Killer's Kiss Movie Review

Killer's Kiss (1955)

Rent Killer's Kiss on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Stanley Kubrick (story), Howard Sackler (screenplay)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Frank Silvera, Irene Kane, Jamie Smith
Rated: NR [PG-13]
Watch the trailer

Plot
Ready to catch a train to his hometown, a washed-up boxer tells us about the strange and twisty events that happened to him the past couple of days.

Verdict
It's a good looking movie from shots to staging, but the story is lackluster. It's a short movie at just over an hour and even then there isn't enough story to fill the run time. Two very different people start a romance, and they must fight to stay together. That's the bulk of this, and the only reason I watched it is because this is a Kubrick film. It's one of his early films, and that's obvious. You can see, even in this movie, what he will become, but that doesn't help the story.
Skip it.

Review
This was Kubrick's second feature film. United Artists paid $100,000 for the film and also agreed to provide $100,000 for Kubrick's next movie. Due to their funding, they required this film have a happy ending.

Kubrick is one of my favorite directors, and this is his only movie I hadn't seen. Boxer Davey (Jamie Smith) and dancer Gloria (Irene Kane) live in the same building. We see them in their trades. It's a contrast of rough and smooth, boxer and dancer.

Being Kubrick, even early on this has some really great shots. Davey is over the hill, trying to hang on, and Gloria is mixed up with some kind of gangster. They meet when Davey protects her from her gangster boyfriend attacking her. This starts a relationship. There isn't a lot of story here. We see a rift between Gloria and the gangster as the dancer and boxer grow closer. 

There just aren't enough stakes. The gangster doesn't want his girl to leave and sends men after her and the boxer. There's a confrontation in a mannequin warehouse which is a great location, but the ending isn't anything noteworthy in part because it is a happy ending. This is a script that has potential that isn't realized. Seeing Kubrick's work is fun but more as something behind the scenes.