Killing, The (1956) Rank 3 Reviews

Appreciating Great Trash

A taut and efficient little thriller, The Killer is notable primarily for Stanley Kubrick's impeccable direction; no-one else can touch him in terms of visual composition, although at this point he'd yet to have either the experience or the ...read the complete Killing movie review at Appreciating Great Trash

Film Court (Lawrence Russell)

The narrator in this one sounds like a spokesman for God -- the deep theatrical tones of the righteous describing death by human greed and stupidity. It's the voice of propaganda, the institutional warning to the children of the State that crime does not ...read the complete Killing movie review at Film Court (Lawrence Russell)

Jerry Saravia

Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is the leader of this heist, a witless though direct and thorough professional thief and excon. He is ready to rob San Francisco's Bay Meadows Race Track of a cool two million dollars. This prodigious amount of money is to ...read the complete Killing movie review at Jerry Saravia

Cinopsis

Johnny Clay a un plan: pour se refaire aprÃ¨s 5 annÃ©es de prison, il organise le hold-up dâ��un bureau de courses hippiques. Le butin est estimÃ© Ã 2 millions de dollars. GrÃ¢ce Ã son ami Marvin Unger et trois complices recrutÃ©s sur le lieu mÃªme du ...read the complete Killing movie review at Cinopsis

Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)

Stanley Kubrick's masterful manipulation of chronology brings an excruciating sense of doom to The Killing , a classical noir about a carefully threaded heist unraveled by the scheming of a fiendish femme. ...read the complete Killing movie review at Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)

Netflix (James Rocchi)

...read the complete Killing movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)

New York Times (A.H. Weiler)

An engrossing little adventure. ...read the complete Killing movie review at New York Times (A.H. Weiler)

The Digital Bits

If you're a Kubrick fan, and you haven't seen The Killing -- well, shame on you. Double shame. In my humble opinion, The Killing is one of Kubrick's three best films. Of course, Kubrick's oeuvre was so diverse, that it's easy to argue with me. So, to ...read the complete Killing movie review at The Digital Bits

Classic Film Guide

This excellent early film by director Stanley Kubrick is a thrilling crime drama. Kubrick also wrote the screenplay, adapting a Lionel White novel (with additional dialogue from Jim Thompson). A team of specialists, led by Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, ...read the complete Killing movie review at Classic Film Guide

Movieline Magazine

Stanley Kubrick considers The Killing to be the first real film of his career, and small wonder. The story traces the cursed destinies of a band of first-time outlaws--a henpecked clerk, a racetrack bartender, a crooked cop, and a small investor--all ...read the complete Killing movie review at Movieline Magazine

FILMtabs

Nach seinem letzten "Eyes wide shut" und seinem allerletzten Projekt "A.I." kommt nun ein ganz frÃ¼her Film des im Jahr 2000 verstorbenen Regie-Genies Stanley Kubrick wieder ins Kino. "The Killing" entstand 1956 und war der zweite Spielfilm des ...read the complete Killing movie review at FILMtabs

Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide (Joe Bob Briggs)

Cheapie thriller by Stanley Kubrick that was considered over-the-top in its quota of gunplay and violence. Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards. ...read the complete Killing movie review at Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide (Joe Bob Briggs)

DVD Times

Essentially, The Killing is a simple crime drama of the most traditional story convention; a robbery attempt that doesn't go to plan, even despite the most meticulous detail and planning invested in the crime. The scene of the crime will be a racetrack, ...read the complete Killing movie review at DVD Times

DVD MovieGuide

While in many ways The Killing seems to be one of Stanley Kubrick's more conventional pictures, Big K did offer one unusual technique: a lack of linear chronology that features many scenes repeated from the points of view of different characters. While ...read the complete Killing movie review at DVD MovieGuide

