Stanley Kubrick's coming-out party from the mid '50s is a startlingly accurate prediction of film's future. By way of a non-linear narration and a few remarkably fresh transitions, Kubrick adds considerable weight and magnitude to a tangled heist tale and its focus on the crooks behind a slick, daring stickup of the local racetrack. Confused by the film's radical new approach to storytelling, test audiences hated the first cut, leading to studio meddling and an almost-complete disintegration of its marketing budget. Kubrick fought back, though, and with the obvious exception of a horribly heavy-handed deadpan narration, the finished product seems virtually untouched. Concerned mostly with the planning and hand-wringing before the big theft, The Killing tensely builds anticipation throughout before finally boiling over in a machine gun-paced robbery scene, terse payoff and all-too-brief elaboration on the major players' ultimate fates. Acceptably acted at best, the real stars of this picture are the complex plot and the harvest of fresh ideas going on behind the lens. A clear inspiration for Tarantino's big hits of the '90s, it's a daring and stylish major market debut for the famed director that hints at the lengths his development would ultimately take the medium.
456 Reviews
You Win Some, You...
Xstal8 October 2022
There is a plan that just can't fail no matter what, take the racetrack's banked cash roll, take all it's got, everybody knows their place, where to be for the big race, then where to gather, to take their share, of the big pot.
A piece of cinema magic that to this day leaves you astounded at the brilliance of the writer/director, amazed at the sensational performances by some truly great actors, and as engaged as you could ever hope to be with a story that nestles nicely in the age and the era from which it was born, an achievement that so many films of that time fail to achieve when revisited.
A piece of cinema magic that to this day leaves you astounded at the brilliance of the writer/director, amazed at the sensational performances by some truly great actors, and as engaged as you could ever hope to be with a story that nestles nicely in the age and the era from which it was born, an achievement that so many films of that time fail to achieve when revisited.
Great Characters In Here!
ccthemovieman-123 September 2005
Director Stanley Kubrick is best known for "2001: A Space Odyssey." "A Clockwork Orrange" or "The Shining" but I always found this to be my favorite of his films. This is film noir at some of its best: a tight no-nonsense story with tragic consequences, some of the best film noir actors in the business and great cinematography, which looks even better on DVD.
Sterling Hayden is the gang leader in this heist film and the big man was up to the task as he usually was in these kind of crime films. He wasn't as rough a character as he was in "Asphalt Jungle," but his role reminded me of that film.
What made this movie so appealing to me were four very interesting character actors: Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor, Kola Kwariani and Ted de Corsia. Few people had those loser-type film noir characters down pat as well as the tough-talking Windsor and the meek and wimpy Cook. They played a husband-and-wife team here: that's film noir heaven!
Kwariani plays a burley chess-playing wrestler who fights six cops at one time and Carey is a long-distance racist rifleman who talks through clenched-teeth and shoots a racehorse! As I said, some very interesting characters here.
And, oh yeah.....for you over-55 readers, there's Vince Edwards, alias Dr. Ben Casey of TV fame, as a Windsor's young adulterer boyfriend trying to horn in on the money from the robbery.
This film is full of surprises and always fun to watch.
Sterling Hayden is the gang leader in this heist film and the big man was up to the task as he usually was in these kind of crime films. He wasn't as rough a character as he was in "Asphalt Jungle," but his role reminded me of that film.
What made this movie so appealing to me were four very interesting character actors: Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor, Kola Kwariani and Ted de Corsia. Few people had those loser-type film noir characters down pat as well as the tough-talking Windsor and the meek and wimpy Cook. They played a husband-and-wife team here: that's film noir heaven!
Kwariani plays a burley chess-playing wrestler who fights six cops at one time and Carey is a long-distance racist rifleman who talks through clenched-teeth and shoots a racehorse! As I said, some very interesting characters here.
And, oh yeah.....for you over-55 readers, there's Vince Edwards, alias Dr. Ben Casey of TV fame, as a Windsor's young adulterer boyfriend trying to horn in on the money from the robbery.
This film is full of surprises and always fun to watch.
Kubrick's first classic, and still one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.
Infofreak14 January 2003
'The Killing' has been overshadowed by Stanley Kubrick's subsequent better known and better made movie masterpieces. Films like 'Dr. Strangelove', '2001' and 'A Clockwork Orange' are much more flamboyant and intellectually exciting than this early hard boiled crime thriller, but for my money it is still one of his most entertaining movies, and in its own modest way just as brilliant as his more talked about films. 'The Killing' is still one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made, and one which influenced many film makers working in this genre, not the least of which Quentin Tarantino, who obviously worships this picture, and used its innovative structure as major inspiration for 'Pulp Fiction'. Kubrick wrote 'The Killing's script as well as directing, but made the smart move of asking "the Dime Store Dostoevski" Jim Thompson, author of pulp classics like 'The Killer Inside Me' and 'The Getaway' to supply the fresh and memorable dialogue. Sterling Hayden, who later achieved screen immmortality as General Jack D. Ripper in 'Dr Strangelove', is perfect as ambitious small time crook Johnny Clay. He is surrounded by an almost flawless supporting cast. I qualified that because I wasn't totally convinced by Coleen Gray who plays Johnny's girlfriend. However she only really has one scene, and the rest of the cast more than makes up for her. Especially memorable are the mis-matched husband and wife played by Elisha Cook, Jr ('The House On Haunted Hill') and the sultry Marie Windsor (noir classic 'Narrow Margin'). Their scenes together are simply terrific. Also noteworthy are the two scenes featuring legendary crazy Timothy Carey ('The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie'). Carey was one of the most extraordinary performers to set foot in front of a movie character, and is unforgettable. Kubrick obviously thought highly of him as he subsequently cast him in his anti-war classic 'Paths Of Glory', a move which antagonised the movie's star Kirk Douglas. Even if 'The Killing' didn't feature such a strong performance from Sterling Hayden it would be worth watching just to catch Cook, Windsor and Carey. On top of that you have some other great actors such as Vince Edwards, an innovative script, hip dialogue and some brilliant directorial touches. This exciting heist movie can't be recommended highly enough, it's a real treat for film buffs. A brilliant film that still packs a punch after almost fifty years, something I doubt you will be saying about many movies currently showing in today's theatres. 'The Killing' is a super cool suspense movie and not to be missed!
One of my five favorite Kubrick films - gets better every time
Quinoa198411 June 2004
At the age of 27, Stanley Kubrick's third film, The Killing, took Lionel White's hard-boiled, non-linear story of one man (Johnny Clay, with quick-talking, straightforward ease by Sterling Hayden) and his crew planning and tasking a race-track robbery. It's almost fifty years old, but by this time Kubrick intently defined his style, and somehow the film seems to have themes and characters that are identifiable (and recognizable) with any period. The supporting characters are as sharply drawn (and psychologically involving) if not more so than Johnny Clay. Driving us into this world of schemers shouldn't be dense, and as Kubrick passes by any pretense - and keeps the compositions and material entertaining and absorbing - and it allows a viewer a lot of promise on repeat viewings.
