Killer’s Kiss

In Kubrick’s first film noir, he weds the moody urban milieu of his debut documentary Day of the Fight with the narrative experimentation that he would explore further in his subsequent crime thriller, The Killing. Fading boxer Jamie Smith falls for the girl next door, or in this case, the girl on the other side of his flophouse courtyard: Irene Kane, a taxi dancer who works for lecherous Frank Silvera at Pleasureland, a midtown dive. With his hired guns in tow, Silvera pursues Smith through the sordid underbelly of New York. Shot on location throughout the Big Apple, Killer’s Kiss prominently features the old Penn Station, Times Square, and a chase across the vast rooftops that overlook the industrial expanse now known as DUMBO. Disowning his debut feature Fear and Desire and blocking it from ever being screened after its original release in 1953, Kubrick preferred to have his fiction filmography begin here.

Bing Theater | $10 for the general public; $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID; $5 LACMA Film Club members | Price includes both films on the double bill | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online