The Killing
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Movie Reviews of The Killing
Movie Review: Superb punch directorial debut !
Summary: 5 Stars
The killing is the real op. 1 of this master director . His fluid camerawork is influenced by Max Ophlus , a master of the mobile camera , to whom Kubrick acknowledges a debt. But not only is the admirable rhythm of each sequence in The Killing but also the narrative pulse and building structure of the entire film is determined by the juxtaposition of the numerous sequences . The Killing might be well told with the sequences arranged chronologically to give the film continuity , but Kubrick decided to follow through a breakthrough in the real time of the story . Beware with Memento and 21 grams for the new viewers ; there is nothing new under the sun with this technique .Kubrick adds a major vitality and suspense to the struggling atmosphere with this clever resource. I mean you are free to express yourself if there is a powerful reason to make it , not only for a mere matter of exhibition by itself .
If the Killing seems to come off second best to the Asphalt jungle , please let me remind a brief but bitter opinion of Orson Welles in 1967 when he was requested for that analogy . Welles stated: There is any doubt than Kubrick is better director than Huston but also he affirmed that brilliant sentence :" When the imitation is superior to the original ; the original does not exist"
It is clear than Kubrick pays more attention to the George -Sherry relationship that the one between Johny and Fay . Marie Windsor was one of the top female villains in the fifties low budget films , together with the unforgettable Thelma Ritter of course . Kubrick focuses his attention in this couple because he can better show the association between sexuality, perversion and evil . And you can notice how Sherry seduces her husband to commit the robbery, in a exquisite and hidden tribute to Macbeth's wife .The another important point to remark is the perpetual mobile that Kubrick held with this, a clear domain of the woman in the couple , issue which would be taken to its highest peak in Wide eyes ... forty years later .
Sterling Hayden as Johny Clay is splendid in this one and probably his cynical portrait convinced to Kubrick to think about him in Dr. Strangelove as the out of control and sinister officer who decides the Russians are behind of the loss of his inner fluids .
The final sequence is one of the bitterest ever done in the cinema story.
Movie Review: Marie's the name....
Summary: 5 Stars
The late Marie Windsor is one of the great "bad girls" of cinema, having appeared in several "films noir" and westerns, and made a very impressive mark. Tall and shapely, with large, heavy lidded eyes, a generous mouth (some wags called her "a cross between Loretta Young and Edmund O'Brien") and a somewhat flat delivery of her lines, "tough broads" were her forte. Her three favorite films were "Hellfire", "The Narrow Margin", and Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing", based on the book "Clean Break" by Lionel White. Ms. Windsor plays Sherry Peatty, the faithless, scheming, no-good wife of milquetoast racetrack cashier George Peatty, played by that champ of [bad] roles, Elisha Cook, Jr. Sherry and her boyfriend Val (a pre-Ben Casey Vince Edwards) get wind of George's participation in an elaborately plotted racetrack robbery, masterminded by Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), and want to get their greedy hands on the stolen loot. This unfortunate triangle is my favorite element of this audacious film. Stanley Kubrick co-scripted this film with Jim Thompson ("The Grifters", "The Killer Inside Me", "After Dark My Sweet"), and his unique narrative structure, copied some 38 years later by the vastly overrated Quentin Tarantino and Tarantino ... Guy Ritchie, is amazing. "The Killing" does resemble Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle", which also starred Mr. Hayden, in its big-heist-gone-awry story, but it pushes the envelope even further, with its gritty, strongly lit photography (you can practically smell the characters!), strong dialogue, and less-than-glamorous looking performers. Strong stuff for 1956! Other players in this film include Jay C. Flippen, Joe Sawyer, Ted de Corsio, Jay Adler, Kola Awariani, pretty Colleen Gray, and Dorothy Adams, who are all perfect in their roles, tho Ms. Gray's part is so slight that she could have "phoned it in". This is the first of my 3 favorite Kubrick films, along with "Lolita" and "Dr. Strangelove", before Mr. K. got on the space shuttle to Planet Weird, tho I did like the misanthropic "A Clockwork Orange". The picture quality and sound on this DVD are excellent, though surprisingly, there are no extra features. If you are a fan of film noir, then this is an absolute must-see film. "The Killing" packs quite a wallop!Movie Review: "The Killing (1956) ... Sterling Hayden ... Stanley Kubrick (Director) (1999)"
Summary: 5 Stars
United Artists presents "THE KILLING" (6 June 1956) (85 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Nothing can stop The Killing from greatness --- It's one of those noirs you can watch over and over again and discover fresh revelations in each viewing --- Sterling Hayden and the rest of the cast makes this one of the darker films ever to grace the big screen, and a more compelling noir --- Director Stanley Kubrick brings together an all-star team of actors from his favorite noir films - Hayden, Elisha Cook, Marie Windsor, Ted de Corsia, Coleen Gray, Jay C. Flippen, Joe Sawyer and Vince Edwards, and what's left is pure noir
Memorable scenes between Elisha Cook and Marie Windsor set the stage of events.
