the tower blocks Gordon rushes past during the final look dark and foreboding. He also inserts a few stylistic shots like Gordon looking through a fish-bowl; but Kubrick uses these sparingly so they always look unexpected. Along with the beautiful cinematography, the action is the highlight of this motion picture: a violent and ruthless boxing match early on, shot with a hand-held camera is exciting and brutal; capturing what the sport is really like. Another set piece is justifiably famous: a climatic fight between Gordon and Rapallo in a mannequin store house with fire-axes.

But there are flaws, flaws than cannot be overlooked even if one is kind to the young Stanley Kubrick and very lenient. First and foremost is the acting: Irene Kane as the woman who sparks off all the trouble is desperately weak and is hard to see why a Rapallo lust after her and Gordon falls in love with her so quickly. Silvera is excellent as our villain and Smith, while nothing special, is good enough for his part, but because Kubrick opted to film the movie "silent" and then put in the sounds in post-production, not only do you have errors like cars driving in the background but no noise issuing forth from them, but the performances are made rather stilted and the dialogue spoken doesn't always match up to their lips. The motion picture is in (a needless) flashback, so we are given a redundant voice-over and the ending in the train-station is overly-sentimental and it is not only alien to the world of noir, but alien also to Kubrick. Despites these flaws, the movie reminds an enjoyable, at times very exciting, film noir that isn't just for Kubrick buffs.

The best thing to be said of KILLER'S KISS is it is promising. Like HEARTS OF AGE was promising for Orson Welles when he directed it as a school project in the 1930s.

It's hard to believe, watching this film, that Stanley Kubrick directed first THE KILLING and then PATHS OF GLORY immediately after he did this film. One can see while watching it spurts of Kubrick's inventiveness and story telling ability. Two examples come to mind: the murder of the hero's manager Albert by Rapallo's two bodyguard/goons, and the fight between Rapallo and Davy in the mannequin factory/warehouse. The latter has been well analyzed by critical fans of Kubrick, particularly as he uses the body sections of the mannequins (note the heads and hanging hands, and legs and torsos being thrown about) as a suggestive way of showing how the ax wielding Rapallo can possibly maim and disfigure (if not kill) Davy. As for the former, we see the killing in three stages (the two goons separating Albert from Irene, then the goons forcing a frightened and desperate Albert back into the alley to kill him, and then the two goons leaving the alley - and briefly returning to the alley to make it look like a robbery murder. We never seek Albert dying (we hear later that the poor guy's head was bashed in).

Sequences like that are worth noting. It shows what to expect from Stanley once his career takes off. But that doesn't hide the defects of the film. Of the performers, only Frank Silvera (Rapallo) rises to the role of the villain. He is a middle aged creep who has fallen for Gloria, but she is disgusted by him. So he is determined to have revenge on her and on Davy (whom she favors now). But Jamie Smith and Irene Kane are no more than competent (and Jamie Smith is sometimes rather dull as Davy - the fight sequence is okay but no more than that; It's no RAGING BULL). Better, however, is Jerry Jarrett as the doomed Albert, making the most of the scene where he tries to escape the two goons. The actors playing the goons are reasonably threatening, but no more than that (one is surprised that one of them complains when he apparently hurts his leg in chasing Davy). And so it really goes in the film: the acting is barely adequate except for the villain, and you will note that only the villain really had a decent film career.

There is also a defect in the script that the later Kubrick would not have made. The genius behind DR. STRANGELOVE destroyed the world in a nuclear holocaust. The man who made PATHS OF GLORY made sure that the film ended on a sad note of hope when Kirk Douglas' Col. Dax hears the soldiers singing the sad song in honor of their three murdered comrades. But the screenplay/story here is crazy. In the last quarter hour Gloria shows her real opportunism in an attempt to save herself at the expense of Davy by offering to return to her relationship with Rapallo. Davy is hurt by this and says as much - he doesn't even try to rescue her when he flees. Yet we see them in each other's arms at the end! Compare that to Michael O'Hara leaving Elsa Bannister to die at the end of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, or Phyllis Dietrichson being shot by Walter Neff after confessing she is rotten but does love him in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. Film noir relationships are usually doomed. They rarely are set up for the man to forgive the woman and embrace at the end. In fact, think of the way THE KILLING ends, with Elisha Cook Jr. shooting the traitorous Marie Windsor. That's more typical.

