Killer's Kiss (1955)

A once promising boxer (Jamie Smith) at the end of his career finds himself attracted to the blonde taxi dancer (Irene Kane) who lives across the courtyard in his apartment building. But she is being threatened and harassed by her violent boss (Frank Silvera). Shot, edited and directed by Stanley Kubrick in his second feature film. To paraphrase Alfred Hitchcock, it is the work of a talented amateur. Visually, the film is dazzling and Kubrick's B&W cinematography is both creative and atmospheric. But the screenplay is dreadful and the acting amateurish. It doesn't help that the entire film was looped during post production and the actors deliver their lines in that hollow monotone delivery that very often comes with post dubbing. Even the normally reliable Frank Silvera (the only "name" in the cast) comes off poorly. Apparently the film's happy ending (which feels phony) was forced on Kubrick by the film's distributor. But even its shoestring budget can't hide that young Kubrick was someone to watch and he fulfilled that promise with his next film, THE KILLING. With Jerry Jarrett and Felice Orlandi.