Killer's Kiss

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Killer's Kiss

1955

1h 7m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith), a New York City boxer aging out of his profession, meets dancer Gloria Price (Irene Kane), and they begin a romance. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera), who has eyes for his employee. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Jun 29, 2022

Ultimately, Stanley Kubrick is less interested in offering a fresh dimension to a familiar story than in using its narrative scaffolding as an occasion for often thrilling aesthetic play.

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Gavin Lambert

Sight & Sound

Mar 30, 2020

The young writer-director-photographer-editor of this un-promisingly titled film has a good deal of talent.

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Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Oct 3, 2007

3/5

Kubrick's second feature shows his promise as a powerful and iconic director in motifs and style.

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Matthew Rozsa

Democracy at Work (Substack)

Nov 6, 2025

3.5/4

The genius of “Killer’s Kiss,” which ranks as a great movie despite Kubrick dismissing it as “frivolous,” is that it shows how the REAL New York City is in fact a “sinister nightmare world” where widespread poverty causes “imprisonment of body or soul."

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Aug 30, 2022

C

Stanley Kubrick didn’t much care for his second feature, and one can’t blame him. It’s a bit of hard-boiled juvenilia (he was 27 when it was released) with corny, ludicrous narration.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jul 11, 2022

2.5/4

Kubrick considered this an inferior effort, and he was mostly right.

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David K

@RT61474040 1 day ago

I don't buy into the script as much but the design of the film, the photography, the mood are all exceptional. An homage to NYC in the 50's.

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mark g

@Mark_Alan_G. Dec 24, 2025

The cinematography is there, beautifully shot. The problem involves the audio, as the film was dubbed. This gives a very poor impression of the film, comes off as low budget and cringe. Truth is that it was low budget, but there are little indicators that you are seeing a filmmaker on the precipice of something bigger.

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Tom F

@RT55173143 Apr 12, 2025

A big improvement over Kubrick’s earlier film, cramming a lot into 58 minutes.

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Yash B

@yashbansal Apr 4, 2025

Stanley Kubrick left film lovers a truly unique filmography full of timeless classics that pushed the boundaries of their time. The last film I had left to see was one of his earliest, "Killer's Kiss." This movie is one of his shortest films but also my least favorite. I don't think a bad movie defines any filmmaker, and this movie has some merits in terms of how it was shot and put together. However, I just found it boring and not interesting and even just watching it for an hour felt a bit like a slog. Overall, it is a film that is worth seeing for Kubrick completionists, but I don't think there is enough for me to consider it a good film, but I am admittedly sad I have now seen all of Kubrick's films, but am excited to revisit some of the better ones down the line.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Oct 27, 2024

filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, mas o final salva o filme com duelo 1 contra 1, um cara tava de machado e outro tinha um pedaço de ferro, o cara que estava com o pedaço de ferro matou o outro cara, no final do filme, tem o beijo do assassino respondendo o nome do filme killer kiss.

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Mason M

@RT73597940 Sep 8, 2024

Definitely not Kubrick's best work but a big step up from his previous film Fear and Desire, and shows how good of a noir director he would be with his next film, The Killing. The plot is nothing special but it remains an enjoyable watch due to it's stunning photography.

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Stanley Kubrick

Director

Frank Silvera

Vincent Rapallo

Jamie Smith

Davy Gordon

Irene Kane

Gloria Price

Jerry Jarrett

Albert

Mike Dana

Gangster

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Synopsis

Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith), a New York City boxer aging out of his profession, meets dancer Gloria Price (Irene Kane), and they begin a romance. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera), who has eyes for his employee. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Morris Bousel, Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick
Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., MGM Distributing Corporation, Cinemagia, United Artists
Production Co: United Artists, Minotaur Productions
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 5, 1955, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 15, 2016
Runtime: 1h 7m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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