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The Killing 1956 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
NR, 85 min. |
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Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Ted de Corsia, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Joe Sawyer, James Edwards, Timothy Carey
Producer: James B. Harris
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Jim Thompson
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Distributor: United Artists
Released: 6.06.56 |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Director Stanley Kubrick officially "arrived" with this masterpiece of suspense that revolves around a perfectly planned theft
of a horse racetrack. Even the most meticulously planned schemes can run into problems, as evidenced in this film. The amount
of geniune suspense that is generated by this movie is impressive. Of course, following this successful film, Kubrick
would go on to bring us other masterpieces such as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Full Metal Jacket.
This movie was one of the founding pieces to the "noir" type of film - it has also inspired current directors such as Quentin Tarantino.
Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is a ex-con who has the perfect plan - he has all the players in place to pull of a $2 million heist
of a horse racetrack during the middle of a big race. Now, only the plan must be excuted to perfection, easier said than
done. He has enlisted the help of a track cashier, George (Elisha Cook Jr.), a sniper, and a brawler (Joseph Turkel). The
finely-tuned plan begins to unravel even before the heist itself. George's wife (Marie Windsor) manipulates the weak-minded
George into divulging the secret plan to her. In turn, she tells her lover (Vince Edwards), who plans to stealing the money from
the thieves themselves once the job is completed. The heist itself is successful, however, the trouble begins when Edwards
shows up to stealing the money and the plan to divide up the money is scratched. This leaves the suspenseful end when Johnny
must escape with his girlfriend and the money, without alerting authorities of his suitcase that is stuffed with money.
Scenes in the film are presented out of order, and, although not flashbacks, gives the background for each character and their
job as it leads up to the heist. You see the plan unfold through the eyes of each character in the gang, until the final angle
is presented through the eyes of Johnny, who escapes with the money. This is one of the first times that this technique was
used, and it's very effective.
Although the film's budget was small, it's acting was not. Everyone, from Hayden to Edwards, is near perfect here. Elisha
Cook Jr. gives a brilliant performance as the not-so-savvy husband of Marie Windsor, who also gives a great performance.
Cook Jr. shows us his desperation for the love of his wife, regardless of the fact that she loves someone else - this leads
to the surprising conclusion of the gang.
The sheer genius of the script, acting, and cinematography all encompass an extremely involving and exciting motion picture -
one that all movie critics should use as a reference for good filmmaking. Kubrick takes the audience on a suspenseful journey -
you almost root for the bad guy to get away, until you realize that even the best laid plans are doomed to failure if you make
even the slightest of mistakes. The Killing is one of the most involving and interesting movies you will see if you give it
the chance. This is filmmaking at its best.
© 2001 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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