While the story elements are similar to the sort of Kubrick-movie psychology (mostly dealing with men who are head deep in a rather existential crisis of what's against society), what's unique is how the craft is intuitive. On a low budget, and even with a cast that's very good if not excellent, everything is always assured in the style and turns grinding in the plot. I could watch this movie another two times (after three in the past two years or so) and still see shots so detailed yet with the tone that of the most inspired film-noirs. It's questionable as to where Kubrick got influence for some of the compositions, with usage of shadows and the dark (and light shades too), but whether or not it was some famous expressionist or from the 40's film-noirs, the mark of Kubrick uncurling as an artist is evident.
One remark by some is that the narration is sometimes irritating, that the kind of B-movie police drama expository tone, and the information is too much. The voice is not my favorite part of the film, but the narration itself, the information, is an interesting mold in the film's structure. It adds on a layer to that existentialist subtext, as every description makes it sounds like the narrator's a reporter looking back on the past events with a (detached) objectivity. For me, this did make it a little much to concentrate on in the first viewing, however this is a film that demands un-thwarted attention for it's 83 minutes. If you turn away for too long, a piece of the puzzle will be out of sight. It's a great film, and it's gone on to inspire a flock of homagers and imitators in the last half century. A+
While the story elements are similar to the sort of Kubrick-movie psychology (mostly dealing with men who are head deep in a rather existential crisis of what's against society), what's unique is how the craft is intuitive. On a low budget, and even with a cast that's very good if not excellent, everything is always assured in the style and turns grinding in the plot. I could watch this movie another two times (after three in the past two years or so) and still see shots so detailed yet with the tone that of the most inspired film-noirs. It's questionable as to where Kubrick got influence for some of the compositions, with usage of shadows and the dark (and light shades too), but whether or not it was some famous expressionist or from the 40's film-noirs, the mark of Kubrick uncurling as an artist is evident.
One remark by some is that the narration is sometimes irritating, that the kind of B-movie police drama expository tone, and the information is too much. The voice is not my favorite part of the film, but the narration itself, the information, is an interesting mold in the film's structure. It adds on a layer to that existentialist subtext, as every description makes it sounds like the narrator's a reporter looking back on the past events with a (detached) objectivity. For me, this did make it a little much to concentrate on in the first viewing, however this is a film that demands un-thwarted attention for it's 83 minutes. If you turn away for too long, a piece of the puzzle will be out of sight. It's a great film, and it's gone on to inspire a flock of homagers and imitators in the last half century. A+
Kubrick-Noir: recommended
Enrique-Sanchez-5616 July 2004
Everything about this movie fascinates me. Even the unexpected ending has a compelling and unique flavor to it. Sure, it looks like many crime dramas of the 50's. But we are talking about of a movie with a director of the prodigious talents of Stanley Kubrick.
Sometimes you wonder which genre Kubrick could not have handled brilliantly. He seems to know exactly what to do in such a wide variety of movies...Crime, Drama, War, Surreal, Historical Epic, Science Fiction and Black Comedy. My only wish would have been if Kubrick could have made MORE movies. When he died, that left only Woody Allen as the only major director who is working as a pure artist in the film medium.
THE KILLING is filled with crime-noir touches that form an absorbing whole that is hard to beat. The acting is top-notch, the scenes are set in gold taking from every crime movie and creating a whole that could not have been done so well by just any director - perhaps only Hitchcock could have pulled this off. Then there's the jazzy score that underlines the action which punch and atmosphere that just curdles off the screen.
Even if you're not a Kubrick fan (which might surprise many people when they find out he was the director) you will enjoy this movie.
Right to the end...which I won't reveal...but has an inevitability written with classical balance and a submission to fate that leaves a wry smile on your face.
Sterling Hayden is great in this role and he populates this character with just the right sort of mystery to keep you guessing until the end.
Recommended without reservation.
Sometimes you wonder which genre Kubrick could not have handled brilliantly. He seems to know exactly what to do in such a wide variety of movies...Crime, Drama, War, Surreal, Historical Epic, Science Fiction and Black Comedy. My only wish would have been if Kubrick could have made MORE movies. When he died, that left only Woody Allen as the only major director who is working as a pure artist in the film medium.
THE KILLING is filled with crime-noir touches that form an absorbing whole that is hard to beat. The acting is top-notch, the scenes are set in gold taking from every crime movie and creating a whole that could not have been done so well by just any director - perhaps only Hitchcock could have pulled this off. Then there's the jazzy score that underlines the action which punch and atmosphere that just curdles off the screen.
Even if you're not a Kubrick fan (which might surprise many people when they find out he was the director) you will enjoy this movie.
Right to the end...which I won't reveal...but has an inevitability written with classical balance and a submission to fate that leaves a wry smile on your face.
Sterling Hayden is great in this role and he populates this character with just the right sort of mystery to keep you guessing until the end.
Recommended without reservation.
Kubrick's first serious effort packs a punch.
TOMASBBloodhound24 June 2012
The Killing is a film whose legacy can still be seen in many films today. This film is not only Stanley Kubrick's first acclaimed film, but it is also credited with inventing the concept of non-linear story telling for the film industry. Some recent films that have used this technique are Reservior Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Go, Wonderland and The Usual Suspects.
The story deals with a motley crew of assorted criminals, inside men, and average joes just looking to get their hands on a large sum of money by stealing it from a racetrack. Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay, a hardened criminal who just finished serving a five-year prison sentence. He is the ringleader of the bunch who is determined to only go for the big heists from now on. He figures they can put you away for stealing ten dollars as easily as ten million, so what have you got to lose? The rest of the crew are mostly average people with average problems, as Clay explains early on. Some of them work at the track. One is a crooked cop. Two are hardened criminals added at the last minute to cause diversions. Everything has been timed and planned out to the letter. Of course in a film like this, things never go as planned. It wouldn't be entertaining if they did.
The killing was made on a budget of well below half a million dollars, and it shows. The film looks cheap at times, but the story is more than enough to make you forgive its financial shortcomings. The acting is nothing too special. Hayden is strong and resourceful as Johnny Clay, but he's pretty wooden. Elisha Cook Jr. is pretty good as a hen-pecked husband who is taking part in the scheme to impress his high-maintenance wife. If this film were re-cast today, you'd have to think of William H. Macy to play this character. Timothy Carey is always memorable, even with such a small part like the one he has here. Such a strange-looking guy! He gets the most interesting assignment of all the people in on the heist.
You can really tell this was made fifty years ago. Even though there are hardened criminals and low-lifes in nearly every scene, nobody ever says the F-word! There is, however, a fairly gory shootout in one scene which you normally didn't find in films back then. The killing was ahead of its time in more ways than one, I guess. Please be sure to check this one out! 8 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
The story deals with a motley crew of assorted criminals, inside men, and average joes just looking to get their hands on a large sum of money by stealing it from a racetrack. Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay, a hardened criminal who just finished serving a five-year prison sentence. He is the ringleader of the bunch who is determined to only go for the big heists from now on. He figures they can put you away for stealing ten dollars as easily as ten million, so what have you got to lose? The rest of the crew are mostly average people with average problems, as Clay explains early on. Some of them work at the track. One is a crooked cop. Two are hardened criminals added at the last minute to cause diversions. Everything has been timed and planned out to the letter. Of course in a film like this, things never go as planned. It wouldn't be entertaining if they did.
