Fear And Desire (1953)

Set in an unnamed country during an unnamed war, four soldiers (Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, Kenneth Harp, Steve Coit) find themselves behind enemy lines after their plane has crashed. Lost in a forest, they build a raft to take them down the river and wait till nightfall. Shot, edited, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick in his feature film debut. While clearly the work of a talented film maker, the film is pretentious, amateurish and badly acted. Of the actors, Virginia Leith as the only female in the cast comes off best but that's probably because her role is silent and she's not required to deliver Howard Sackler's (who would go on to write THE GREAT WHITE HOPE) awful dialogue. On the plus side, Kubrick's stark B&W cinematography is stunning and Gerald Fried's underscore gives the film a professional sheen. Of interest to see a major film maker at the very beginning of his career but only the most diehard Kubrick fanboy would call it a great or even good film. Everything would fall into place for Kubrick three years later and THE KILLING (1956).