Recommended Noirs

The Killing (United Artists, 1956) Direceted by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stanley Kubrick and an uncredited Jim Thompson, from the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. Noir great Sterlin Hayden plays Johnny Clay, a brainy and driven ex-con with a perfect plan to rob a racetrack. He and his partner recruit a track teller, a track bartender and a cop with a heavy gambling debt. Eventually the plot will also involve a pro wrestler and a psychopathic killer. The one element Clay couldn't count on was the femme fatale wife of one of his partners, perfectly played by Marie Windsor(she of the killer curves). That's all you get on the set-up.

Kubrick in this one, was really coming into his own and filled this film with his typical irony and cool guy twists. Historically, I don't think enough has been made of Jim Thompson's contributions to the script. He was one of the great crime writers of all time, and his finger prints are all over this flick. Check it out!

This too is available at Amazon.