Directed by Stanley Kubrick • 1955 • United States
Starring Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane
This early feature by Stanley Kubrick finds the precocious young director seizing the noir genre as an opportunity for visual experimentation and moody atmosphere, laying the groundwork for the following year’s THE KILLING. The bare-bones plot concerns a washed-up boxer who lands in hot water when he steps between a taxi dancer and her violent boss. Independently produced on a shoestring budget, KILLER’S KISS captures the seedy side of 1950s New York with vivid location photography and features a memorable action scene in a mannequin warehouse, the first of many great set pieces to come in Kubrick’s career.
Up Next in Classic Hollywood
-
Love Me Tender
Directed by Robert D. Webb • 1956 • United States
Starring Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis PresleyElvis Presley makes his screen debut in this entertaining western musical. Though he was not (for the first and only time in his movie career) the top-billed star, Elvis undeniably enlivened this ...
-
Blue Hawaii
Directed by Norman Taurog • 1961 • United States
Starring Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela LansburyIn many ways the film that established the template for what would become the Elvis movie—picturesque scenery, breezy romance, and a near-nonstop parade of songs (here including the hit “Can’t...
-
Paths of Glory
Directed by Stanley Kubrick • 1957 • United States
Starring Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolph MenjouStanley Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY is among the most powerful antiwar films ever made. A fiery Kirk Douglas stars as a World War I French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless ...
