Rating: 
Summary: The Killing
Review: The killing is about a race track heist that of course goes wrong. Sterling hayden is the head of the gang of thieves that pull the heist off. The film is shot in a style that is now famous because of QT. It is intersting to see how films did this 35 years before he even made a film. The movie is extremely good not just for kubrick fans but for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead on!
Review: The Killing is one of kubrick's earlier films and it has so much bite and atmosphere that this under seen gem ranks as one of the best film noir's I have ever seen! Kubrick pulls out a few tricks to push the story of a robbery of a race track that goes awry! For one, flashbacks and flashforwards are used along with over lapping dialogue and off camer angles to make the viewer seem uneasy even though the plan is so meticulious in its creation that it cant go wrong! But it does and the way that little characters with big problems seem to turn The Killing into a greek tragedy on steriods! Kubrick gives the scenes that cold Kubrick touch making the film darker and even more nail biting as the story moves forward and the dead pan delivery of the voice over gives the flick an erie calm of reassurance! The final scene anf all the little nuances of film noir is in place an din top form; rather its the fidora of the shiny black telephone. The last few scenes will make your jaw drop with disbelief. The Killing does with supporting characters and props what big budget explosions and special effects can't do! And that is entertain you for the complete film and more than hold up for almost 50 years of viewings!
Rating:
Summary: Superb punch directorial debut !
Review: The killing is the real op. 1 of this master director . His fluid camerawork is influenced by Max Ophlus , a master of the mobile camera , to whom Kubrick acknowledges a debt. But not only is the admirable rhythm of each sequence in The Killing but also the narrative pulse and building structure of the entire film is determined by the juxtaposition of the numerous sequences . The Killing might be well told with the sequences arranged chronologically to give the film continuity , but Kubrick decided to follow through a breakthrough in the real time of the story . Beware with Memento and 21 grams for the new viewers ; there is nothing new under the sun with this technique .Kubrick adds a major vitality and suspense to the struggling atmosphere with this clever resource. I mean you are free to express yourself if there is a powerful reason to make it , not only for a mere matter of exhibition by itself .
If the Killing seems to come off second best to the Asphalt jungle , please let me remind a brief but bitter opinion of Orson Welles in 1967 when he was requested for that analogy . Welles stated: There is any doubt than Kubrick is better director than Huston but also he affirmed that brilliant sentence :" When the imitation is superior to the original ; the original does not exist"
It is clear than Kubrick pays more attention to the George -Sherry relationship that the one between Johny and Fay . Marie Windsor was one of the top female villains in the fifties low budget films , together with the unforgettable Thelma Ritter of course . Kubrick focuses his attention in this couple because he can better show the association between sexuality, perversion and evil . And you can notice how Sherry seduces her husband to commit the robbery, in a exquisite and hidden tribute to Macbeth's wife .The another important point to remark is the perpetual mobile that Kubrick held with this, a clear domain of the woman in the couple , issue which would be taken to its highest peak in Wide eyes ... forty years later .
Sterling Hayden as Johny Clay is splendid in this one and probably his cynical portrait convinced to Kubrick to think about him in Dr. Strangelove as the out of control and sinister officer who decides the Russians are behind of the loss of his inner fluids .
The final sequence is one of the bitterest ever done in the cinema story.
Rating:
Summary: Marie's the name....