The killing was made on a budget of well below half a million dollars, and it shows. The film looks cheap at times, but the story is more than enough to make you forgive its financial shortcomings. The acting is nothing too special. Hayden is strong and resourceful as Johnny Clay, but he's pretty wooden. Elisha Cook Jr. is pretty good as a hen-pecked husband who is taking part in the scheme to impress his high-maintenance wife. If this film were re-cast today, you'd have to think of William H. Macy to play this character. Timothy Carey is always memorable, even with such a small part like the one he has here. Such a strange-looking guy! He gets the most interesting assignment of all the people in on the heist.
You can really tell this was made fifty years ago. Even though there are hardened criminals and low-lifes in nearly every scene, nobody ever says the F-word! There is, however, a fairly gory shootout in one scene which you normally didn't find in films back then. The killing was ahead of its time in more ways than one, I guess. Please be sure to check this one out! 8 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
Hitchcock like in style...
faraaj-14 November 2006
Kubrick directed 15 odd movies in half a century (let's exclude Spartacus). His skills as an auteur may not have been recognized till Strangelove but they were on display in films like Lolita, Paths of Glory and of course The Killing, his first certified classic.
The Killing is about an intricate race-track heist involving a group of non-professionals with clean records. The mastermind, Sterling Hayden, has however spent some time in prison. The unique thing for the time is the non-linear structure of the film - particularly the heist sequence. This was probably Hayden's finest role - yes, better than Jack D. Ripper of Strangelove or Altman's The Long Goodbye - as the doomed hero, Johnny Clay. He is very tall and physical and quite brilliant in this role. He is well-supported by an old favorite of mine from The Maltese Falcon, Elisha Cook Jr. whose venomous wife, Marie Windsor plays a femme fatale of sorts. There is also the cult favorite Timothy Carey as the person assigned to shoot Red Lightning. Reservoir Dogs, a cult film inspired by The Killing is dedicated to Carey.
While The Killing is certainly noirish, it does not have the pure noir look - well, pretty much most of it is filmed in the daytime. In fact, if Kubrick was inspired, it would have been more by Hitchcock's tight pacing than by Chandler or Cain's hard-boiled dialog. The camera-work and editing are brilliant - for me even better than later Kubrick classics. Kubrick was forced to add a voice-over by the studio - something he really wasn't inclined towards. His ingenious solution was to have the VO not directly comment on the movie, but to add another layer to the films structure. It works! This film is not dated, although the Marie Windsor character is a bit one-dimensional and what is visible in the short length of the movie is the tight pacing.
The Killing is about an intricate race-track heist involving a group of non-professionals with clean records. The mastermind, Sterling Hayden, has however spent some time in prison. The unique thing for the time is the non-linear structure of the film - particularly the heist sequence. This was probably Hayden's finest role - yes, better than Jack D. Ripper of Strangelove or Altman's The Long Goodbye - as the doomed hero, Johnny Clay. He is very tall and physical and quite brilliant in this role. He is well-supported by an old favorite of mine from The Maltese Falcon, Elisha Cook Jr. whose venomous wife, Marie Windsor plays a femme fatale of sorts. There is also the cult favorite Timothy Carey as the person assigned to shoot Red Lightning. Reservoir Dogs, a cult film inspired by The Killing is dedicated to Carey.
While The Killing is certainly noirish, it does not have the pure noir look - well, pretty much most of it is filmed in the daytime. In fact, if Kubrick was inspired, it would have been more by Hitchcock's tight pacing than by Chandler or Cain's hard-boiled dialog. The camera-work and editing are brilliant - for me even better than later Kubrick classics. Kubrick was forced to add a voice-over by the studio - something he really wasn't inclined towards. His ingenious solution was to have the VO not directly comment on the movie, but to add another layer to the films structure. It works! This film is not dated, although the Marie Windsor character is a bit one-dimensional and what is visible in the short length of the movie is the tight pacing.
Poor ending.
doire4 May 2003
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILERS* I really enjoyed "The Killing2 but, like many, felt that the ending was fatally flawed. Johnny Clay appears to have every meticulous little detail in this robbery worked out to perfection, yet after the heist he removes the money from the secure baggage it is in and transfers it to a second-hand suitcase that he knows the locks to be faulty on. Over two million dollars in hard currency, yet Johnny can´t be bothered securing the suitcase!. Right Oh!. From the moment Kubrick´s camera focused on those faulty locks, the viewer knows instinctively that the whole shabang is going to be blown wide open. Two million dollars Johnny!. A new suitcase, a secure suitcase would maybe have set you back twenty dollars. And why didn´t you consider this aspect when you were making your meticulous and brilliantly executed robbery plans?. Shame on you.
Ten stars are not enough.
searchanddestroy-117 October 2021
THE absolute best heist film ever. Short, sharp as a Bowie knife, gritty, accurate like a Swiss watch, it describes in 82mn the preparation and execution of a race track cashier office heist. Characters are deep presented, each of them with their own life and relatives, hopes, dreams but also problems. The suspense and tension are here all the time, pulled by a terrific music score. You are literally stuck to it, maybe more than in ASPHALT JUNGLE, though the Huston's film is also a masterpiece starring Sterling Hayden. Rather faithful to the Lionel White's book. The off voice helps much to present characters and timing of the operation. And I did not see it as a Kubrick's film at all. It could have been a Phil Karlson or Don Siegel's picture. And when I read Lionel White's novel, the Johnny Clay's character is so close to Streling Hayden, I thought about him, even I had not known he played in the film, and also so close to Dix character in ASPHALT JUNGLE. The link between the two characters in both novels is so obvious. Roles made for Sterling Hayden, but that could have fit to Robert Ryan too, same disillusioned characters. Remember ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW.
I don't agree that it's a great film; Kubrick hadn't broken out yet
rzajac14 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
In Paths of Glory, we see Kubrick's "coming out"; the beginnings of his future aesthetic, with uncompromisingly straight-up dialog and a directness and unaffectedness of approach that made him an the undisputed master we now know him to be.
In The Killing, we see the beginnings of his beginnings. The hints are there, but it's too patchy to be able to say that the end product is well-knit. Some of the dialog is good. Attention to getting professionalism out of the actors/actresses lapses often enough to attract notice and mar the experience. I used to think that voice-over was invariably a cheap expedient; but upon refection, Kubrick's voice-over work in Barry Lyndon is well, well implemented. The voice-over work in The Killing grates the moment you first hear it, and then it becomes a noir ghost come back to haunt you every time it kicks in.
I think the story is trying to say something about "best-laid-plans", and that's cool. But the set-up for the denouement doesn't feel whole and right and good. Hayden's character has 2 million bucks, but buys a cheap, cardboard suitcase from a rundown dive of a luggage shop to stow it in? Sorry, it just doesn't compute, narratively speaking. I'm reminded of the ending of Manon of the Spring. Montand's character finds out that his whole amoral/jaded outlook on life was the result of a letter lost in the mails, before the age of the telephone. You have to digest that plot twist in light of the technical limitations of the period in which it is set. The plot twist at the very end of The Killing doesn't have this excuse. Even the similar, chaos-wrought twist at the end of No Country for Old Men works better because it is truly out of Anton Chighur's control. Perhaps Kubrick might have more carefully considered how to engineer this to make Hayden's character a true victim of circumstances.
