The Killing

The Killing (1956) 

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook, Jr., Coleen Gray

From: United Artists

First off, RIP to Stuart Gordon. After his death I revisited Robot Jox, something I've reviewed before; that was still good times. Yesterday afternoon, I saw something completely different and a movie worthy of its lofty praise: 

Thursday, Kubrick's first great movie-of many-was on Turner Classic Movies and as this was less than 90 minutes, it was time to discuss it here.

This is a film noir with many of its tropes (the interplay between light and shadow, sleazy and tough characters, plenty of pessimism, etc.) but of course Kubrick's presence and eye to detail was a huge asset. Sterling Hayden is a criminal who wants “one last score” so he wrangles together a variety of different people to pull a robbery at a horse track during a big race. All those different people are rich, vibrant characters so the first half of the film is gripping as we are introduced to them and all the chess pieces are put into place as we learn about them and why they are involved with this caper. The most interesting duo is Elisha Cook, Jr. as (not shockingly) a nebbish, henpecked husband who has a dominating, domineering vamp of a wife in Marie Windsor who constantly belittles and cuts him down for his wimpy ways.

The endgame is shown in the second half, plenty of time spent on the robbery itself then its aftermath; as it's a noir, things do not go as planned and at least one person dies. It is not just Kubrick's already excellent direction which creates a great movie... it is the quality cast full of intriguing characters in a perfectly crafted story that kept me gripped throughout. Matched with the fantastic cinematography is a nice score which was one clue that Nolan must be a big fan of this. One scene with Cook, Jr. and Windsor only has a ticking clock as background noise; it was better utilized in that one scene than all the times it appeared in Dunkirk but I've griped about that film before. Another clue is the heist itself and what is worn by Hayden as he steals all those greenbacks.

I know not everyone is a fan of the occasional narration that appears; admittedly it is not always necessary-if at all-although at times it did produce some of the many great lines of noir dialogue-it was not something I hated, in other words... I understand that Kubrick felt differently and it was one of those “dreaded studio notes” where he had to do it despite his protests. This is not a new phenomenon, in other words. Anyway, many of the genre efforts I've seen I've really enjoyed; this one is objectively one of the best in terms of overall package. In addition, I've seen less heist movies but this has to be in the upper tier of that category also.