The Killing

Stanley Kubrick met the producer James B. Harris over a chessboard in Washington Square; in 1955 they set up a company. Harris bought the rights to Lionel White’s novel Clean Break for 10,000 dollars, getting ahead of United Artists, which wanted it for Frank Sinatra. Most of the script came from the crime novelist Jim Thompson, but the screenplay credit went to Kubrick and Thompson got only a dialogue credit. Sterling Hayden settled for 40,000 dollars. The studio put in no more than 200,000, so Harris covered the gap with 80,000 of his own and a 50,000 dollar loan from his father. The cinematographers’ union would not let Kubrick both direct and shoot, so Lucien Ballard was hired; they clashed over where to put the camera. The wrestler who starts the brawl at the bar is Kola Kwariani, a former professional wrestler and Kubrick’s chess partner. The film lost 130,000 dollars. Even so, Dore Schary at MGM offered the pair 75,000 dollars to make another; that became Paths of Glory. It was among the best film nominees at the 1957 BAFTA ceremony, where Gervaise won. A good fit if you want the same hours rebuilt from one crew member’s shoulder after another. Not for anyone wanting to settle in with a character; the centre keeps moving.