Written by Kenn Sava
As a supplement to my look at the recent show, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs at the Museum of the City of New York, here are a few screenshots from the first part of Stanley Kubrick’s second feature Film, Killer’s Kiss, 1955, that remind me of some of his Look Magazine Photographs I showed in the piece. Killer’s Kiss is a film noir that revolves around a boxer, a taxi dancer and her boss, and runs 67 minutes.
Killer’s Kiss Title. Shot in the now lost Penn Station, who’s destruction eight years later in 1963, was one of the greatest cultural tragedies in NYC history.
Notice the word “Photographed.” He also wrote the story. As he said in interviews, he “did everything” in his Films at this time to save money, perhaps symbolized by the gent on the right sweeping up.
Boxer Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) studies his face. It’s hard to look at this and not see the portraits of Show Girl Rosemary Williams applying lipstick at her mirror in 1947, posted in my piece. I think we can imagine from that shot just where SK is standing to shoot this.
Davey feeds his fish. This shot is an interesting “counterpoint” to the “What People Look Like to Monkeys” shots.
Stanley Kubrick extends the metaphor from the fishbowl to the “fishbowl-like” world New Yorkers live in, as Davey looks across the way at his neighbor Gloria. We cut to Gloria who spends 16 seconds looking back after Davey has turned away.
Heading off to the fight, Davey takes the subway, conveniently allowing SK to reprise his Look subway shots. Ahhh…subways with ceiling fans.
Gloria is a taxi dancer, at work she allows SK to use his experience shooting couples dancing in nightclubs, seen in a few Look assignments.
Meanwhile, Davey gets knocked out and loses, allowing SK to shot him as he did Willie Beltram earlier for Look.
All of this takes place in the first 16 minutes of the Film! I stopped here to give you a chance to see the Film for yourself and see what you find. And then? There’s this-
The original poster. Wait one second! Where else have I seen an AXE in a Stanley Kubrick Film? In front of the color “Red” no less…
Killer’s Kiss
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Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited.
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