What's good? Like I said, much of the dialog is good; some of it soars. Characterizations are generally good, even if the acting is a little stilted here and there. Of course, the cinematography is excellent. Oddly, the decision to make Hayden's character's love interest a last-minute, undeveloped character struck me a lot more honest than other crime movies where the plot development seems to be on its knees begging us to emotionally bond to criminals by over-developing the love interest angle. The Killing doesn't do this, and in fact even goes the other way, by showing shallow, self-deceived romantic conceits and feints among the criminal set. That's honest, and therefore good.
It's worth watching simply because it's Kubrick. If it works better for you than it did for me, then good. If you find some of the same issues I did, then at least it informs your perspective on how a great director/artist like Kubrick grows. Personally, I've always enjoyed watching artists grow, even in retrospect.
In The Killing, we see the beginnings of his beginnings. The hints are there, but it's too patchy to be able to say that the end product is well-knit. Some of the dialog is good. Attention to getting professionalism out of the actors/actresses lapses often enough to attract notice and mar the experience. I used to think that voice-over was invariably a cheap expedient; but upon refection, Kubrick's voice-over work in Barry Lyndon is well, well implemented. The voice-over work in The Killing grates the moment you first hear it, and then it becomes a noir ghost come back to haunt you every time it kicks in.
I think the story is trying to say something about "best-laid-plans", and that's cool. But the set-up for the denouement doesn't feel whole and right and good. Hayden's character has 2 million bucks, but buys a cheap, cardboard suitcase from a rundown dive of a luggage shop to stow it in? Sorry, it just doesn't compute, narratively speaking. I'm reminded of the ending of Manon of the Spring. Montand's character finds out that his whole amoral/jaded outlook on life was the result of a letter lost in the mails, before the age of the telephone. You have to digest that plot twist in light of the technical limitations of the period in which it is set. The plot twist at the very end of The Killing doesn't have this excuse. Even the similar, chaos-wrought twist at the end of No Country for Old Men works better because it is truly out of Anton Chighur's control. Perhaps Kubrick might have more carefully considered how to engineer this to make Hayden's character a true victim of circumstances.
What's good? Like I said, much of the dialog is good; some of it soars. Characterizations are generally good, even if the acting is a little stilted here and there. Of course, the cinematography is excellent. Oddly, the decision to make Hayden's character's love interest a last-minute, undeveloped character struck me a lot more honest than other crime movies where the plot development seems to be on its knees begging us to emotionally bond to criminals by over-developing the love interest angle. The Killing doesn't do this, and in fact even goes the other way, by showing shallow, self-deceived romantic conceits and feints among the criminal set. That's honest, and therefore good.
It's worth watching simply because it's Kubrick. If it works better for you than it did for me, then good. If you find some of the same issues I did, then at least it informs your perspective on how a great director/artist like Kubrick grows. Personally, I've always enjoyed watching artists grow, even in retrospect.
2 thumbs up !
FrenchEddieFelson18 March 2019
Film noir in all its splendor, with a very dynamic rhythm, far from '2001, a space odyssey': an audacious burglary seems perfectly orchestrated and prepared with a surgical precision, until a minor glitch transforms a 'Symphonie fantastique' in a 'Descente d'Orphée aux enfers'.
Good Ol' Kubrick
ChristophCinema18 December 2012
Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest directors of all time. He's made some of the greatest, thought provoking, controversial films of all time, and his style is out of this world. But before The Shining, before A Clockwork Orange, before 2001, before Dr. Strangelove, even before Spartacus, there was The Killing. It's a very good movie, but it's not one of Kubrick's best; and I was sort of expecting that. Rarely is a director's first movie his best, and even though it has some flaws, it's still a great movie. One problem I have with this movie is the unnecessary narration. I know that wasn't Kubrick's idea, but it's bad, and it's noticeable. It's actually pretty insulting to the audience's intelligence. I think Kubrick trusted his audience to be smart enough to follow the film, and I wish they would just remove it from the film. Another thing is that the movie feels very lopsided. The first half isn't bad, but the second half is definitely stronger. We get a lot of dialogue for the first half, and then we see the action in the second half. It's very well written, and it does keep my interest, but the scale is totally tipped. It's similar to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. The first movie is non-stop action and wildly entertaining, and the second movie has very minimal action, and is mostly talking. Like I said, I love dialogue (especially when it's well written), but I wish it was more balanced with the action. So what's good about this movie? Well, the characters are great. You can tell Tarantino took a lot of inspiration from this movie when he made Reservoir Dogs. It's one of the first instances where the main characters are bad guys, they're very mean spirited, but you cheer for them anyway. Also, the ending is unique for the time. Just like I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, the ending is just very haunting, and leaves you with a dark feeling. I think the best thing about this movie is the cinematography. Kubrick is known for his incredible cinematography, and it's really cool to see where it all started. You can just see the future genius that lies within. The Killing isn't a perfect movie, but it's still really good. For a low budget crime drama from the 1950s, it's amazing. And even though it's so low budget, you can still see that Kubrick style slowly growing. It may not be one of his best, and it does have its flaws, but it's still an engaging, dark, intelligent movie.
What was Kubrick thinking?
nosoapradio2 September 2003
Warning: Spoilers
** spoilers **
This is like a bad episode of Highway Patrol that was chopped up and reassembled. Instead of a straightforward narrative, Kubrick keeps throwing in this corny narration-- "forty minutes before that...", "Two weeks earlier..."-- to cover up inexplicable jumps in the time line. The story's been scrambled for no apparent reason, and it just seems like inept storytelling, like listening to someone who keeps forgetting key details.
Kubrick also used the narration to cover up holes in the exposition, like he didn't want to go back and re-do scenes for clarity-- for example, that bit about how they were supposed to split up was mentioned just in time by the narrator, like it was an afterthought. "Oh yeah, they split up because it was part of the plan. Sorry we didn't mention it earlier."
And there's some major plot elements that aren't explained either. Why did they have to kill the horse? None of the race fans who were "distracted" by it would have seen the robbery anyway. And why was Timothy Carey's character shot when he tried to drive out of the parking lot? How did Sterling Hayden's character get away with slugging a cop in the middle of a crowd? How did a shotgun blast kill everyone except the person it was aimed at? Why didn't Johnny and his girlfriend take the train when the airline wouldn't let them carry on the suitcase? And that bit with having it fly open in the middle of the runway-- I could see that coming a mile off. (I thought all the money was bundled up when he put it in the duffel bag-- what happened there?)
Overall it was sloppy, contrived and poorly executed. This is a first effort in every sense of the word, and belongs more properly to the canon of second rate cop shows of the fifties. Fortunately, Kubrick seemed to have learned from the experience, but that's about all you can say for it.
