The Killing (1956)

The film noir/heist movie The Killing was Stanley Kubrick’s third feature film. That’s if you count Fear and Desire (1953). Kubrick didn’t. He didn’t want it ever to be seen again. So Kubrick would have regarded The Killing as his second real feature, following Killer’s Kiss (1955).

The Killing was based on Lionel White’s excellent noir novel Clean Break which I’ve reviewed elsewhere.

The Killing has been hailed for its innovative approach to narrative but in fact most of the innovations were already present in the novel.

For The Killing Kubrick had an extremely strong cast. Not huge stars, but very fine people perfectly cast.

This is a complex and intricate heist story. Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) has been serving five years in prison. Now he’s out and he plans to rob the racetrack. It can’t be done. There’s just too much security. But Johnny thinks he’s found a fool-proof way to do it. And it really is a very clever plan. There’s just one minor weakness. The plan is fiendishly complicated and relies on split-second timing. One small unexpected event could throw the plan into chaos. There’s a reason Johnny was in prison. He’s clever, but not quite as clever as he thinks he is.

Johnny has decided that it’s a mistake to use professional criminals on a job like this. They’re too easy for the police to trace. He’s using amateurs, and he can rely on them because they all want money really really bad. And this robbery could net them two million dollars. Two million dollars in 1956 was an almost inconceivably huge amount of money. Enough to finance a life of ease and luxury for everyone involved.

Cop Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia) is a key player. He’s not a crooked cop but he’s a gambler and he’s heavily in debt. Marvin Unger (Jay C. Flippen) will provide the money needed to set things up. Bartender Mike O’Reilly (Joe Sawyer) will be needed for one crucial moment during the robbery, as will racetrack cashier George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.).

George needs the money because without money his wife Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) will leave him. Sherry is no good but George is crazy about her. He just can’t think straight where Sherry is concerned.

The robbery itself is presented to us from the viewpoint of various characters, with the narrative constantly jumping back and forth in both place and time. That’s more or less how the novel is structured but doing this in a movie in 1956 was very very daring indeed, and the way Kubrick does it seems more radical than the way it’s done in the book.

It’s this unconventional narrative that makes The Killing such an important and striking movie. This was Kubrick, still inexperienced and still in his twenties, serving notice that he was going to start breaking cinematic rules in a big way. In The Killing he manages to break the rules whilst still giving us an exciting heist movie that is perfectly coherent and easy to follow. Kubrick trusted his audience to pick up on what he was doing.

Sterling Hayden and Elisha Cook Jr. give what are close to career-best performances. Hayden is very low-key because that’s the kind of guy Johnny is. He’s the kind of criminal who just loves sitting and planning crimes. Johnny should have become a crime writer instead of a criminal. The problem with real crimes is that you have to put them into execution and that’s when your ingenious plans start to go wrong. Johnny never loses his cool. Elisha Cook Jr. is all nervous energy and anxiety and thwarted love. He’s a loser but we feel sorry for him.

Jay C. Flippen is always worth watching. Marie Windsor gives us a memorable femme fatale in Sherry. She’s a schemer and a tramp and she knows it but she still manages to justify it to herself. Vincent Edwards is good as Val. I can’t tell you what part he plays in the story without revealing spoilers.

The heist itself is filmed in an intricate and methodical way as the pieces slowly slot together. We can see lots of things that might go wrong but we don’t know exactly which of those things will go awry.

Kubrick sticks very closely to White’s novel, except for the ending. I don’t think the ending was changed due to censorship problems or even studio interference. I just think Kubrick thought his ending was a bit more cinematic. The endings of both book and movie work extremely well.

Now we have to confront one of the most controversial questions in movie history - the aspect ratios of Kubrick’s movies. It’s a fiendishly complicated subject and people get very heated about it. As far as I can make out Kubrick not only shot but composed most (but not all) his movies in the 1.37:1 ratio, the old “Academy” ratio. When shown in theatres they were usually cropped to make them appear to be in widescreen ratios. Kubrick had no control over this. When it came time to release his films on DVD Kubrick made it very clear that he wanted them to be seen in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio because that was the closest to his original intentions when he made the movies. Kubrick’s wishes were respected.

When his movies started to be released on Blu-Ray his wishes were ignored and most of his movies were cropped to make them fit widescreen aspect ratios.

The Killing seems to have been shot and composed in 1.37:1. The original DVD releases were in this format. When Criterion released the movie on Blu-Ray they ignored Kubrick’s wishes and cropped it to make it compatible with the 16:9 format. So if you buy the Criterion Blu-Ray you’re not seeing the movie the way Kubrick wanted it seen, you’re seeing it the way the folks at Criterion have decided you’re going to see it. It was presumably a commercial decision - modern audiences prefer the widescreen formats. But that’s not what Kubrick wanted and since he was the director I assume he was in the best position to judge how his movies should be presented. Watching The Killing in 1.37:1 I have to say that it looks right.