Review: The late Marie Windsor is one of the great "bad girls" of cinema, having appeared in several "films noir" and westerns, and made a very impressive mark. Tall and shapely, with large, heavy lidded eyes, a generous mouth (some wags called her "a cross between Loretta Young and Edmund O'Brien") and a somewhat flat delivery of her lines, "tough broads" were her forte. Her three favorite films were "Hellfire", "The Narrow Margin", and Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing", based on the book "Clean Break" by Lionel White. Ms. Windsor plays Sherry Peatty, the faithless, scheming, no-good wife of milquetoast racetrack cashier George Peatty, played by that champ of [bad] roles, Elisha Cook, Jr. Sherry and her boyfriend Val (a pre-Ben Casey Vince Edwards) get wind of George's participation in an elaborately plotted racetrack robbery, masterminded by Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), and want to get their greedy hands on the stolen loot. This unfortunate triangle is my favorite element of this audacious film. Stanley Kubrick co-scripted this film with Jim Thompson ("The Grifters", "The Killer Inside Me", "After Dark My Sweet"), and his unique narrative structure, copied some 38 years later by the vastly overrated Quentin Tarantino and Tarantino ... Guy Ritchie, is amazing. "The Killing" does resemble Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle", which also starred Mr. Hayden, in its big-heist-gone-awry story, but it pushes the envelope even further, with its gritty, strongly lit photography (you can practically smell the characters!), strong dialogue, and less-than-glamorous looking performers. Strong stuff for 1956! Other players in this film include Jay C. Flippen, Joe Sawyer, Ted de Corsio, Jay Adler, Kola Awariani, pretty Colleen Gray, and Dorothy Adams, who are all perfect in their roles, tho Ms. Gray's part is so slight that she could have "phoned it in". This is the first of my 3 favorite Kubrick films, along with "Lolita" and "Dr. Strangelove", before Mr. K. got on the space shuttle to Planet Weird, tho I did like the misanthropic "A Clockwork Orange". The picture quality and sound on this DVD are excellent, though surprisingly, there are no extra features. If you are a fan of film noir, then this is an absolute must-see film. "The Killing" packs quite a wallop!
Rating:
Summary: Did THE KILLING make a CLEAN BREAK from the Brinks'job?
Review: The movie: THE KILLING (1956) by Stanley Kubrick, was the film which brought the twenty-eight year old director to Hollywood's attention. Based on the 1955 crime novel CLEAN BREAK by Lionel White (and re-named THE KILLING for its 1988 redistribution), director Kubrick incorporated the author's use of the staggered time interval (which began in chapter eight) within this well balanced and tightly paced story of seven disparate characters brought together to orchestrate a logically planned two million dollar robbery of a race track in broad daylight.
A brilliant effort of film making by Stanley Kubrick as he demonstrated an impeccable choice in cast selection, choosing established 'B' movie actors such as: Elisha Cook, Jr. as George Peatty and Jay C. Flippen as Marvin Unger (both actors had appeared in "The Three Stooges" skits more than once); then Sterling Hayden as the main character, Johnny Clay: though one of the beauties of this film is that all of the actors had such memorable performances. The limited acting abilities of these stars only added to the subtle gritty reality of their lumpenprolitariat roles which carried this film as much as any special effect.
While Stanley Kubrick wrote the screenplay and maintained a number of elements from the book, he eliminated Lionel White's character of Maurice Cohen and had Johnny Clay assume those duties; and also replaced the boxer, Tex, with the burly (and hairy) wrestler Maurice Oboukhof for the spectacular bar room fight diversion. In the book, Marvin Unger deeply despised Johnny Clay; but in the movie, Unger demonstrated a fatherly pride and deep paternal admiration for Johnny Clay - the movie is noted for its admirable male commeraderie!
But how much more was Stanley Kubrick influenced for this movie outside of the Lionel White novel was suggested during the actual stick-up scene performed by Sterling Hayden's character, Johnny Clay. In the book, Johnny tied a loose handkerchief around his face as a disguise, but this was changed in the movie to a full rubber clown mask - almost an exact duplicate of the masks published in police photographs used by the bandits in the 1950s Brinks robbery in Boston; a robbery that was then nationally advertised as "The Crime of the Century"! The similarities continued as the Brinks building was robbed of two million dollars by seven armed men in rubber masks and got clean away. This is too strong a resemblance to be ignored, and the well-read Stanley Kubrick may have also been influenced by this event, coupled with the novel CLEAN BREAK, to produce his advanced and visionary robbery debut film.
Still, the movie: THE KILLING by Stanley Kubrick, is a brilliant and typically Kubrickian ahead-of-its-time work of art which is a *must* watching experience in black & white for all its lasting and provocative scenes.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensationalism.