This is like a bad episode of Highway Patrol that was chopped up and reassembled. Instead of a straightforward narrative, Kubrick keeps throwing in this corny narration-- "forty minutes before that...", "Two weeks earlier..."-- to cover up inexplicable jumps in the time line. The story's been scrambled for no apparent reason, and it just seems like inept storytelling, like listening to someone who keeps forgetting key details.
Kubrick also used the narration to cover up holes in the exposition, like he didn't want to go back and re-do scenes for clarity-- for example, that bit about how they were supposed to split up was mentioned just in time by the narrator, like it was an afterthought. "Oh yeah, they split up because it was part of the plan. Sorry we didn't mention it earlier."
And there's some major plot elements that aren't explained either. Why did they have to kill the horse? None of the race fans who were "distracted" by it would have seen the robbery anyway. And why was Timothy Carey's character shot when he tried to drive out of the parking lot? How did Sterling Hayden's character get away with slugging a cop in the middle of a crowd? How did a shotgun blast kill everyone except the person it was aimed at? Why didn't Johnny and his girlfriend take the train when the airline wouldn't let them carry on the suitcase? And that bit with having it fly open in the middle of the runway-- I could see that coming a mile off. (I thought all the money was bundled up when he put it in the duffel bag-- what happened there?)
Overall it was sloppy, contrived and poorly executed. This is a first effort in every sense of the word, and belongs more properly to the canon of second rate cop shows of the fifties. Fortunately, Kubrick seemed to have learned from the experience, but that's about all you can say for it.
A crime classic, and a monument for actor Elisha Cook, Jr.
frank_olthoff9 July 2001
The story of a meticulously-planned race track hold-up is a stunner in every minute you watch it, and the film's progressive use of a partly documentary style has often been acclaimed as uniquely supporting the dramatic goings-on. It definitely put a modern touch to the somewhat out-of-fashion film noir in 1956, but still greatly relied on its basic rules.
A fine new note was the neat distinction between the gang's members' motives, ranging from repaying underworld debts (De Corsia) and hope of offering a better life for his ill wife (Sawyer) to the vain ambition of pleasing his vamp wife by doing something special (Cook).
Despite the film's qualities, Kubrick's treatment of the women's rôles seems more than old-fashioned today. Women here are either the homely and sweet type (Coleen Gray) or the Bette-Davis-eyed and cherchez-la-femme type (Marie Windsor). Both are accordingly taller or smaller than their respective partners by a head.
I should like to mention one of my favourite pans: that's when the bald philosopher-catcher walks up to Joe Sawyer's bar. Lucien Ballard's camera follows him all across the crowded tote hall, a take which must have been very difficult to organize and shoot. Later, the scene is repeated with Sterling Hayden.
This motion picture is also a monument for the great histrionic art of Elisha Cook, Jr., in a stand-out performance as the born loser. (German dubbing gives him the apt voice of Stan Laurel's speaker Walter Bluhm.) This little man never just did his job in unnumerable supporting rôles but has rendered effective homage to the tragic figure on the silver screen more than any other (non-comical) character actor I can think of. Regardless of his versatility in lots of different films, his impersonations of a likeable man who is doomed to fail make him unforgettable: take his lethal parts in "Phantom Lady" (1944), "Shane" (1953) or the likes, the audience's sympathy was always with this fine actor.
A fine new note was the neat distinction between the gang's members' motives, ranging from repaying underworld debts (De Corsia) and hope of offering a better life for his ill wife (Sawyer) to the vain ambition of pleasing his vamp wife by doing something special (Cook).
Despite the film's qualities, Kubrick's treatment of the women's rôles seems more than old-fashioned today. Women here are either the homely and sweet type (Coleen Gray) or the Bette-Davis-eyed and cherchez-la-femme type (Marie Windsor). Both are accordingly taller or smaller than their respective partners by a head.
I should like to mention one of my favourite pans: that's when the bald philosopher-catcher walks up to Joe Sawyer's bar. Lucien Ballard's camera follows him all across the crowded tote hall, a take which must have been very difficult to organize and shoot. Later, the scene is repeated with Sterling Hayden.
This motion picture is also a monument for the great histrionic art of Elisha Cook, Jr., in a stand-out performance as the born loser. (German dubbing gives him the apt voice of Stan Laurel's speaker Walter Bluhm.) This little man never just did his job in unnumerable supporting rôles but has rendered effective homage to the tragic figure on the silver screen more than any other (non-comical) character actor I can think of. Regardless of his versatility in lots of different films, his impersonations of a likeable man who is doomed to fail make him unforgettable: take his lethal parts in "Phantom Lady" (1944), "Shane" (1953) or the likes, the audience's sympathy was always with this fine actor.
A movie with average plot, fair acting, but superb direction
Lunchbox-819 May 2001
Stanley Kubrick is truly one of the most gifted directors of all time. He wasn't afraid to be boring(2001: a Space Odyssey) or critically bashed(The Shining) or risque and disturbing(A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut). He simply did his job: to provide a well made film with strong theme and meaning. The Killing is definitely not Kubrick's best work. It seems to me that Stan wasn't famous enough and too little known to make The Killing the way that he wanted to. It was though, still pretty entertaining. It has one of my favorite attributes that most movies don't even steer close to: a non-linear plot. A non-linear plot is when scenes are put in non-chronilogical order, i.e. Pulp Fiction, Out of Sight, Fight Club, etc. It makes the audience pay more attention and makes the plot seem more interesting and intricate. In this movie, the plot wasn't way out of order, but it was enough to be conidered non-linear.
Another cool part of the movie was the heist itself. It was very well planned and executed and obviously took time to think up. The depressing climax and ending lean a lot towards the work of Hitchcock. In fact, if this film had been in some parts been by Hitchcock, it would not have been too much of a surprise.
If you're in to classic, black and white crime dramas, then this movie is for you.
Another cool part of the movie was the heist itself. It was very well planned and executed and obviously took time to think up. The depressing climax and ending lean a lot towards the work of Hitchcock. In fact, if this film had been in some parts been by Hitchcock, it would not have been too much of a surprise.
If you're in to classic, black and white crime dramas, then this movie is for you.
Out of the Jungle and on to the Racetrack
bkoganbing9 March 2008
Although Jack Palance and Victor Mature would have been perfectly good in the lead role I was surprised that Sterling Hayden was a third choice after them to play the lead in The Killing. Given his performance in The Asphalt Jungle I would have thought Hayden would have been a first choice for fledgling director Stanley Kubrick.
Hayden was in the muscle end in The Asphalt Jungle, but in The Killing he's doing some planning as well. What he's got planned is an intricate robbery of a racetrack with crooked cop Ted DeCorsia, track bartender Joe Sawyer, Jay C. Flippen, and parimutuel clerk Elisha Cook, Jr. Each has a most specific job that is timed to the split second. In addition Timothy Carey and Kola Kwariani have some jobs to perform that are unknown to the others and are getting a flat fee off the top for what they do.
Cook hasn't got his head in the game though. Who would with two timing high maintenance dame Marie Windsor as a wife. She learns enough to tip her boyfriend Vincent Edwards off to the scheme. Coleen Gray has the Jean Hagen role as Hayden's loyal girl friend.
