Boxer Davey Gordon stands up for dancer Gloria Preece when she is attacked by her employer and lover Vincent Rapallo. This event brings them closer together and they become inseparable from each other, thereby causing Rapallo’s resentment. He hires men to kill Davey. But by mistake they don’t kill Davey, but his buddy. Trying to avoid Rapallo’s revenge, Gordon and Gloria decide to flee the city…

4k movies reviews
As I’ve written in previous reviews of Stanley Kubrick’s films, his life in the 50s was not very good. In a financial sense. He played chess for money, he made short documentaries, but there wasn’t enough money to make a feature film. But, around 1953, Stanley Kubrick’s father gave up his insurance to help his son make his first movie. That film was called ‘Fear and Lust’, Kubrick later the film from distribution and would make that film not be shown on television, but still ‘Fear and Lust’ was a success with audiences who saw the film in the theater. Because of this, producers gave Stanley Kubrick money for his next feature film. ‘Killer’s Kiss’ from 1955.

When I watched this film, I immediately remembered Kubrick’s first work, ‘The Day of the Scramble.’ And that’s no surprise. In both that film and this one, the main character is a boxer. But that’s all that connects the two films in terms of plot. After all, ‘Fight Day’ is a documentary short that starred real-life boxer Walter Cartier. That film shows the day before this boxer’s fight and, in fact, the fight itself. This film tells the viewer a very different story. And yet there is something else that connects these films. And that is the boxing match. It’s even filmed in the same way in these two films. Same angles. That’s great!

Well, now more about the plot. The plot of the movie is very simple, not banal, but very simple. Especially for a film noir. A boxer defends a girl from her employer, who has been molesting her. This boxer, his name is Davey Gordon, falls in love with this girl, but it’s not that simple. After all, this employer doesn’t want to let her go. Pretty simple, isn’t it? Simple, but the movie is interesting to watch. In general, I think the main disadvantage of this movie is its timing. It is only one hour and five minutes. And in such a short time, the characters don’t have time to reveal themselves. The film goes by too quickly. I think that if this film had gone at least an hour and a half, it would have been a very good noir. After all, the film is masterfully made.

Stanley Kubrick is both the director, cameraman, and producer of this film. The film is also based on his idea. All in all, the film is almost entirely Kubrick’s work. His work on this film is great and magnificent. The film is shot from very interesting angles. For example, the same fight I mentioned above. It’s a very interesting scene. But that’s not all this film can boast of technically. Aside from that, there were a few other scenes that stood out to me. Gordon’s dream was very interestingly filmed. The camera is pointed forward and moves between tall buildings on the street. Moreover, this scene was filmed on negative film. I also remember the scene when the main character was talking about her sister, who is engaged in ballet dancing, while the screen shows her sister dancing. I also remember the scene when the main character was running away from his pursuers. Very beautiful shots on the roof. And, of course, it is impossible not to mention the idea with the mannequins at the end of the movie. In addition to that, there is a very good game with light in ‘The Killer’s Kiss’. For example, the same dance of the ballerina on the stage. Also the episode when Vincent Rapallo’s employer turns off the lights and the only light in the room is the light from the TV screen, and at that moment he smokes a cigar. Great shots! On the one hand, you may think these are ordinary scenes. But I was really impressed with all of them.

The actors weren’t bad. Or rather, well. I loved how Jamie Smith playing Gordon and Irene Kane playing Gloria and Frank Silvera playing the part of Vincent’s employer played their parts. This is the first time I have seen these actors in this film, except for Silver, he played in Stanley Kubrick’s previous feature work ‘Fear and Lust’.

This film may not appeal to many people. Like the documentary shorts and Kubrick’s first feature film, this one is of interest only to fans of old movies and fans of Stanley Kubrick’s work. ‘Killer’s Kiss’ elevated Kubrick to a new level. This film attracted the attention of producer James Harris, they would later have three films together.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (81.3 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles
English SDH.