Killer’s Kiss (1955)

“Her Soft Mouth Was the Road to Sin-Smeared Violence!” Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film (after Fear and Desire), Killer’s Kiss is a low-budget, superbly shot film noir filmed on location in New York City (including Times Square) on a budget of $75,000 with a running time of just 67 minutes. A washed-up New York City boxer, “Davey Gordon” (Jamie Smith), rescues beautiful nightclub dancer “Gloria Price” (Irene Kane) from the maniacal clutches of a sleazy gangster “Vincent Rapallo” (Frank Silvera) and then falls for her himself. Who can ever forget the climactic fight in the creepy mannequin warehouse? If you love the films of Kubrick as much as I do, this early directorial effort is definitely a must-see! Kubrick once remarked that Killer’s Kiss was a “frivolous effort done with conceivably more expertise [than Fear and Desire] though still down in the student level of filmmaking.”

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