The robbery comes off pretty good, the scenes are done in the same manner as The Asphalt Jungle. Of course the usual problems involving the split and the getaway occur. A lot of that is taken from The Asphalt Jungle as well.
The film was shot in and around Bay Meadows racetrack so it looks very real. Stanley Kubrick got such good reviews for this and deservedly so that Kirk Douglas hired him to direct the much bigger budgeted Paths of Glory. A career was born.
The Killing is a finely edited and finely crafted piece of movie making. It's both a noir and a caper film and succeeds at both. The characters are realistic in a realistic setting. Everybody here can be proud of their participation.
Hayden was in the muscle end in The Asphalt Jungle, but in The Killing he's doing some planning as well. What he's got planned is an intricate robbery of a racetrack with crooked cop Ted DeCorsia, track bartender Joe Sawyer, Jay C. Flippen, and parimutuel clerk Elisha Cook, Jr. Each has a most specific job that is timed to the split second. In addition Timothy Carey and Kola Kwariani have some jobs to perform that are unknown to the others and are getting a flat fee off the top for what they do.
Cook hasn't got his head in the game though. Who would with two timing high maintenance dame Marie Windsor as a wife. She learns enough to tip her boyfriend Vincent Edwards off to the scheme. Coleen Gray has the Jean Hagen role as Hayden's loyal girl friend.
The robbery comes off pretty good, the scenes are done in the same manner as The Asphalt Jungle. Of course the usual problems involving the split and the getaway occur. A lot of that is taken from The Asphalt Jungle as well.
The film was shot in and around Bay Meadows racetrack so it looks very real. Stanley Kubrick got such good reviews for this and deservedly so that Kirk Douglas hired him to direct the much bigger budgeted Paths of Glory. A career was born.
The Killing is a finely edited and finely crafted piece of movie making. It's both a noir and a caper film and succeeds at both. The characters are realistic in a realistic setting. Everybody here can be proud of their participation.
An odd sense of exhilaration
tonygumbrell4 September 2005
This is seemingly the most exhilarating and uplifting movie I have ever seen. I go away from it strengthened and encouraged for the task or lonely road ahead. I know it would be wrong to identify with the protagonist, Johnny Clay, but I certainly sympathize with him. It may be indicative of some baseness in my character. I don't know or much care after the movie is over. His terrible downfall is, oddly, an upper rather than a downer for me. My only difficulty is rather too much exhilaration, and I need to be brought back down to earth after the curtain falls maybe by some silliness that serves to remind me of the pointless futility of human endeavor. Oddly, "The Killing" does just the opposite. Go figure. The casting and narration and direction are superb. I've read a criticism that the actress playing Johnny's girl friend is weak or miscast. I disagree. I think she's perfect for the part and lends a great verisimilitude to it as well as other qualities that are crucial to the overall effect of the story on me. I don't have a favorite movie anymore but I'd go see this one again if I were lucky enough to be able to see it in a theater, where it should be seen. The movies being made today usually ain't worth mentionin'.
One of the most skillful and entertaining suspense movies of the Fifties
Nazi_Fighter_David5 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The formidably promising talent shown in "Killer's Kiss" helped to secure for Stanley Kubrick studio backing for his next straight thriller, "The Killing," made in 1956
This was a much more "professional" job than its forerunner Kubrick had the casting of a bunch of actors so experienced in the "character" parts that as soon as they came into camera view you recognized them from a score of Hollywood movies
"The Killing" lacks for me the dimension of humanity of its predecessor It reminded me of one of those documentaries that give you every conceivable fact with immaculate accuracy and leave you without the heart of the truth This has something to do with the style of the storytelling . Once again there is a narrator; only instead of a lonely failure with blood in his veins, this one sounds like a "March of Time" commentator: loud, confident, detached
The film opens on the horses preparing for the off at the track and, even before the titles end, the dramatic music has started building the tension
One by one we are introduced to the characters as once again, we don't know for a while what the plot is going to be; but this one uses the time to build the mystery and tension rather than to deepen the characters
Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is a convict just out from five years in Alcatraz, master-minding the two million dollar hold-up He collects (how, we are never told) a bunch of flawed human beings to fit, like jigsaw pieces, into the intricacy of his plan There's an Irish barman, an amiable old book-keeper, a tough crooked cop; and there's little George Peatty, played by Elisha Cook Jr he of the bulging eyes and mobile mouth; here the incarnation of fear and uncertainty and in countless other Hollywood thrillers the personification of the staring-eyed boy killer...
Kubrick plays tricks with time as his characters become caught in the plot He takes each of them and plays his incident through to the next turn of the screw; then goes back to an earlier moment in time to see what somebody else was doing
Even the incidental small parts have "character" stamped right through them The marksman hired to shoot a winning racehorse to cause a diversion from the robbery is a war veteran with deformed speech The old retired wrestler, who picks a fight with the police to create another diversion
If "Killer's Kiss" had one big dramatic set-piece, "The Killing" has a score of small dramatic touches to heighten the irony and the tension
"The Killing" is one of the most skillful and entertaining suspense movies of the Fifties It mesmerized like a ticking time bomb, and every few minutes, with sure skill, Kubrick recorded a new peak of suspense And all with very little violence, again, though with the obligatory sudden death
This was a much more "professional" job than its forerunner Kubrick had the casting of a bunch of actors so experienced in the "character" parts that as soon as they came into camera view you recognized them from a score of Hollywood movies
"The Killing" lacks for me the dimension of humanity of its predecessor It reminded me of one of those documentaries that give you every conceivable fact with immaculate accuracy and leave you without the heart of the truth This has something to do with the style of the storytelling . Once again there is a narrator; only instead of a lonely failure with blood in his veins, this one sounds like a "March of Time" commentator: loud, confident, detached
The film opens on the horses preparing for the off at the track and, even before the titles end, the dramatic music has started building the tension
One by one we are introduced to the characters as once again, we don't know for a while what the plot is going to be; but this one uses the time to build the mystery and tension rather than to deepen the characters
Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is a convict just out from five years in Alcatraz, master-minding the two million dollar hold-up He collects (how, we are never told) a bunch of flawed human beings to fit, like jigsaw pieces, into the intricacy of his plan There's an Irish barman, an amiable old book-keeper, a tough crooked cop; and there's little George Peatty, played by Elisha Cook Jr he of the bulging eyes and mobile mouth; here the incarnation of fear and uncertainty and in countless other Hollywood thrillers the personification of the staring-eyed boy killer...