But as I said it’s a controversial topic and no-one can claim to have a definitive answer.

The Killing has plenty of film noir credentials. The various members of the gang are mostly vaguely sympathetic, but they’re losers. They’re motivated not just by greed but by wishful thinking, which to me seems very noir. They really think they’re going to get away with it, because if they don’t they’ll have to accept being losers for the rest of their lives.

A brilliant movie by a director who was already confident enough to go his own way, and skilful enough to get away with it. Very highly recommended.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

The Lavender Hill Mob, made in 1951, is one of the legendary Ealing comedies starring Alec Guinness. It’s also notable as an early example of the caper movie.

Alec Guinness is Holland, a mild-mannered bank employee whose job is to supervise the shipment of gold bullion from the refinery to the bank. Holland has always nursed the dream of stealing the gold but his problem is that safely disposing of stolen bullion in England would be virtually impossible. His problem is solved when Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) movies into the same private hotel. Pendlebury manufactures souvenirs. Souvenirs cast from lead. It occurs to Holland that someone who has the means of casting lead could just as easily cast gold. His plan starts to take shape. The stolen bullion will be melted down and cast into souvenir Eiffel Tower models which Pendlebury’s form ships to Paris. This is how they will get the gold out of England.

Of course these two can’t carry out the robbery on their own. They devise an ingenious plan to recruit some professional thieves and the Lavender Hill Mob comes into being when they find burglars Lackery (Sid James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass).

While the heist itself is entertaining the real fun begins after the robbery when a series of comic misadventures befall the gang and they find themselves desperately trying to retrieve gold Eiffel Towers which have been sold by mistake to a party of English schoolgirls.

The fun really is non-stop. There are some truly inspired moments, the scenes on the Eiffel Tower (the real Eiffel Tower) being a highlight.

The gang members are just about the most likeable film crooks you’ll ever encounter. You desperately want them to get away with the robbery. They’re not exactly bumbling thieves. Their plan is a good one and they carry it out skillfully. They just have an awful lot of terribly bad luck in ways they could not possibly have anticipated. The fact that they’re not complete idiots and that they’re really quite resourceful makes the humour less obvious and more effective, and it makes the audience even more sympathetic. After all they go through surely they deserve to end up with the million pounds!

I’ve never been much of an Alec Guinness fan but he really is splendid in this one. All four gang members in fact are superb. The supporting cast members provide plenty of enjoyment, especially the two old ladies in the private hotel. Marjorie Fielding is a delight as Mrs Chalk, a keen fan of pulp detective novels whose knowledge of American underworld slang is encyclopedic. Also look out for a blink and you’ll miss it appearance by a pre-stardom Audrey Hepburn.

Screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke apparently got assistance from several Bank of England employees to ensure that his idea for the heist really was workable. The effort he put into the clever and very witty script paid off handsomely - he won an Oscar for it.

Director Charles Crichton had a successful career in film before moving on to an even more successful career in television. The Lavender Hill Mob demonstrates his flair for both comedy and action. It also features a rather inspired car chase.

This movie is easily obtainable on DVD just about anywhere and is available on Blu-Ray as well.

The Lavender Hill Mob is a thoroughly enjoyable romp. Highly recommended.

Gambit (1966)

Heist movies were insanely popular during the 1960s and Gambit is not only a fine example of the breed it also adds a few distinctive touches of its own.

In 1966 Shirley MacLaine was a very big star, big enough to be given the final choice of leading man for her films. In this instance Michael Caine turned out to be absolutely the ideal choice.

Caine plays Harry Dean, an English crook with very grandiose ambitions indeed. He has a plan, which he has no doubt is fool-proof, to rob the world’s richest man. Shahbandar (Herbert Lom) is an Arab oil billionaire with a fabulous art collection and Harry has set his sights on the most valuable of all Shahbandar’s artworks, a two thousand year old Chinese statue. The statue happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to the billionaire’s deceased wife and Harry thinks he can make use of this. All he needs to do is to find a girl who looks like the statue. He finds her in the person of Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine,) a small-time Eurasian dancer in a seedy bar in Hong Kong.

Harry thinks he has done his homework very thoroughly but in fact he’s made a few seriously dubious assumptions. Nonetheless the plan seems workable enough and he persuades Nicole to pay along. He persuades her by not telling her anything about the plan apart from the part she will have to play. This proves to be another slight misjudgment on Harry’s part. Nicole is not the sort of girl who likes to be deceived.

The essential framework for the heist movie is that there has to be a superbly ingenious plan that cannot possibly fail but of course in practice it doesn’t go quite so smoothly. Gambit follows this formula but with a few original twists. Unfortunately even to hint at the nature of those twists would ruin part of the enjoyment of the film so I’ll say as little as possible about the plot.