The shots around 1955 New York are fascinating. In particular the ones inside the old Penn Station (torn down within a decade despite much public outcry). They too add a bit of enjoyment to the film for New York viewers. But if the total is tallied, while above average KILLER'S KISS is minor Kubrick.

Killer's Kiss shows us the relationship between a welterweight boxer and a dancer.He loses a fight and her boss is causing the girl some trouble.Stanley Kubrick co-wrote and directed Killer's Kiss in 1955.It's a good film made in a film-noir style.It's a small and cheap movie which was filmed in the back alleys of New York.It looks real good.The chase scene on the roof is pretty exciting.The actors are fairly unknown.The main couple, Davy Gordon and Gloria Price are played by Jamie Smith and Irene Kane.The bad guy, Vincent Rapallo is played by Frank Silvera.Kubrick, who would have turned 80 last summer was an amazing movie maker who came up with many masterpieces.Killer's Kiss shows us a little of that Stanley Kubrick we knew later.

I am about to say something so radical, that many film lovers will probably automatically dismiss the rest of this review. I much, much prefer director Stanley Kubrick's earlier work. While later in his career he became known for his obsessive-compulsiveness that led to him often filming the same scene a hundred or more times, in his earliest work he was quite the opposite--shooting the scene right the first time because he couldn't afford to use a bazillion feet of extra footage with each film. He was a master of the simplistic and reminded me, a bit, of Sam Fuller--who was also an incredibly talented director when given almost no budget. Both actually were not at their best when the studios gave them more money--at least when you are looking for the percentage return on their investment. Sure, Kubrick also did some great films with a large budget (DR. STRANGELOVE comes immediately to mind), but for tight and exciting films, it's hard to beat KILLER'S KISS or THE KILLING--two exceptional Noir films.

Now I am NOT saying that KILLER'S KISS is a perfect or even near-perfect film--there are some technical problems that make it obvious it isn't great art. But, given that Kubrick was on welfare when he made it, he had almost no money or backers and he had equipment problems that necessitating re-dubbing the film, it's an amazing little film. In particular, the black and white camera work is among the best I've seen of the era for a Film Noir picture---dark and occasionally just a bit grainy and filled with amazing camera angles. I particularly loved the boxing match--bizarre but highly exciting camera shots abounded, you could see and almost feel all the sweat on the boxers (more so than in more polished films like CHAMPION or REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT) and the boxers looked like they were beating the crap out of each other--not pulling their punches or dancing.

As for the story, it ain't deep but it's a textbook example of "simple is best"--and for some films this is definitely true. The only failings are minor and can be forgiven considering the budget and that this is Kubrick's first film. Occasionally poor dubbing, a few irrelevant camera shots and two scenes that summarized what happened instead of actually filming the scenes that just screamed "we ran out of money". The ballerina scene was poorly done--just showing the same dancer for a LONG time while the female star told her life story. It just looked cheap. Also, the final scene where the hero gave a lengthy exposition what happened once the police showed was obviously done because of economy--I really wanted to see instead of hear about this.

Overall, despite some minor problems, this is a great film for young film makers. This is one of the very best independent films you can find--and few films have come close to it for a quality to investment dollars ratio.

For a few other exceptional low-budget films, try CARNIVAL OF SOULS, STEEL HELMET, the original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! (this final one is a bit terrible in spots, but is amazingly watchable--and bears repeated viewing). There are many, many more and when I find one of these films, it thrills me.