Review: The one great thing this film has going for it is director Stanley Kubrick. I've taken into account that this is a 1956 film about hoods and a heist at the race track involving a crew both directly and indirectly involved. But the sensationalistic music and patented Hollywood ending are enough to put off anyone not familiar with films from the era. Also, the single most annoying thing any director can do is allow his movie to have objective narration. For instance: Sterling Hayden arrives late to the rendezvous point to discover that his crew has been slain. He has all the loot in a duffle bag in the passenger seat. The narration kicks in to explain his next actions to be supported by his crew in a previous meeting that was never shown in the film. He drives off and the narrator says, "Ten minutes later he bought the largest suitcase he could find." Instead of thinking "good idea" I was laughing at the apparent need for an explanation. All they had to show was Sterling Hayden coming out of a Pawn Shop or some such place carrying a large, empty suitcase where he could then dump all the cash to be used as a carry-on parcel at the airport. It seems as if the story was being rushed along too quickly anyway with the too frequent narration filling in plot holes, and the typical-for-the-era rapid-fire dialogue to save on screen time. But I did give the film 3 stars because of some genuine, shocking moments (one in particular was rather bloody), and some solid acting from the male supporting cast. The two main female characters are both stereo-typical for the era: the black widow type with bedroom eyes, and the straight-laced, moralistic school girl with a heart of gold who just happens to love a hoodlum. I do think that this film would be a prime candidate for a facelift as a remake with zero narration, modern dialogue, and a seriously toned down score. Overall, I thought the film was hit-and-miss. There are some good moments, but then the movie looks and sounds its age. Thank you. I hope my review was helpful.
Rating:
Summary: ...and then there was one - Early Kubrick Classic
Review: This Classic Kubrick Crime Drama is one of the top Hollywood Film Noire entries. The usual "toughs" planning the big heist, the one to retire on. Since Classic Hollywood never allowed the bad guys to win, everyone can predict that all will not be well once the end credits roll.All of the elements are here: Little guys who never got an even break, a Delilah-like wife of a simpleton, who won't settle for small-time life, a happily married older guy with a wife in need of expensive medical care, a guy just released from prison, who doesn't ever want to go back, and the rest of the usual suspects. Several scenes are quite moving; several times character's are shown saying their goodbyes to loved ones, as though they don't expect to ever see them again, when they are only supposed to "go to work". Watch for another scene in the final third of the film involving a horse-shoe. It makes a powerful statement of conventions in 1950s America. Very few films have a truly memorable "last line". This is one of them! Of course, I won't give it away, as it requires an elaborate set-up, but you'll agree that it's one of the best last lines ever! As for "The Killing" as a nostalgic Crime Drama and exemplary film noire, I confidently give it 5 stars!*****
Rating:
Summary: ...and then there was one - Early Kubrick Classic
Review: This Classic Kubrick Crime Drama is one of the top Hollywood Film Noire entries. The usual "toughs" planning the big heist, the one to retire on. Since Classic Hollywood never allowed the bad guys to win, everyone can predict that all will not be well once the end credits roll. All of the elements are here: Little guys who never got an even break, a Delilah-like wife of a simpleton, who won't settle for small-time life, a happily married older guy with a wife in need of expensive medical care, a guy just released from prison, who doesn't ever want to go back, and the rest of the usual suspects. Several scenes are quite moving; several times character's are shown saying their goodbyes to loved ones, as though they don't expect to ever see them again, when they are only supposed to "go to work". Watch for another scene in the final third of the film involving a horse-shoe. It makes a powerful statement of conventions in 1950s America. Very few films have a truly memorable "last line". This is one of them! Of course, I won't give it away, as it requires an elaborate set-up, but you'll agree that it's one of the best last lines ever! As for "The Killing" as a nostalgic Crime Drama and exemplary film noire, I confidently give it 5 stars!*****
Rating:
Summary: Killing is Kubrick At His Best
Review: This film is great fun and also is high on the good ol suspense meter.The ending is priceless.Good cast adds to the neatly told plot of race track heist.Superb film is another example of Kubrick at his all-time best.
Rating:
Summary: Fine piece of influential noir...
Review: This film may not be the late master's finest work (in my opinion A Clockwork Orange holds that distinction) yet it is still a noir masterpiece and seemingly influences a lot of modern work. As a Tarintino fan, I was surprised to see a lot of The Killing in Reservoir Dogs and especially Jackie Brown (ie different perspectives of the same scene and Samuel L Jackson's quote regarding the AK-47 "When you absolutely have to kill every last..." well you get the picture). Engrossing to the very end, The Killing is required viewing for any lover of noir or Kubrick...
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