Killer's Kiss

''Killer's Kiss'' is a 1955 American independently producedThe Criterion Channel's July 2023 Lineup, Current, The Criterion Collection
/ref> crime film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Kubrick and Howard Sackler. It is the second feature film directed by Kubrick, following his 1953 debut feature, '' Fear and Desire''. The film stars Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, and Frank Silvera.

The film is about Davey Gordon ( Jamie Smith), a 29-year-old middleweight New York boxer at the end of his career, and his relationship with his neighbor, taxi dancer Gloria Price ( Irene Kane), and her violent employer Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera).

Plot

In New York, veteran welterweight boxer Davey Gordon lives in the same building as taxi dancer Gloria Price. Their windows face each other, and they steal glances at one another. The two leave their building at the same time to report to their jobs-Davey prepares to fight newcomer Kid Rodriguez, and Gloria is picked up by Vinnie Rapallo, her boss. Davey's fight with Kid Rodriguez is televised, and Rapallo brings Gloria to his office, both to watch the fight, and to make sexual advances. Davey is knocked out, goes home, and takes a phone call from his uncle, who wants Davey to return to the family farm near Seattle. Davey is awakened from a dream by Gloria's screaming, and sees that Rapallo is assaulting her. Davey runs across the roof of the building to reach Gloria's apartment, finding her unharmed.

The next morning, Davey and Gloria share breakfast. Gloria describes her family history: her older sister Iris was an accomplished ballerina, and their mother died while giving birth to Gloria. Gloria's father favored Iris, and Gloria resented Iris. Shortly after their father's death, Iris committed suicide. Davey and Gloria fall for each other, arrange to go to Seattle, and also to collect their final payments at Gloria's dance hall.

Outside the dance hall, street thieves steal Davey's scarf and Davey chases them, just as his manager arrives to hand off final payment. Inside, Rapallo initially refuses to give Gloria her final payment, believing that she will leave with another man. When Rapallo's henchmen see Gloria standing with Davey's manager outside the building, they mistake him for her lover, and entice Gloria back into the building to collect her payment. Davey and Gloria reunite, and leave with Gloria's collected payment. Rapallo's henchmen kill Davey's manager. At the apartment building, Davey vacates his unit and crosses the roof to Gloria's, finding it empty as well. Looking across to his old window, Davey observes police searching for him, suspecting him in the murder of his manager.

Davey stalks Rapallo and forces him to drive to a hideout, where Gloria is being held. As Davey attempts to free Gloria, the gangsters overpower him. Davey escapes, pursued by the gangsters, and uses a fire escape to climb onto a rooftop. Rapallo pursues him into a mannequin warehouse, and they fight to the death. Rapallo wields an axe, the two hurl mannequin parts at each other, and Davey kills Rapallo.

At Penn Station, Davey awaits his train to Seattle and reminisces over the events of the past few days. He and Gloria were questioned separately, and once the police concluded that Davey acted in self-defense and was not responsible for his manager's murder, he was freed. Gloria finds Davey waiting for his train, and the two embrace.

Cast

Background

This was Kubrick's second feature. Kubrick removed his first film, '' Fear and Desire'' (1952), from circulation over his dissatisfaction with it. Kubrick directed that film between the ages of 23 and 24, and had to borrow $40,000 () from his uncle Martin Perveler, who owned a chain of drug stores in Los Angeles. ''Killer's Kiss'', originally titled ''Kiss Me, Kill Me'', was also financed privately through family and friends, but because ''Fear and Desire'' did not recoup its production budget, Perveler did not invest this time. Most of the initial budget was covered by Morris Bousel, a Bronx pharmacist who was rewarded with a co-producer credit.

Kubrick began to shoot the film with sound recorded on location, as was common practice in Hollywood. However, frustrated by the intrusion of the microphone into his lighting scheme, Kubrick fired his sound man and decided to post-dub the entire film as he had with his first film. The film is notable for its location shots in the old Penn Station, which was demolished in 1963, as well as Times Square, and the run-down streets of both the Brooklyn waterfront and of Hell's Hundred Acresthe nickname at the time for Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.

Ballerina Ruth Sobotka, Kubrick's wife at the time, was the art director for this film, as well as for Kubrick's next, '' The Killing''. She is also featured in a long dance solo, playing the role of Iris. Then-model and future writer and television journalist Chris Chase, using the stage name Irene Kane, made her acting debut as the female lead.

Against Kubrick's wishes, United Artists required the film be recut with a happy ending.
United Artists paid $100,000 for the film and also agreed to provide $100,000 for Kubrick's next, '' The Killing''.Tino Balio, ''United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 157

The film features the song "Once", written by Norman Gimbel and Arden Clar. It is one of Gimbel's earliest contributions to a film, although his lyrics do not appear in the final version.

Reception

Critical response

When released, the staff at '' Variety'' magazine gave the film a mixed review, and wrote:

In 1994, ''New York Times'' critic Janet Maslin, in her review of a Film Forum double bill featuring Kubrick's first two feature films, concludes her piece with this brief reassessment of Kubrick's sophomore effort:

Awards

Wins
* Locarno International Film Festival: Prize, Best Director, Stanley Kubrick; 1959.

Adaptation

In 1983 Matthew Chapman directed '' Strangers Kiss'', a film that portrayed the making of ''Killer's Kiss''.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray as a special feature of The Criterion Collection's release of Kubrick's '' The Killing''. A 4K UHD Blu-ray was released by Kino Lorber on June 28, 2022.

Notes

References

External links

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''Killer's Kiss''
informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)

{{Golden Leopard

1955 films
1955 crime drama films
American black-and-white films
American boxing films
Articles containing video clips
1950s English-language films
Film noir
Films directed by Stanley Kubrick
Golden Leopard winners
Films about mannequins
Films with screenplays by Stanley Kubrick
United Artists films
Films produced by Stanley Kubrick
Films scored by Gerald Fried
1950s American films
American crime drama films
1955 independent films
English-language crime drama films