A solid noirish caper movie, this film is constantly given just a bit more credit than it warrants. This is probably due to its director, whose unimpeachable reputation among college students was fomented by strikingly photographed psychedelic juvenelia like 2001 and A Clockwork Orange. Told in an occasionally clumsy non linear manner, the Killing is considered groundbreaking and daring by anyone who's never seen Jules Dassin's Rififi (it's in French, which would explain it.)
Still, it has a lot going for it. Kubrick is a noir true beleiver, and has quite an eye for unsettling detail. Sterling Hayden was one of the 1950s most underrated actors (check him out two years earlier in Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar), and his performance here is quite effective. The film's pacing is a bit odd, and it's obvious that Kubrick was still learning to direct.
Ultimately, it's a reasonably inventive genre picture, no masterpeice of the genre like Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" would be two years later. Kubrick made better films in the years to come, not the least of which was his next one, Paths of Glory. But he also did a lot worse. A good rental for Kubrick fans and film noir aficionados.
Still, it has a lot going for it. Kubrick is a noir true beleiver, and has quite an eye for unsettling detail. Sterling Hayden was one of the 1950s most underrated actors (check him out two years earlier in Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar), and his performance here is quite effective. The film's pacing is a bit odd, and it's obvious that Kubrick was still learning to direct.
Ultimately, it's a reasonably inventive genre picture, no masterpeice of the genre like Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" would be two years later. Kubrick made better films in the years to come, not the least of which was his next one, Paths of Glory. But he also did a lot worse. A good rental for Kubrick fans and film noir aficionados.