Film Noir of the Week review

My original NOTW plan for this week was to lift the curtain on a Sterling Hayden heist double feature, coupling The Killing with The Asphalt Jungle, but I decided that it would be a bit hoggy to grab two certified classics in one swoop. Hence, Iâ��m ...read the complete Killing movie review at Film Noir of the Week review

Critical Culture (Pacze Moj)

Stanley Kubrick's brilliantly made film noir isn't an hour and a half long, and even repeats the same shot three times, but finds room for about a dozen interesting characters and a clear, intricate plot. There's also plenty of suspense, a jazzy score, ...read the complete Killing movie review at Critical Culture (Pacze Moj)

Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)

Up until this evening, I have to admit that I have never seen Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing." I know. Shame on me. What kind of critic am I if I allowed this film to slip by? I wasn't even born when "The Killing" was released in 1956, but that is no ...read the complete Killing movie review at Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)

Time Out

Characteristically Kubrick in both its mechanistic coldness and its vision of human endeavour undone by greed and deceit, this noir-ish heist movie is nevertheless far more satisfying than most of his later work, due both to a lack of bombastic ...read the complete Killing movie review at Time Out

DVDBeaver

Stanley Kubrick's heist drama "The Killing" is one of the finest noir films of the 1950's, a film so deliberately wire-tight that it will leave exhausted and exhilarated. Its one of the most tense thrillers of all time, and likely to leave you gasping ...read the complete Killing movie review at DVDBeaver

The Full Moyer

Stanley Kubrick's first hit film, The Killing, is a superior heist movie filled with all of what are now the standard elements. What sets it apart is Kubrick's inventive time-rearranging storytelling and excellent visual sense, along with some twists and ...read the complete Killing movie review at The Full Moyer

Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith H. Brown)

Ex-con Johnny Clay (genre mainstay Sterling Hayden) plans one last job before going straight. He is going to steal the takings from the local racetrack. Clay assembles his gang, including hen-pecked track cashier George Peatty (the wonderfully weaselly ...read the complete Killing movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith H. Brown)

BigSofa

Please, don't make me watch this again. I stopped taking notes after five minutes because what I was seeing was so unKubrickian that any commentary I'd have would refer by default to the Film-Noir primer that Kubrick must have kept at his elbow ...read the complete Killing movie review at BigSofa

Box Office Prophets

I recently had the fortunate opportunity to view two of Stanley Kubrick's earliest directorial offerings on the big screen. The Killing was released in 1956 and was adapted by Kubrick from Lionel White's novel, Clean Break. Paths of Glory, which was ...read the complete Killing movie review at Box Office Prophets

Austin Chronicle (Mike Emery)

This early effort from the late Stanley Kubrick is a caper film about a racetrack heist in which each member of the heist team has a specific role to play, and all the roles have to be executed in exact synchronization with each other for the operation ...read the complete Killing movie review at Austin Chronicle (Mike Emery)

The Spinning Image (Daniel Auty)

Stanley Kubrick's seminal heist movie still grips, even if much of the material feels familiar nearly 50 years later. Most famously, its shifting timeframe had a big effect on Quentin Tarantino, but there are plenty of other modern thrillers â�� think ...read the complete Killing movie review at The Spinning Image (Daniel Auty)

DVDRAMA

Bon pressage dans sa globalitÃ© malgrÃ© de petites Ã©raflures sur la pellicule et des dÃ©tails beaucoup plus approfondis sur Paths of glory ; Les noirs sont profonds et le contraste de toute beautÃ©. ...read the complete Killing movie review at DVDRAMA

Film e Dvd

Johnny Clay, appena uscito di prigione, riunisce una gang per compiere una rapina in un ippodromo. Il piano Ã¨ apparentemente perfetto, ma Johnny non ha fatto i conti con lâ��avida moglie di uno dei membri del gruppo, che rivela il piano al suo ...read the complete Killing movie review at Film e Dvd

Critic Reviews

Killing, The (1956) Rank 3 Reviews

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