This film has a *lot* bad things about it. They are pretty obvious when you see the picture. That's why I only gave it a '6'.

However, instead of focusing on the many bad points, let me point out some very nice things about it: It looks realistic. The streets of New York are alive. The alleys and the interiors are authentic and give you a sense of actually being there. The story (written by Kubrick) is believable.

The last 15 minutes of the film is a real nail-biter. While the final action scenes are certainly choreographed, I never felt as though I was watching Kubrick's second film. Even then, he knew what he was doing, he just made a lot of mistakes (needless to say, he got better).

I was going to avoid negativity but I am compelled to say the sound department for this feature did a horrible, sloppy job; that alone takes 3 stars away from my rating.

But worth watching for the last couple of scenes, which are amongst the best (or at the least, most memorable) film-noir scenes in history, in my book.

I think in Killer's Kiss you can really start to see the genius that is Stanley Kubrick beginning to push through. By the time the film had reached the finale of its 67 minute runtime, I was ready for it to carry on and keep on going giving us more and more. Alas, what happens next on the train journey away from it all is never revealed but isn't that the sign of greatness when a director can leave the audience wanting more even when they've rounded the film off in a satisfactory manner anyway? Over the coming decades, Kubrick would go on to cover a range of genres such as war, comedy, horror, science fiction and so forth, all with tremendous results, but this seems to be his only divulge into noir and it goes without saying that it is a damn shame. In true noir fashion, Killer's Kiss begins in the present and goes back into the past as an anxious and somewhat lonely man regresses on what's happened. Needless to say it isn't good, it usually isn't in the genre of noir. The man is Davy Gordon (Smith), not a disgruntled P.I. or someone else connected to anything legal or illegal whom teeters on both sides of the law but a boxer, plain a simple, perhaps a boxer due to Kubrick's 1951 short Day of the Fight given its boxing content.

Following Davy's fight, he is awoken in the middle of the night by Gloria Price's (Kane) screaming and it turns out she's having a bit of trouble with her employer Vincent Rapallo (Silvera) who is helplessly in love with her as it is and thus, the obsession inspired behaviour does not bode well with a woman unafraid to use her voice and loose enough as it is anyway. Naturally, Davy gets involved but ultimately it won't be for the good. The film carries a fair amount of chemistry between the two leads and the scenes they share work to a degree but Kubrick would never become one of those sorts of directors and it's no surprise that the graphic content and element of antagonism are the key things here. There is a feeling of power struggle between two sides and we get a feeling there's something at stake once Davy has meddled with the affairs of criminal boss Vincent.

What follows is the alleyway killing of a certain character by hoods employed by Vincent and you do get the feeling that although he isn't allowed, Kubrick really wants to show us the beating to add to the danger these gangsters pose as well as well before that the expression of love between both Davy and Gloria. But he can't due to the censorship rules although it doesn't detract from the film's quality – later on, Kubrick would confront global fears such as nuclear war and make a black comedy out of it and with A Clockwork Orange, he would pull the film from cinemas himself due to all the content many people were unhappy with; examples of taboo subjects and lack of compassion towards censorship that were trying or wanting to break out in Killer's Kiss.

The film continues down its unpredictable route of noir and crime, using bizarre street locations full of towering chimney's and bizarre desolate buildings as the finale nears. The location work echoes A Clockwork Orange, for example the opening underpass/tramp beating scene as well as the great use of the grand hotel in The Shining as a close and claustrophobic area, almost threatening in its presentation. But what follows the scenes of chase in this film is a finale fight that should be mentioned within the same breath as the hall of mirrors fight in Welles' The Lady From Shanghai, itself a noir from a legendary director. That is when the final fight occurs in a mannequin doll factory. As the fight goes on, the dolls become increasingly eerie; the audience almost distracted by them as they watch on in a human-like manner. Killer's Kiss is a fascinating and really nicely unfolded film that ranks up with some of Kubrick's best in my opinion and should be seen by as many of his fans as possible.