Kubrick plays tricks with time as his characters become caught in the plot He takes each of them and plays his incident through to the next turn of the screw; then goes back to an earlier moment in time to see what somebody else was doing
Even the incidental small parts have "character" stamped right through them The marksman hired to shoot a winning racehorse to cause a diversion from the robbery is a war veteran with deformed speech The old retired wrestler, who picks a fight with the police to create another diversion
If "Killer's Kiss" had one big dramatic set-piece, "The Killing" has a score of small dramatic touches to heighten the irony and the tension
"The Killing" is one of the most skillful and entertaining suspense movies of the Fifties It mesmerized like a ticking time bomb, and every few minutes, with sure skill, Kubrick recorded a new peak of suspense And all with very little violence, again, though with the obligatory sudden death
Somewhat over-hyped early Kubrick...
moonspinner5525 January 2008
Stanley Kubrick co-wrote and directed this adaptation of Lionel White's book "Clean Break" (a better title!) about a racetrack robbery gone horribly wrong. Film-noir is alternately exciting and heavy-hearted, with scenes that tend to plod and performances which aren't terribly magnetic. Sterling Hayden excels as always, and Elisha Cook and Vince Edwards do well in character parts, but the other roles are disappointingly filled and the production is on the cheap side. Although Kubrick's film garnered sterling notices in its time, it hasn't aged well and is worth-seeing today only as a curio. **1/2 from ****
Neat and concise
Kubris9 April 2012
IMDb Top 250: 194
With The Killing, Stanley Kubrick established himself as a great director. Unfortunately, 55 years later, this film is unfortunately less remembered because it isn't released between 1957- 1987. It's a shame The Killing isn't seen more, because viewers are treated to an excellent and suspenseful crime noir.
Here is a heist with a straightforward plot and nonlinear storytelling. In an hour and a half, the first half is set up and the second half is all payoff. First we neatly learn about the characters, and some of their reasons for the job are exposed. The second half is pure awesome- the slick, simple heist is played out from several perspectives.
Huge success comes from the characters: they're great. Instead of a couple of stiffs, the conspirators are old, corrupt, meek, foreign; there is one stiff. Maurice and Nicky in particular stand out, great characters. Sherry as well, but for quite the opposite reasons.
The script is stellar. Most noirs are nonsensical, The Killing is correct to the minute. Dialogue comes fast and furiously, and scenes are repeated from other characters perspectives, but they don't feel redundant: we learn more each time.
There are a couple of things that have occurred in Kubrick's first three films: narration and great music. The trumpet blaring during the heist really raises the tension. On another note, it's apparent that Kubrick could now realize his projects however he wanted. A neat tidbit: I liked the chess club scenes, because Kubrick was an avid chess player.
Technically The Killing is great as well: the horse following, the tracking shot echoed by Goodfellas 35 years later... the lighting is great, like when Clay leans back into darkness as he goes over some details.
My 50's heist knowledge is quite thin, so this was very original to me. I also noted some very influential aspects, notably the entire concept of Reservoir Dogs, as well as things found in, say, The Dark Knight?
Anyway, The Killing is an excellent film that hasn't been seen as much as it should. A very well woven tale. 8.5/10
With The Killing, Stanley Kubrick established himself as a great director. Unfortunately, 55 years later, this film is unfortunately less remembered because it isn't released between 1957- 1987. It's a shame The Killing isn't seen more, because viewers are treated to an excellent and suspenseful crime noir.
Here is a heist with a straightforward plot and nonlinear storytelling. In an hour and a half, the first half is set up and the second half is all payoff. First we neatly learn about the characters, and some of their reasons for the job are exposed. The second half is pure awesome- the slick, simple heist is played out from several perspectives.
Huge success comes from the characters: they're great. Instead of a couple of stiffs, the conspirators are old, corrupt, meek, foreign; there is one stiff. Maurice and Nicky in particular stand out, great characters. Sherry as well, but for quite the opposite reasons.
The script is stellar. Most noirs are nonsensical, The Killing is correct to the minute. Dialogue comes fast and furiously, and scenes are repeated from other characters perspectives, but they don't feel redundant: we learn more each time.
There are a couple of things that have occurred in Kubrick's first three films: narration and great music. The trumpet blaring during the heist really raises the tension. On another note, it's apparent that Kubrick could now realize his projects however he wanted. A neat tidbit: I liked the chess club scenes, because Kubrick was an avid chess player.
Technically The Killing is great as well: the horse following, the tracking shot echoed by Goodfellas 35 years later... the lighting is great, like when Clay leans back into darkness as he goes over some details.
My 50's heist knowledge is quite thin, so this was very original to me. I also noted some very influential aspects, notably the entire concept of Reservoir Dogs, as well as things found in, say, The Dark Knight?
Anyway, The Killing is an excellent film that hasn't been seen as much as it should. A very well woven tale. 8.5/10
Not to be confused with Sarah Lund's jumper saga
asda-man17 February 2015
The Killing is a welcome improvement upon the disappointingly flat, Killer's Kiss. Some have gone as far to say that The Killing is the best film out of Stanley's entire filmography! Whilst, I'm inclined to strongly disagree with that statement, I still enjoyed The Killing (what's with Stanners and all this killing and killers?) for what it was. A stylish little crime thriller with a narrative which goes back and forth in time, which is reminiscent of Quentin's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
A lot of noirs from the 50's can be extremely slow and, to be frank, boring! The Killing however didn't bore me for a second of its tight running time. In Stanley's later films, he tends to pad out the narrative, but here he keeps it economical and to the point. We begin at the beginning of the heist and then flip back to the group of men planning the robbery. It's a fairly unconventional storytelling method for the 50's, although Citizen Kane did attempt it first a decade or so earlier.
Unlike Citizen Kane though, The Killing isn't boring. I enjoyed it's nice array of characters, particularly George and his acid-tongued wife. A large amount of the film was dedicated to this odd couple and the dialogue between them is especially witty and entertaining. It's a shame that some of the other guys didn't get as much screen-time, so I cared slightly less for them. It doesn't matter too much though, because The Killing is all about building up to the grand racetrack heist and it does a cracking job.
Once we reach the heist we see it multiple times from everyone's different point of view. It's very engaging and clever to see how it all pans out and you're almost rooting for them to complete it cleanly. Some of it was also very well directed. I enjoyed the fight at the bar which was done in a realistic way and only in a few shots. I also liked the tense robbery itself where a character sports a clown mask not too dissimilar to the ones in the opening of The Dark Knight.
In a fairly, yet satisfyingly contrived way, the film obviously pushes its moral that robbing is bad! Suffice to say that the characters meet a sticky way one way or another. I did find the ending a little too sudden and rushed, but overall The Killing is a pretty fine film. I loved its use of narrative and some of the characters were quite memorable too. It's far from Stanley Kubrick's best film, but it's a welcome leap forward from Killer's Kiss. I shall look forward to Paths of Glory.
A lot of noirs from the 50's can be extremely slow and, to be frank, boring! The Killing however didn't bore me for a second of its tight running time. In Stanley's later films, he tends to pad out the narrative, but here he keeps it economical and to the point. We begin at the beginning of the heist and then flip back to the group of men planning the robbery. It's a fairly unconventional storytelling method for the 50's, although Citizen Kane did attempt it first a decade or so earlier.
Unlike Citizen Kane though, The Killing isn't boring. I enjoyed it's nice array of characters, particularly George and his acid-tongued wife. A large amount of the film was dedicated to this odd couple and the dialogue between them is especially witty and entertaining. It's a shame that some of the other guys didn't get as much screen-time, so I cared slightly less for them. It doesn't matter too much though, because The Killing is all about building up to the grand racetrack heist and it does a cracking job.
Once we reach the heist we see it multiple times from everyone's different point of view. It's very engaging and clever to see how it all pans out and you're almost rooting for them to complete it cleanly. Some of it was also very well directed. I enjoyed the fight at the bar which was done in a realistic way and only in a few shots. I also liked the tense robbery itself where a character sports a clown mask not too dissimilar to the ones in the opening of The Dark Knight.
In a fairly, yet satisfyingly contrived way, the film obviously pushes its moral that robbing is bad! Suffice to say that the characters meet a sticky way one way or another. I did find the ending a little too sudden and rushed, but overall The Killing is a pretty fine film. I loved its use of narrative and some of the characters were quite memorable too. It's far from Stanley Kubrick's best film, but it's a welcome leap forward from Killer's Kiss. I shall look forward to Paths of Glory.
A Killing at the Racetrack
sol-kay10 January 2005
(SOME SPOILERS) Stanley Kubrick's 1956 Film/Noir classic that plays with the clock in putting most of those involved in this robbery of a California racetrack in the same time-frame in a series of overlapping episodes.
Planing to rob the tracks handle, money thats bet, as well as it's concession and tickets sales mastermind Johnny Clay, Sterling Hayden, plans the robbery to take place on the tracks biggest racing day when it holds it's most expensive feature race the $100,000.00 added Landstown Stakes.
Working together with a number of track workers, a ticket seller and bartender, as well as a policemen to make the getaway with the cash without being noticed. The plan laid out by Johnny goes off almost without a hitch. Only one of the robbers Kikki Arcane ,Timothy Carey, was shot and killed by track police and all the rest got away. It's later the robbers meet up at their prearranged hideout, minus Johnny, things start to fall apart.
As their all waiting for Johnny to come over with the $2,000,000.00 in cash that was taken in the robbery Val, Vince Edwards, and friend break into their place in order to rob them of the cash that they don't have. A gunfight breaks out with everyone there shot dead but the track ticket clerk George Peatty, Elisha Cook JR. who was in the other room and surprised them Val & Co. by starting the gun fight.
George badly wounded staggers out of the room to his car to go back home and deal with his two-timing wife Sherry, Marie Windsor, who was having an affair with Val, behind George's back. It was Saherry who tipped him off about the robbery and where the money is to be split between the robbers. As George leaves the house shot and bleeding Johnny pulls up with a laundry bag loaded with the $2,000,000.00 in cash to split up with the rest of the robbers.
Seeing the police coming on the scene Johnny takes off to pick up his girlfriend Fay, Coleen Gray, and together drive down to the airport and get on a flight to Boston with the cash. George meanwhile goes home and confronts Sherry who at first though, when he opened the door,t that he was her lover Val and shoots her dead for double-crossing him and his fellow crooks.
At the airport the final chapter of this film is played out with an ironic ending for both Johnny and Fay in their attempt to get away Scot-free with the track loot after everybody involved with it ended up dead. Like the domino effect in the movie that started with the shooting at the hideout between the robbers and Val & friend the last piece to fall, after all the others fell, was just about to go down.
The time sequences in the movie added at least twenty to the films final 85 minutes but instead of padding the movie to lengthen it's running time it actually enhanced it's story.
Planing to rob the tracks handle, money thats bet, as well as it's concession and tickets sales mastermind Johnny Clay, Sterling Hayden, plans the robbery to take place on the tracks biggest racing day when it holds it's most expensive feature race the $100,000.00 added Landstown Stakes.
Working together with a number of track workers, a ticket seller and bartender, as well as a policemen to make the getaway with the cash without being noticed. The plan laid out by Johnny goes off almost without a hitch. Only one of the robbers Kikki Arcane ,Timothy Carey, was shot and killed by track police and all the rest got away. It's later the robbers meet up at their prearranged hideout, minus Johnny, things start to fall apart.
As their all waiting for Johnny to come over with the $2,000,000.00 in cash that was taken in the robbery Val, Vince Edwards, and friend break into their place in order to rob them of the cash that they don't have. A gunfight breaks out with everyone there shot dead but the track ticket clerk George Peatty, Elisha Cook JR. who was in the other room and surprised them Val & Co. by starting the gun fight.
George badly wounded staggers out of the room to his car to go back home and deal with his two-timing wife Sherry, Marie Windsor, who was having an affair with Val, behind George's back. It was Saherry who tipped him off about the robbery and where the money is to be split between the robbers. As George leaves the house shot and bleeding Johnny pulls up with a laundry bag loaded with the $2,000,000.00 in cash to split up with the rest of the robbers.
Seeing the police coming on the scene Johnny takes off to pick up his girlfriend Fay, Coleen Gray, and together drive down to the airport and get on a flight to Boston with the cash. George meanwhile goes home and confronts Sherry who at first though, when he opened the door,t that he was her lover Val and shoots her dead for double-crossing him and his fellow crooks.
At the airport the final chapter of this film is played out with an ironic ending for both Johnny and Fay in their attempt to get away Scot-free with the track loot after everybody involved with it ended up dead. Like the domino effect in the movie that started with the shooting at the hideout between the robbers and Val & friend the last piece to fall, after all the others fell, was just about to go down.
The time sequences in the movie added at least twenty to the films final 85 minutes but instead of padding the movie to lengthen it's running time it actually enhanced it's story.
a heist at the track
ksf-29 March 2024
Sterling hayden, eric roberts, coleen gray. Johnny clay sets up a heist at a race track. But it's almost knocked off the rails by george and his wife when they are caught nosing around the gang while they are planning the deal. And to make it more confusing, we jump back and forth in time. The trivia section tells us that the narrator was added later, to help make sense of the film's plot. Unfortunately, it comes out sounding like an episode of dragnet. Elisha cook plays his usual low life, underground character, who isn't respected by his pals. Hayden uses his fast, higher pitched, monotone voice whenever he's talking to his gang, similar to the voice he used in doctor strangelove. The plan slowly falls apart. Will clay ever make a getaway with the dough? Directed by stanley kubrick, the master. It's okay. No big masterpiece. Not as good as his other stuff.
10 Reasons Why this Film is Bad
jacabiya4 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
While strikingly shot and directed, this film (by Kubrick, I now) is incredibly dumb:
1. Why fly (to Boston?) instead of taking a train or leave by car or bus, moreover with the issue with the suitcase being too big and full of money?
2. Why Hayden didn't plan to have a big suitcase ready if he intended to fly? Didn't he know he wouldn't be able to carry it on? As a matter of fact, Hayden is miscast as a mastermind (he's better fitted to play a hooligan (see Asphalt Jungle))
3. Hayden does the job and seems unconcerned the guards would return and confront him. And why the clown mask?
4. Why shoot the horse? The wrestling fight seemed to be more productive at the end
5. Everybody dead in the shootout
6. Incredibly silly wrestling fight (the fighter conveniently loses his shirt)
7. Annoying wife of Elishah Cook, Jr., who's extremely stupid
8. Confusing back and forth with repeated, tiring shots
9. Music
10. Add-on narration
See also
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