Noir November: The Killing (1956)

An early film in the career of one Mr. Stanley Kubrick, The Killing may be a relatively low-budget, low-key movie compared to some of his later works, but it's no less enjoyable for it. Based on a novel ("Clean Break") by Lionel White, this is a tense, unhurried look at a group of criminals planning a major heist.

The main players are: Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), the man with the plan, a corrupt cop named Randy Kennan (Ted De Corsia), a teller who works at the racecourse they're planning to rob (Elisha Cook Jr), a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey), and a couple of other guys who will help to distract people while the robbery occurs. Everything is planned out precisely, and onscreen details, as well as narration, help viewers to keep track of just how all of the pieces fall into place. But no plan is foolproof, is it?

Kubrick may be working on a smaller scale here, compared to his more famous works, but he shows the same attention to detail and clinical approach to the material that cinema fans would respond so well to. The script, with dialogue by Jim Thompson, nicely balances things out between the specifics of the job and the drama derived from the fluctuating dynamic of the group.

Performances are pretty great across the board, especially for a film that many would consider as nothing more than a b-movie (I guess). Hayden, Corsia, Carey and the others all do well, but I have to admit that Cook Jr. is someone I have always loved seeing onscreen, and his role here is a great one. Coleen Gray and Marie Windsor also do well, being the two main women in a film that focuses very much on the men. The fact that two make such a memorable impression, for very different reasons, is further testament to the script and their performances.

I'm not sure how audiences would have reacted to the content back in 1956, when this was first released, but it seems to have enough darker elements in there to make some people uncomfortable. There are some moments of violence, as expected from a film about an armed robbery, a healthy dollop of cynicism coating everything, and at least one outburst that uses a racial slur to shocking, though also brilliant, effect.

With it being so slight, however, it's hard to push this forward as an essential noir viewing. Yet it's easy to see how influential it has been, at least on certain people (Tarantino, I'm looking at you). It's also simply an excellent little movie that doesn't outstay its welcome. Give it a watch soon, if you've not seen it already.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B005152C78/ref=sr_1_10?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415885702&sr=1-10&keywords=the+killing

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Dance With Me, Henry (1956)

It's a real shame to watch this Abbott & Costello movie and realise that it would be their last appearance together in a cinematic feature. The fact that it's their last movie is sad enough for fans but the fact that it's so poor, arguably one of their very weakest movies, makes it even harder to watch. The boys should have gone out with a bang but they instead deliver a damp squib, overflowing with horrible emotional manipulation and lacking enough great gags.

It's equally disappointing to see that the film is directed by Charles Barton (a man responsible for one of the best of the A & C films, when they got to meet Frankenstein). If everyone involved had just tried a bit harder then they may have been able to wring some more laughs out of the screenplay, by Devery Freeman, but most aspects of the film just seem a bit tired.

The heart of the story sees our comedy duo getting in some hot water with some gangster types. Bud is really the one causing the problems this time around while Lou does his best to run a fairground and look after the children in his care (children that may be taken away from him if he is deemed unfit for the role). It seems like only a matter of time until everything falls apart and lives are seriously endangered.

I won't say that this film is completely awful from start to finish. There are a few highlights here and there (Lou being interviewed by the police is one particularly enjoyable sequence) and the film isn't unwatchable, especially if you're a fan of the stars.

Sadly, nothing really rises above average though. A lot of the gags barely raise a smile, the farcical elements unfold in a pretty clumsy manner and the supporting cast - including Gigi Perreau, Rusty Hamer, Mary Wickes, Ted de Corsia, Ron Hargrave, Frank Wilcox and others - fail to add anything worthwhile, though Mary Wickes almost manages to steal the show despite her limited screentime.

Of course, you should watch this if you're trying to view the entire A & C filmography and if you're a fan of the two leads but everyone else can easily give this a miss.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Me-Henry-Region-Import/dp/B0012XU7NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344331876&sr=8-1