The Killing (1956, USA, Stanley Kubrick)






Ben sed:

So this is the reason we went to Pic-a-Flic in the first place. Jacob was curious to see this early Kubrick. Have you seen it? In case not, allow me to label it a Noir from 1956, which is interesting in itself because that genre was by then just about done. In retrospect, this can be seen in The Killing which adheres to Noir conventions only in part. Certainly the whole criminal rough-and-tumble of Noir is happening, as is the wise-cracking dialogue and the b&w use of shadows and such that give the genre its name. On the other hand, the formalism of the narrative and the tone of the third person voice-over give the film a feeling of realist detachment that will become much more standard in the decades to come, eventually infusing television police procedurals as well. Indeed, at times The Killing smacks of a certain corny style that is exemplified by the likes of Jack Webb and Quinn Martin. At the time, however, The Killing would have been hardcore stuff. There are no romantic flourishes. In short, it's already Kubrick. Everything is laid out with ruthless storyboarding logic and this gives the film a sort of passionless power. Or to get at it another way, there's a fair bit of humor in The Killing but its black to be sure and mostly funny for chess players, for lack of a better way to put it. As I know Sterling Hayden only from Strangelove and Godfather - Jesus, who needs more on a resume? - I enjoyed seeing him at an earlier stage in his career in a leading role; you know, like seeing Fred MacMurry in Double Indemnity or something.

And Dan:

I have seen it--I own the damn thing--and I really dig it. As you say, real Kubrick. Funny, hard-nosed, smart. I really liked the way he edited some of the sequences too, though I can't remember exactly which ones since it has been awhile. Noir it most definitely is, though the crime caper element means it could also be considered a hybrid of sorts. It is influenced by some of the French films of the period by Melville and Dassin, I think, which is intersting cuz they were clearly riffing on the American films in the same genre, but adding their distinctly Euro-decadence to the mix. So, like Ford influencing Kurosawa who then influences Leone, we have a cinematic cultural phenom.


And Hayden's really cool.  He has a fascinating personal history, being a war hero who ran was an undercover agent who ran guns to Yugoslav partisas to fight the fascists in Croatia. Won a Silver Star for his heroism, and had a deep admiration for the communist partisans, briefly holding a membershp in the party. However, he ended up ended up co-operating with the HUAC, and  even hough the people he fingered were apparently all already known to the committee, Hayden admits in his autobiography that he hated himself for naming names.

His transformation from matinee idol to character actor began once he returned from the war, and by the time he made The Killing, his screen persona as a very tough dude was well established due to numerous appearances in both films noir and westerns like Johnny Guitar and Asphalt Jungle. His most famous work was to come, of course, in Godfather, but more significantly, as the deranged villain Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove.

As for The Killing as an example of the auteur in pupae state, as you note, there is plenty of classic Kubrick on display in this early effort. Yes, he makes use of many of the conventions of the caper and noir flick, including voice over narration, nail tough criminals, and a bitterly ironic ending, but the film is infused with some nice Kubrickian flourishes, including an attention to detail, a challenging and sometimes non-linear narrative and the cool detachment of the camera work, that keep the audience just far enough outside of the characters that we are confronted by our own sense of inevitable anomie when the final twist arrives.

Then Ben:

I should have figured you had seen it, what with Kubrick being the auteur who stole your cherry.


If I had to pick one term to decribe the emotional characteristic of Noir I would pick "cold sweat." So Kubrick should be a natural for the genre. And he is - almost. It's the same as always with him. In The Killing he's all over the "cold" part but the "sweat" part isn't all there. It's a lustless business.
 
And Dan:
 
If ever an American belonged in Britain, it's he. Isn't their national motto "No Sex Please, We're British"?
 
Then Ben:
 

No Sex Please, We're British is a British comedic play written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott and first staged in London's West End in 1971. It was unanimously panned by critics, but still ran for nearly a decade to packed audiences. It did not share the same success with American audiences, running for only 16 performances on Broadway in early 1973.


Turns out the Yanks need their dicks yanked. And Noir is as American as apple pie.
 
And Dan:
 
Yeah, but it took the French to point it out to them. That's gotta gnaw at 'em.
 
 

Here's the trailer for The Killing: