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Stanley Kubrick’s first film, Fear and Desire, is famously the director’s most disliked work. The 1953 anti-war movie follows four soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, struggling with their own morality as they try to survive.

Despite being Kubrick’s debut, he later called the film “a bumbling amateur film exercise” and described it as “boring and pretentious” during a 1994 interview on the radio show All Things Considered.

Kubrick even instructed Warner Brothers to send a letter to the press downplaying the movie and discouraging screenings.

The production of Fear and Desire was extremely small. Kubrick worked with just 15 people and faced constant financial challenges.

To fund the film, he...

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One of the most visually striking and influential American filmmakers of the 20th century is Stanley Kubrick. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Kubrick directed movies that covered virtually every major genre, from Cold War comedy to supernatural horror. Kubrick was also somewhat notorious for his perfectionist tendencies, preparing and over-preparing during all stages of production to get the specific effect that he wanted. This meticulous attention to detail elevated Kubrick's work, even as it occasionally ran the cast and crew behind his movies ragged.

Yet, despite his rigorous work ethic, or indeed because of it, Kubrick crafted some of the most enduring films of all time. While he is perhaps unfairly described as being overly cold and clinical in his work, Kubrick also helped give cinema some of its most iconic characters. Kubrick was also something of a literary director,...

Veteran film and television actor Art Evans, who played Leslie Barnes in Die Hard 2, has died. He was 82. Evans passed away on Saturday, December 21, of complications from diabetes, as confirmed by his wife, Babe Evans. His obituary noted he “passed away peacefully” while “surrounded by family.” “Art was not only an incredible actor but a devoted husband, friend, and source of light to everyone who knew him,” Babe said in a statement to EW. “His laughter, passion, and love of life will be deeply missed. While our hearts are heavy, we celebrate the legacy of joy and inspiration he leaves behind.” Born on March 27, 1942, in Berkeley, California, Evans’ acting career spanned over 40 years, with over 120 credits across film, theater, and television. He started out at Frank Silvera’s Theater of Being in Los Angeles before landing the starring role in The Amen Corner, which made its Broadway debut in...

One of Sergio Leone's spaghetti western masterpieces has hit a major streaming platform. Once Upon a Time in the West, starring Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson, has arrived on Prime Video as of December 1.

Directed and co-written by Leone, the revenge-western Once Upon a Time in the West follows Bronson's character, Harmonica (a role originally intended for Clint Eastwood), as he tracks down Fonda's outlaw Frank to right a past wrong. The film notably cast Fonda against type as the villain. The movie's ensemble includes Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Gabriele Ferzetti, Paolo Stoppa, Marco Zuanelli, Keenan Wynn, Frank Wolff, Lionel Stander, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Al Mulock, Benito Stefanelli and Aldo Sambrell.

Related December 1 Will Be a Sad Day for Stephen King Fans

Stephen King fans only have a few days left to watch a popular adaptation before it leaves Netflix at the start of December.

Once Upon a Time in the West...

One of the sequels to the legendary Western film The Magnificent Seven will soon get a new streaming home. 1969's Guns of the Magnificent Seven will arrive on Prime Video on November 1.

Directed by Paul Wendkos and produced by Vincent M. Fennelly, Guns of the Magnificent Seven stars George Kennedy as the character Chris Adams, originally portrayed by Yul Brynner in previous franchise entries. Rounding out the seven are James Whitmore as Levi Morgan, Monte Markham as Keno, Reni Santoni as Maximiliano "Max" O'Leary, Bernie Casey as Cassie, Scott Thomas as P.J., and Joe Don Baker as Slater. The group bands together to free the Mexican revolutionary Angel Quintero, played by Fernando Rey, and fight the oppression of the sadistic Colonel Diego, portrayed by Michael Ansara. The movie's cast also includes Wende Wagner, Tony Davis, Frank Silvera, Sancho Gracia, Luis Rivera, George Rigaud, and Peter Lawman.

Related 1 of the...

Bob Slutske, an expert on the efficiency and effectiveness of media issues throughout the film production process, has died. He was 81.

Slutske died Tuesday in Los Angeles following a long illness, The Hollywood Reporter learned Wednesday.

Throughout his 60-year career, Slutske worked in the theater and entertainment space, serving as one of the initial developers of nonlinear editing technology. He also helped pave the way for computerized lighting and automated mix-down in the industry with “first of a kind” systems.

He started working in theater, focused on lighting, stage management and direction, including in the productions Amen Corner with James Baldwin and The Loudest Sound in the World with Frank Silvera. He transitioned to Ampex and LucasFilm, where he worked with Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Alan Alda and George Lucas to bring nonlinear editing systems to market.

Slutske served 17 years as the vice president of National TeleConsultants, where he provided...

Stanley Kubrick revolutionized filmmaking with his unique style, creating visually stunning shots and infusing his projects with dark humor. Kubrick's passion for denouncing war is evident in many of his movies, with almost half of his films covering wartime themes directly or indirectly. Despite his success, Kubrick often craved creative control and found collaboration to be limiting, as seen in his experience with Spartacus.

Stanley Kubrick's contributions to film are legendary, with several focused on the theme of war. Kubrick created several films that entirely changed how people viewed and made movies within the sci-fi, horror, and crime genres. His unique style resulted in many creative and visually stunning shots, as well as imbuing his projects with dark humor. Kubrick was also a perfectionist who liked to assume control over multiple aspects of his movies, from scripting to editing. Kubrick had a direct hand in most elements that went into his movies.

Ultra HD puts Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film in a new light — his B&w images of New York lend a ‘Weegee’ flavor to the tale of a prizefighter who comes to the rescue of a dance hall girl. Kubrick does better sticking to the urban streets he knows so well; the cast scores via his strong direction and art museum-quality images. The post-dubbed soundtrack is the weak link, and perhaps Kubrick’s somewhat awkward flashback gear changes. But for 1955 he’s definitely a talent on the way. Kino’s disc carries an analytical commentary by Imogen Sara Smith.

Killer’s Kiss

4K Ultra HD

Kl Studio Classics

1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 67 min. / Street Date June 28, 2022 / Kiss Me, Kill Me / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Jerry Jarrett, Mike Dana, Felice Orlandi, Shaun O’Brien, Barbara Brand, Ruth Sobotka.

Cinematography: Stanley Kubrick

Film Editor: Stanley Kubrick...

As the Venice Film Festival prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary, researchers have reconstructed how Stanley Kubrick’s first film, now known as “Fear and Desire,” came to screen on the Lido in 1952.

The screening of the film, initially titled “Shape of Fear,” took place at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido on Aug. 18, 1952, in a section called Festival of the Scientific Film and Art Documentary.

Basically, Kubrick’s debut was invited for a special screening after not making the cut for competition due to “the length and character of the film,” as an exchange of letters between the 23-year-old Kubrick and then Venice chief Antonio Petrucci attests (see below).

The whole story has been reconstructed for the first time in the letters and documents preserved in the archives of the fest’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, ahead of an international conference celebrating the 90th anniversary of the world’s oldest film festival,...

Roger Corman’s ferocious gangster epic (more squibs!) bounces back in a UK Region B edition, noisier and bloodier than ever. Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker and a couple of dozen top-notch hoods replay the ugly events that led up to the notorious 1929 gangland slaying — which now almost seems tame — where gun massacres are concerned, today ‘Every Day Is a Holiday.’

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date April 30, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard Bakalyan, David Canary, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Kurt Kreuger, Joe Turkel, John Agar, Celia Lovsky, Tom Reese, Jan Merlin,Alex D’Arcy, Reed Hadley, Gus Trikonis, Charles Dierkop, Alex Rocco, Leo Gordon, Russ Conway, Jonathan Haze, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Jack Nicholson, Joan Shawlee.

Cinematography Milton Krasner

Art Direction Philip Jefferies,...

Morgan Freeman – Academy Award winning actor, producer, voice actor and activist – has been named the 54th recipient of SAG-aftra's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

Freeman will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards,which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Freeman’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Academy Award, HFPA’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, seven Image Awards, a Silver Berlin Bear, several Obies, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Unsung actress Beverly Garland becomes TV’s first lady cop, in what’s claimed to be the first TV show filmed on the streets of New York City. This one-season wonder from 1957 has vintage locations, fairly tough-minded storylines and solid performances, from Bev and a vast gallery of stage and TV actors on the way up.

Decoy

(Policewoman Decoy)

TV Series

DVD

Film Chest Media

1957-’58 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame (TV) / 39 x 30 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 19.98

Starring: Beverly Garland

Art Direction (some episodes): Mel Bourne

Original Music: Wladimir Selinsky

Written by Lillian Andrews, Nicholas E. Baehr, Cy Chermak, Jerome Coopersmith, Don Ettlinger, Frances Frankel, Steven Gardner, Abram S. Ginnes, Mel Goldberg, Saul Levitt, Leon Tokatyan

Produced by Arthur H. Singer, David Alexander, Stuart Rosenberg, Everett Rosenthal

Directed by Teddy Sills, Stuart Rosenberg, David Alexander, Michael Gordon, Don Medford, Arthur H. Singer, Marc Daniels

How did I experience...

Charlton Heston movies: ‘A Man for All Seasons’ remake, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ (photo: Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur) (See previous post: “Charlton Heston: Moses Minus Staff Plus Chariot Equals Ben-Hur.”) I’ve yet to watch Irving Rapper’s melo Bad for Each Other (1954), co-starring the sultry Lizabeth Scott — always a good enough reason to check out any movie, regardless of plot or leading man. A major curiosity is the 1988 made-for-tv version of A Man for All Seasons, with Charlton Heston in the Oscar-winning Paul Scofield role (Sir Thomas More) and on Fred Zinnemann’s director’s chair. Vanessa Redgrave, who plays Thomas More’s wife in the TV movie (Wendy Hiller in the original) had a cameo as Anne Boleyn in the 1966 film. According to the IMDb, Robert Bolt, who wrote the Oscar-winning 1966 movie (and the original play), is credited for the 1988 version’s screenplay as well. Also of note,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 23, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $34.95

Studio: Kino Lorber

A squad of soldiers unwinds behind enemy lines in Stanley Kubrick's 1953 Fear and Desire.

Virtually unseen since its theatrical premiere in 1953, Fear and Desire was the ambitious first feature film by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange).

An existential war film often compared with the director’s Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), Fear and Desire follows a squad of soldiers who have crash-landed behind enemy lines and must work their way downriver to rejoin their unit. In the process, they encounter a peasant girl (Virginia Leith) and bind her to a tree, where she is tormented by a mentally unbalanced soldier (future director Paul Mazursky). Before making their escape, the soldiers determine the location of an enemy base and formulate a plot to assassinate its commanding officer.

The 60-minute-long film was produced, directed, photographed and...

Killer’s Kiss

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Written by Stanley Kubrick and Howard Sackler

U.S.A, 1955

Just as last week’s column entry took a look at one of Stanley Kubrick’s earliest works, The Killing, this week yet an earlier piece of cinema from the director is explored. One year prior to making his real breakout film and equipped with what amounted to a micro-budget, Kubrick and his limited cast and crew filmed around the streets of Manhattan to tell the tale of two lovers in Killer’s Kiss. Any production values are incredibly minute (artificial sets, special lighting) when compared to the master’s later work, and even tonally the film differs very much from almost everything he did later, yet the curious may still want to discover this one.

Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) is man whose potential never fully materialized. He is a boxer, and while...

This year, New Directors/New Films is "breaking precedent and presenting a film nearly 20 years older than the festival itself."

Nick Schager in Slant: "So loathed by Stanley Kubrick that the legendary director reportedly confiscated all existing copies to keep it out of circulation, Fear and Desire proves a modest, if relatively promising, 1953 debut for the late auteur, touching on his trademark themes via the allegorical tale of soldiers shot down behind enemy lines in an unnamed country in an unspecified time. Kubrick's story, penned by Howard Sackler, is deliberately vague with regard to nationalities and politics so that its focus can remain squarely on the psychological turmoil of its characters, a ragtag quartet that includes ruminative Lieutenant Corby (Kenneth Harp), gruff Sergeant Mac (Frank Silvera), meek Private Fletcher (Stephen Colt), and sensitive Private Sidney (future filmmaker Paul Mazursky) — men whose narrated internal monologues articulate, with frequent pretentiousness, Kubrick's investigation...

You'd think a movie starring Marlon Brando at the height of his young-firebrand sex appeal, written by Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, and directed by the great Elia Kazan, would be better remembered today. Yet "Viva Zapata!", released exactly 60 years ago (on Feburary 7, 1952), is all but regarded as a footnote in the careers of Brando, Steinbeck, and Kazan. That's a shame, since it's at once a terrifically exciting action film, a heroic biopic, and a penetrating political study. Of course, even then, it was an odd one -- a movie about legendary figures in Mexican history portrayed by an almost Mexican-free cast; a movie about a pro-peasant revolutionary hero made at a time of anti-Communist hysteria in Hollywood. That it got made at all was remarkable, given the battles over censorship and casting, not to mention the battles between Brando and co-star Anthony Quinn, whose bitter tension often erupted into elaborate pranks and practical jokes.

Allegorical War Drama Highlights TCM.s Dec. 14 Salute

to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to make movie history this December when it presents the world television premiere of Fear and Desire (1953), the rarely seen debut film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Premiering Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. (Et), the allegorical war drama from the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980) will be the centerpiece of an extraordinary 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Access at George Eastman House, to present 15 cinematic rarities from one of the country.s leading moving-image archives.

TCM.s Dec. 14 salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House will begin at 6:15 a.m. (Et) with The Blue Bird...

Fear and Desire, the 1953 debut film of a young Look magazine photographer named Stanley Kubrick, will have its world television premiere on Turner Classics Movies on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. Starring Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, and Kenneth Harp, Fear and Desire is an existential anti-war drama about a lost platoon whose journey to safety is complicated by an encounter with a mysterious woman.

Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades,...

As he most recently proved in a charming video interview with Steve, few are more deserving of a lifetime achievement award than Morgan Freeman. The American Film Institute wised up to that axiom, and will present the Oscar winner with the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award. Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees Sir Howard Stringer eloquently sums up the impact of Freeman’s career:

“Across decades, whether playing a prisoner, a president or God, he embodies a calm authority that demands respect for the character and for the art form. His gifts to the cultural record are also underscored by his unmistakable voice that echoes through the hearts and minds of movie lovers around the world.”

-

The gala tribute takes place on June 9, 2011, and will air later that month on TV Land. Hit the jump for the official announcement.

Morgan Freeman To Receive 39th AFI Life Achievement Award...

Now that the 2010 line-up for the Criterion Collection has finally been announced with last week’s December titles, we can begin speculating on what we’ll get in 2011. With over 50 spine numbers in 2010, will we see # 600 in 2011? At the rate that Criterion is churning out these discs, we have to assume so. Where will they get all of these upcoming titles from?

Well, over the past few months we’ve seen several titles from MGM’s catalog announced, and hinted at in their monthly newsletter. Most likely due to MGM’s current financial problems, it’s nice to see Criterion stepping up to rescue these films from the abyss of “out of print”. If you head over to the various forums (CriterionForum.org, Mubi, etc.) you’ll find many people speculating on the MGM titles that Criterion has acquired the rights to. While some are mostly speculation, I have had...

Stanley Kubrick was an upstart kid from The Bronx when, in 1955, he borrowed $40,000 from an uncle and directed, wrote, edited and photographed a movie thriller called "Killer's Kiss."

Kubrick would not make a name for himself until his next movie, "The Killing" (1956), a yarn about a racetrack heist featuring Sterling Hayden. But more than half a century later, "Killer's Kiss" remains a watchable work of raw energy.

Rarely shown on the big screen, the black-and-white noir will unreel tomorrow and Saturday at midnight at...

AFI Fest

Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.

A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."

The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.

But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.

AFI Fest

Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.

A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."

The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.

But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.