The Seafarers
(Stanley Kubrick, US 1953, 29 min., 16mm)
Killer’s Kiss
(Stanley Kubrick, US 1955, 67 min., DCP)
In Kubrick’s evocatively shot second feature, an “indie-noir,” a boxer gets caught up in romance and murder. Cast exclusively with non-professionals On the Bowery is a powerful study of life among the denizens of New York’s skid row. These two independently-financed features by New York-based filmmakers each showcase a number of authentically raw Manhattan locations.
Following the critical success and financial failure of Fear and Desire (1953), Kubrick took to the streets of New York to tell the tale of a hungry boxer who falls hard for a working girl with a very jealous boss. The confluence of the raw and rapid production, the presence of non-actors, and the director's singular vision results in a brilliantly experimental film noir that serves as a harbinger of Kubrick's future innovations.