Vitals

Jamie Smith as Davey Gordon, washed-up welterweight boxer

New York City, Fall 1954

Film: Killer’s Kiss
Release Date: October 1, 1955
Director: Stanley Kubrick

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Stanley Kubrick’s independently produced sophomore film Killer’s Kiss was released 70 years ago this fall—premiering in New York City on September 21, 1955, followed by a wider release on October 1st.

Pittsburgh-born Jamie Smith stars as burned-out ex-boxer Davey Gordon, whose growing romantic involvement with his neighbor—the alluring blonde taxi dancer Gloria Price (Chris Chase, credited as Irene Kane)—sets him dangerously at odds with her shady employer, Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera). Inventively shot and economically packaged (if somewhat underwritten) on a $75,000 budget, this tight thriller clocks in just under 70 minutes, benefiting from on-location shooting across New York from Penn Station and Times Square to the Brooklyn waterfront and “Hell’s Hundred Acres” in SoHo.

As Davey and Gloria plot their escape from the neon-lit nights of 1950s New York, the storyline and atmosphere read like a blend of Detour (1945) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957), making this little-known landmark noir an ideal starting point for Noirvember!

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What’d He Wear?

Killer’s Kiss had no credited costume designer, so Davey’s clothing may have been determined in collaboration between Jamie Smith and Stanley Kubrick; as the director was also the credited writer, cinematographer, editor, and co-producer, it makes sense that the famously involved auteur would have had a hand in costumes! (Though even with the meticulous Kubrick at the helm, a few costume-related continuity errors emerge.)

Casually dressed for the opening act, Davey then pulls on a wool single-breasted sport jacket, tailored in a nailhead weave—a twill of alternating light and dark yarns crossing each other on the warp and weft to form a neatly arranged grid of small dots. This worsted weave can range in shape and scalability from the smaller pinhead (or pin-dot) and micro-nailhead designs to the more prominent nailhead squares woven against the darker ground on Davey’s jacket.

This sports coat has notch lapels, a single vent, and a sporty configuration of patch pockets over the left breast and both hips. Most shots show three-button cuffs, though the sequences shot in Times Square show only two vestigial buttons spaced apart on the right cuff, suggesting either a nearly identical jacket (differing only in its number of cuff buttons) or that the middle button fell off the right cuff during production.

When Davey pulls his Luger from his suitcase, we see another sports jacket folded inside boasting a label from New York tailor Miller Bros., who may have also made this jacket. Whoever made it did a fine job, following contemporary trends such as padding the shoulders to be straight and wide and maintaining a full yet flattering cut.

Part of the plot progresses because two weird street dancers in Times Square steal Davey’s white silk scarf, prompting him to chase after them to retrieve it… thus missing his manager Albert (Jerry Jarrett) arriving and being killed by Rapello’s henchmen, who mistake him for Davey. The light silk scarf has fringed ends.

Davey typically wears woolen knit long-sleeved pullover polo-style shirts. He sports a light-colored one under his dark suede jacket during his first post-credits scene that ends with his introduction to Gloria, followed by this slightly darker one in a medium shade that shows some pilling from wear. The two-button top includes the highest button positioned farther back under the right side of the collar, fastening to an extended loop on the left side that cleanly conceals the button when fastened. He gently rolls back the ribbed sleeve-ends over themselves.

Davey tucks the shirt into his dark woolen slacks, which are appropriate to the era with their long rise to Jamie Smith’s natural waist, where he holds them up with a dark leather belt that closes through a squared metal single-prong buckle. The double reverse-facing pleats and turn-ups (cuffs) are consistent with trouser trends of the ’50s, and they’re also styled with straight, on-seam side pockets, a jetted back-right pocket, and a set-in back-left pocket that closes with a single-button scalloped flap.

Davey’s plain-toe derby shoes are crafted with dark—presumably brown—suede uppers, which coordinate with the sporty textures of his nailhead jacket and knitted shirt. The front quarters follow a V-shaped taper back to two sets of closely spaced open-laced eyelets.

Most shots show Davey wearing looser, light-colored ribbed socks that contrast against the dark trousers and shoes, though the above close-up from his confrontation against Rapallo’s crew shows darker, dressier socks.

Davey’s sole accessory is a wristwatch that was almost certainly Smith’s own: square-cased with a square dial, attached to a dark-brown leather strap around his left wrist.

Killer’s Kiss is bookended by shots of Davey at Penn Station, established during the finale to be him waiting for Gloria to join him on their train to Seattle. He dresses up the same pinhead sport jacket and dark trousers, now with smooth black calfskin leather cap-toe oxfords, a dark knitted silk tie, and a light-colored cotton shirt with button-down collar, front placket, and breast pocket.

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The Gun

After overhearing that he’s wanted for murder, Davey retrieves a Luger P08 from his suitcase. Patented by German firearms designer Georg Luger at the turn of the 20th century, this distinctive-looking semi-automatic pistol remains best known for its half-century service as the standard German service sidearm during both world wars.

Originally chambered for the proprietary 7.65x21mm Parabellum (.30 Luger) round, an early redesign was updated to fire the now-universal 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge—fed from eight-round magazines loaded into the handle. Rather than a single- or double-action operation as found on pistols with slides, the Luger has a toggle-lock action with a jointed arm mechanism that contributes to the Luger’s durability and mud resistance compared to other pistols. However, this mechanism functions best with higher-pressure loads, specifically the brass-cased ammunition it was designed to use.

The 9mm Luger was formally adopted by the German Army in 1908 as the Pistole Modell 08 (P.08), with more than two million alone used during World War I. It was generally supplanted in German service by the double-action Walther P38, though it remained in limited production by the East German Volkspolizei into the early 1950s. While I don’t recall anything specific in Killer’s Kiss to suggest that Davey had served in the military, many American servicemen brought back Lugers as war souvenirs from fallen or surrendered Germans.

A glaring continuity error replaces the Luger with a Colt revolver for a brief insert shot of Davey’s handgun hitting the floor during his confrontation with Rapallo’s henchmen.

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How to Get the Look

You don’t need color photography to tell that Davey Gordon wears a cool outfit, infusing sporty sophistication of fabulous fifties menswear into the ultimately timeless ensemble of a smartly tailored sport jacket, knitted polo shirt, and suede derbies.

• Nailhead worsted wool single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with notch lapels, patch breast pocket, patch hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent
• Woolen knit long-sleeved polo shirt with loop collar, two-button top, and ribbed cuffs
• Dark wool double reverse-pleated high-rise trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back-right pocket, single-button flapped back-left pocket, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Dark leather belt with squared metal single-prong buckle
• Dark-brown suede plain-toe 2-eyelet derby shoes
• Light-colored ribbed socks
• Square-cased watch with light square dial on dark-brown leather strap

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

It’s crazy how you can get yourself in a mess sometimes and not even be able to think about it with any sense—and yet not be able to think about anything else. You get so you’re no good for anything or anybody. Maybe it begins by taking life too serious.