A heist movie needs more than a clever plot. It needs at least one charismatic star (two is even better), it needs sparkling dialogue, it needs to be visually impressive and ideally it needs generous side-orders of humour and romance. Gambit has all of these and they’re combined perfectly.

Ronald Neame directed. Neame doesn’t always get the attention he deserves. He made some fascinating movies in just about every genre and he demonstrates a natural flair for the heist movie. Gambit was nominated for three Oscars including best Art Direction and Best Costumes. It does indeed look terrific and Shirley MacLaine’s dresses are fabulous. Despite the exotic settings it was shot entirely in California (mostly on the backlot), with Santa Barbara standing in for the Riviera.

While MacLaine and Caine get top billing Herbert Lom’s character is every bit as important and he gets as much screen time as the two stars. This is a three-handed game and McLaine, Caine and Lom are all in scintillating form. 

While Harry is definitely a wrong ’un he’s a nice guy, and Shahbandar is a pretty nice guy as well. That makes the battle of wits between them rather interesting - we don’t really want either of them to lose. In fact we’d like to see all three of the main characters win.

Shirley MacLaine figures prominently in the action right from the start but for the first half hour she doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. This was apparently her own idea and it’s a very good one (and one that the director embraced enthusiastically). To reveal why it’s such a good idea would be to risk a spoiler - one very intriguing feature of this movie is that the really clever plot twist comes at the beginning rather than the end.

Director Ronald Neame recorded the audio commentary for the DVD shortly before his death at the age of 99 but he still remembered a good deal about the making of the film. Although at times he wanders off on tangents he has plenty of interesting anecdotes about his long and exceptionally interesting career.

This is the kind of light-hearted romp that movie-makers just don’t seem to have the style or the lightness of touch to pull off any more. In the 60s though they did know how to do this sort of thing, and do it supremely well. Gambit is witty, clever, stylish, romantic, amusing and exciting. It’s pure entertainment of the highest order. Highly recommended.

Ocean’s Eleven (1960)

The heist movie would prove to be one of the most reliable money-spinners of the 60s. The genre started with two movies released in 1960, the British production The League of Gentlemen and the American Ocean’s Eleven (or Ocean’s 11 as it’s sometimes rendered). Coincidentally both dealt with heists carried out by ex-military personnel. Ocean’s Eleven also had the distinction of being the ultimate Rat Pack movie.

Playboy Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford) has been living on his mother’s money for years. Now he’d like to have some of his own. He’s been sold on a plan by Spyros Acebos (Akim Tamiroff). Acebos has a talent for coming up with ideas for robberies. Very good ideas. He doesn’t have the ability (or the inclination) to carry them out but that’s where Jimmy Foster comes in. Foster has recruited a bunch of old army buddies, all of whom served in the elite 82nd Airborne Division in World War 2. They will carry out the plan. And a very ambitious plan it is. To rob one Las Vegas casino would be ambitious enough - they’re going to rob five all at once. It will have to be carried out with the precision of a military operation. Ex-paratroopers are obviously ideal for such a caper.

Foster’s old army pals include Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra), Sam Harmon (Dean Martin) and Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr). And since this is a Rat Pack movie some of the female Rat Packers naturally had to be involved. Angie Dickinson plays Danny Ocean’s wife while Shirley MacLaine pops up in an amusing cameo.

The plan will need a couple of demolition experts. That’s no problem - the 82nd Airborne had guys like that. It will also need a master electrician. As luck would have it the ideal choice for this role, Tony Bergdorf (Richard Conte) has just been released from San Quentin.

As would become standard in heist movies a good deal of time is spent on the elaborate preparations. The robbery itself lacks the spectacle of some of the later movies of this type although it makes up for it to some extent with sheer complexity.

The script gives the players plenty of the right sort of dialogue. The presence of veteran cinematographer William H. Daniels behind the camera is an asset, as always. Special mention should be made of Nelson Riddle’s wonderful score and Saul Bass’s brilliant main titles. Director Lewis Milestone knew his job and handles it will his usual skill.

I think The League of Gentlemen makes cleverer use of the idea of ex-soldiers carrying out a robbery but Ocean’s Eleven earns bonus points for the ending - a very nice little sting in the tail indeed.

Sinatra was a fine if rather lazy actor, his major strength being his ability to project effortless cool which he does here to wonderful effect. Dean Martin could also be a superb actor on the rare occasions when he really extended himself (as in Howards Hawks’ Rio Bravo). Most of the time Martin just treated acting as fun but in a light-hearted movie such as this that approach worked just fine. Richard Conte by contrast took acting very seriously so it’s not surprising that Tony Bergdorf ends up being the most complex character in the movie. Cesar Romero enjoys himself as Jimmy Foster’s shady but very rich prospective father-in-law. Angie Dickinson has little to do except look glamorous but she does that very nicely. Look out for a neat little cameo from George Raft.

Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr both get to sing. Oddly enough Sinatra doesn’t.

This is very much a Vegas movie, the mood of the film reflecting the mood of the city. This is of course the Las Vegas of 1960, very different from the Las Vegas of today. In that sense the movie is a wonderful time capsule, a feature enhanced by the fact that so much of the filming was actually done in the Las Vegas hotels of the day.

The Region 4 DVD offers a very impressive anamorphic transfer and includes a number of extras including a commentary track with Frank Sinatra Jr. and Angie Dickinson.

Ocean’s Eleven is high-spirited witty entertainment done with a great deal of style. Highly recommended.

The League of Gentlemen (1960)

The caper movie would prove to be one of the most popular film genres of the 60s. Both the British and American film industries would produce some very fine and very successful examples of the breed. One of the movies that kick-started this genre back in 1960 was The League of Gentlemen, a very big box-office success in both Britain and the US at the time.

This was an ambitious British production which established a template that would be followed many times - a master criminal assembles a team of crooks, all of them experts in their field, with the intention of pulling off one spectacular heist.

The twist in this movie is that the criminals are all professional soldiers. Or at least they were professional soldiers, until their military careers were abruptly terminated for assorted  crooked activities. Dishonesty comes as naturally to them as soldiering.

In this case the criminal mastermind is a retired lieutenant-colonel by the name of Hyde (Jack Hawkins). He is the only member of the team without a criminal record. He does however have a grudge against the army, having been retired against his will on what he considers to be an insultingly meagre pension.

Ex-Major Race (Nigel Patrick) acts as Hyde’s second-in-command. Ex-Captain Mycroft, a con-man who specialises in masquerading as a clergyman, will be in charge of organising the equipment needed for the robbery. Ex-Lieutenant Lexy (Richard Attenborough), a Signal Corps officer cashiered for selling military secrets, will be the communications specialist. Ex-Captain Weaver (Norman Bird), cashiered for alcoholism, will be the explosives expert. Porthill (Bryan Forbes), Stevens (Kieron Moore) and Rutland-Smith (Terence Alexander) will provide the muscle and general military expertise.

The highlight of a caper movie has to be the heist itself so ideally you need to have some preliminary action/suspense sequences to keep the audience’s interest high until the major action set-pieces which provide the climax. In this case the gang carries out a daring robbery at an army base in order to provide themselves with the weaponry they’ll need for the main robbery. This sequence neatly blends high tension and sly comedy and is superbly done.

This movie establishes another crucial part of the classic caper movie formula - the planning and rehearsal of the robbery. In this movie, given the fact that the robbery is to be carried out like a military operation, there are definite resemblances to classic British war movies. Lieutenant-Colonel Hyde’s gang are briefed for the raid in exactly the same way the heroes of a war movie are briefed before a battle. This seems to have been a deliberate choice, gently mocking the heroic stiff-upper-lip style of British war movie. 

A good caper movie should of course combine plenty of action, plenty of humour, witty dialogue and a great deal of style. The League of Gentlemen scores highly in all these categories. Bryan Forbes, who had a successful and varied career as a screenwriter, wrote the script and it ticks all the required boxes while also having some fun playing around with accepted genre conventions. Basil Dearden’s distinguished directing career included some excellent suspense thrillers and he handles matters here with his usual skill and panache. Arthur Ibbetson did the cinematography so this movie had plenty of talent behind the camera as well as in front of it.

Apart from being a great actor Jack Hawkins has just the right air of authority as the criminal mastermind Hyde. This is however very much an ensemble piece and fortunately every one of the performances is spot on. In fact it would be unfair to single out any one performance.

Cult movie fans will have fun spotting a couple of familiar faces in very small roles - Nigel Green as a lecherous truck driver and Oliver Reed as an exceedingly camp chorus boy.

While the emphasis is on fun there is a little bit more to this film. It’s clear that Colonel Hyde, and to some extent the other gang members, are the sort of men who don’t really fit  into the civilian world. Their main motivation might be the hope of easy money but they’re also looking for the sense of belonging that they’d had in the army. It’s an opportunity to relive happier times and this gives the movie just a slight touch of melancholy.

Network’s Special Edition DVD provides a lovely anamorphic transfer, an excellent audio commentary with Bryan Forbes and a variety of other extras - all at a ludicrously low price.

It's worth comparing The League of Gentlemen to Ocean’s Eleven, also released in 1960, which started the American caper movie craze 

Compared to later caper movies such as The Italian Job this is a movie that is more character-driven than action-driven and it’s noticeably lacking in graphic violence. It does however have more than enough excitement and suspense. A very well-crafted movie with a very literate script and superb performances which all adds up to terrific entertainment. It still stands up as one of the best movies of its type. Very highly recommended.