Sterling Hayden simply doesn't get the credit he deserves.
Under the production staff of:
Stanley Kubrick [Director/Screenplay]
Jim Thompson [dialogue]
Lionel White [novel "Clean Break"]
James B. Harris [Producer]
Alexander Singer [Associate Producer]
Gerald Fried [Original Music]
Lucien Ballard [Cinematographer]
Betty Steinberg [Film Editor]
Ruth Sobotka [Art Director]
Harry Reif [Set Decoration]
BIOS:
1. Stanley Kubrick [Director]
Date of Birth: 26 July 1928 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 7 March 1999 - Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, UK
2. Sterling Hayden [aka: Sterling Relyea Walter]
Date of Birth: 26 March 1916- Upper Montclair, New Jersey
Date of Death: 23 May 1986 - Sausalito, California
the cast includes:
Sterling Hayden - Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray - Fay
Vince Edwards - Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen - Marvin Unger
Ted de Corsia - Policeman Randy Kennan
Marie Windsor - Sherry Peatty
Elisha Cook Jr. - George Peatty
Joe Sawyer - Mike O'Reilly
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay:5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 85 min on DVD ~ United Artists ~ (06/29/1999)
Movie Review: barry lyndon would approve
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a big kubrick fan for quite a while. I've even seen Barry Lyndon a few times (Yes. Barry Lyndon. I don't even find it to be boring any more. In fact, I LIKE IT!) But it took me until yesterday to finally watch the Killing. And, rather predictably, I really enjoyed it. I watched it twice! I never do that.
Not only is this film a good recommendation for a Kubrick fan; it should be enjoyable to any 'film noir' connoisseur. I don't have a giant t.v., but this black and white 4:3 aspect ratio movie looks great on dvd. (I'm not sure if it was intended to be quite as 'high-contrast' as it appears, but for some reason people go all crazy over any dvd that has extreme contrast. At least there are no colors to over-saturate :0)
The only complaint I had was the sound. Perhaps the original sound recording was not the greatest, but I thought that dvd was supposed to be about making the dialogue more easily distinguishable. Not so on this disc. No big deal. There are subtitles available.
Any "Pulp Fiction" devotee will be happy to find yet another film that Tarantino has 'borrowed' from. This film, as far as I know, is the first to use the non-linear time-line in this particular manner. Quentin knows a good thing when he sees it.
I haven't given any real criticism of the film in this review. I'm not really sure I need to. Stanley Kubrick, film noir, cheap dvd. What more recommendation does anyone need!
One last little comment: There is a voice over narration which serves to explain the exact time that characters in the film execute certain important plot developments. This just as easily could have been done by showing the time and place printed across the film frame. But, I believe, it is done in order to give a more 'dramatic' quality to the proceedings. The television show Dragnet may have directly lifted this idea. Perhaps someone more knowledgable than this reviewer might know for sure...
Movie Review: Before Tarantino, there was Kubrick.
Summary: 5 Stars
Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing" is a delightfully taut, hard-edged, thrilling film noir with superb performances by a whole rogues' gallery of B-movie bad guys (and gals). The non-linear script--written by Kubrick with dialogue by Jim Thompson--was an obvious influence on Quentin Tarantino, particularly in "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown." Kubrick and Thompson give us a panoramic point-by-point view of a heist gone wrong, as well as three-dimensional portraits of some truly fascinating, hard-boiled losers. The only irritating note is the obtrusive, Dragnet-like voiceover narration--and, if I remember correctly, the studio forced it on Kubrick. (No wonder he became such a fanatic about having final control over his films.)
Because of the theme of "The Killing" and the presence of Sterling Hayden in the lead, more than one viewer will compare "The Killing" with the similarly plotted "Asphalt Jungle." But as fine as John Huston's film is, Kubrick's is better. Hayden was never better as the tough, fatalistic ringleader of the heist, and several other performers here reached career bests: Elisha Cook as a pathetic little race-track betting window teller who wants to be a big man in the eyes of his wife; Marie Windsor as Cook's wife, as trashy and two-timing a floozy as ever oozed through a film noir; and uber-creepy Timothy Carey as the sharpshooter Hayden hires to create a diversion while the heist goes forward. At a swift 83 minutes, "The Killing" ranks as one of the great film noirs. It's my favorite of all of Kubrick's films except "Dr. Strangelove" (once again starring Hayden, of course!).