Noir November: The Killing
Written by Cameron Geiser
Every day for the month of November, Cameron Geiser is reviewing a noir film (classic or neo) for Noir November. Today covers Stanley Kubrick’s answer to the movement, The Killing.
The Killing is a Noir heist movie that follows a gang of criminals poised to rob a racetrack during a high-stakes horse race with a large sum of cash in play. Stanley Kubrick has always been a fascinating film director, but I haven’t always loved his films. Thus, I take every chance I can get when it comes to finding more of his work so I can form a more complete picture of the man’s filmography. The Killing took me longer to discover over the director’s many other high profile films. However, a Noir heist film directed by the same man that gave us The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, and Full Metal Jacket was enough for me to take the dive. Perhaps the film was easy to miss because it was only Kubrick’s third full length film release, but he considered this one to be his first mature feature.
The main force propelling the plot along is Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), the architect of the heist and the only one that knows all of the moving parts of the plan. Johnny gathered this gang of desperate and foolish rogues through well researched intel and earned trust. George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Mike O’Reilly (Joe Sawyer) work at the track as a teller and bartender respectively. Both are in need of funds for their women at home, though each for vastly different reasons. Maurice Oboukhoff (Kola Kwariani) and Nikki Arcane (Timothy Carey), a chess playing strongman and a farmer who’s a crack shot with a rifle, are the two major diversions designed to create chaos and panic during the heist as Johnny palms the bills in the back during all of the confusion. There’s also Leo the loan shark (Jay Adler) and the poor schmuck of a cop Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia) that got in deep debt due to Leo’s high interest rates. Together, these criminals attempted to forge a fool-proof heist in the hopes of netting a cool two million dollars for their troubles.
Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray in The Killing.
The film has a methodical nature to its layout, the audience simply isn’t involved in all of the details until the heist is in play. The writing, editing, and narration all work together in executing the most tension within each scene as the film glides through its runtime. We meet the cast of characters well before knowing their exact roles in the heist, figuring out how all of the pieces fall into place was half of the fun of the film anyways. Johnny’s entire plan is based on the exact schedule of events and the knowledge that each member is executing their role at the planned time, without flaw. Thus once we get near the event we backtrack to various members and their roles as they execute them. The film was far more suspenseful than expected with this technique, it keeps you guessing as to where or when the gang will foul up their plan, because once we meet enough of the players and get a peek into a select few’s personal lives- it becomes clear that the plan will fail at some point.
Similarly to The Asphalt Jungle, these criminals are a cast of colorful characters that serve their purpose within the architecture of the heist itself. However, The Asphalt Jungle digs deeper for its character work. While the machinations of the plot are well structured and analytical, the film lacks a more human element that was baked into John Huston’s heist film whereas the players involved here are a little colder, a bit more outwardly desperate, and less relatable in the end for it. It doesn’t mean the film isn’t entertaining or any less of a Noir- it just doesn’t quite carry the same narrative weight. I won’t spoil the fun for you by ruining the unraveling of it all, but I will give it a hearty recommendation. If you’re looking for a fun Noir heist flick, give this one a shot! It’s only about an hour and twenty minutes, and an excellent way to kill the moody blues of a rainy afternoon.
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.