Stanley Kubrick's second film, Killer's Kiss, made the world take notice. The young moviemaker won acclaim for this dazzling film noir about a struggling New York boxer (Jamie Smith) whose life is imperiled when he protects a nightclub dancer (Irene Kane) from her gangster boss (Frank Silvera). "Using his camera as a sandpaper block, Kubrick has stripped away the veneer from the prizefight and dancehall worlds," the New York Mirror proclaimed. Killer's Kiss not only lends considerable insight into future Kubrick classics - such as 'The Killing' and 'Full Metal Jacket'- but is also a remarkable film in its own right: the boxing match may be the most vicious this side of 'Raging Bull', and the famed final battle remains an action tour-de-force. "An ambitious photographer...challenges the movie capital with Killer's Kiss," the New York Daily News enthused. "The suspenseful venture augurs well for young Stanley Kubrick!"
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