Stanley Kubrick is a renowned figure in the history of cinema, with my thoughts ranging from the amazing (“The Shining”) to the dismal (“A Clockwork Orange”). The 1950s are the age of film noir, and in 1956, Mr. Kubrick wrote and directed “The Killing,” a noir styled heist thriller.
Unlike fellow noir movie “The Big Combo,” “The Killing” has Kubrick’s fingerprints all over it – for good and for bad. It moves slowly, and includes a lot of repetitive dialogue. It does, however, boast an assortment of colorful characters and a subtle noir element. It’s worth checking out for Mob Movie March, particularly if you fancy yourself a scholar of film noir as do I.
One facet I really enjoyed seeing was the blatant influence the story of “The Killing” would have on future films of this ilk, specifically Tarantino gems from the 1990s. There’s a lot of moving parts involved in this scheme – the stealing of $2 million from a racetrack, and a lot of characters at play.
Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) has just emerged after five years on Alcatraz, and prison did little to reform the wannabe gangster. “Five years have taught me one thing.” He explains to his dame (Coleen Gray). “Any time you take a chance you better be sure the rewards are worth the risk. They can put you away just as fast for a $10 dollar heist as they can for a million dollar job.”
Sterling Hayden, whom I won’t pretend to be familiar with, was a bit player in 1950s cinema. Here, he’s the perfect leading crook. He’s a scoundrel, with slick style and a cool name. All of his decisions have purpose, as he assembles a team for the job so elaborate, there’s an actual narrator letting us know what’s going on. His crew are all noticeable for one trait or another, and each man brings to the table various reasons for doing the job.
Kubrick also employs some aspects that were ground breaking at the time. Female characters that are just as involved in the wrongdoings as the men they claim to love. Violence and shootings (tame though there), and the shadowed imagery that is the backbone of any noir film.
While it’s a bit sluggish, the ending act is great and something modern audiences, especially those of us who are fans of Tarantino, will appreciate. Watch “The Killing” and appreciate classic cinema. There’s a lot to dislike about old movies, but this one holds up fairly well.
1 Comment
when you say things like “Sterling Hayden, whom I won’t pretend to be familiar with, was a bit player in 1950s cinema” you really aren’t qualified to be talking about movie history. He most certainly was not a bit player. By the time he starred in The Killing he had already played the leads in classics such as John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Ray (1954). Seriously can’t you even look up a reference book? I’ll recommend some if you like.