Review of Killer's Kiss (1955) by Max M — 17 Jul 2009

A nifty little noir story about a down-and-out boxer (Jamie Smith) who falls for a young taxi dancer (Irene Kane), a romance that her crooked boss (Frank Silvera) takes an ultimately violent opposition to.

Director Stanley Kubrick's second film (his family has made it clear that, according to his wishes, his first film, Fear and Desire will never see the light of day) finds the young director still trying to nail down a style but nevertheless becoming more assured as a cinematic storyteller (he acted as writer, editor, cameraman, and director). The film starts out a bit slow - Kubrick seems to be drifting back toward his days as a still photographer, capturing starkly beautiful actual location images of New York City and its low-level inhabitants, which really don't advance the narrative that much (he may have been trying to pad out an already slim running time of 68 minutes) but do lend the film a strong sense of authenticity and brutal honesty - but once the plot kicks in it doesn't let up.