Stanley Kubrick's second feature 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 stripped away the veneer from the prizefight and dancehall worlds.

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.