The Killing (1956)

Crooks plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Jim Thompson (dialogue),

Stars:

Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards

Top 250 #188 | Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sterling Hayden	...	Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray	...	Fay
Vince Edwards	...	Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen	...	Marvin Unger
Ted de Corsia	...	Policeman Randy Kennan (as Ted DeCorsia)
Marie Windsor	...	Sherry Peatty
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	George Peatty (as Elisha Cook)
Joe Sawyer	...	Mike O'Reilly
James Edwards	...	Track Parking Attendant
Timothy Carey	...	Nikki Arcane
Kola Kwariani	...	Maurice Oboukhoff
Jay Adler	...	Leo the Loanshark
Tito Vuolo	...	Joe Piano
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly
Herbert Ellis	...	2nd American Airlines Clerk

Storyline

After getting out of prison, Johnny Clay masterminds a complex race-track heist, but his scheme is complicated by the intervention of the wife of a teller (George Peatty) in on the scheme, the boyfriend of the wife, airport regulations, and a small dog.

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Plot Keywords:

airport | racetrack | robbery | ex convict | suitcase | 

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Taglines:

...Like No Other Picture Since "Scarface" and "Little Caesar"!

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bed of Fear

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$320,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harris-Kubrick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stanley Kubrick:  [bathroom]  A gun is hidden in the locker room of the racetrack.

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Goofs

When the parking lot attendant hands Nikki a horse shoe, he holds the round part in one shot and the end in the next.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: At exactly 3:45 on that Saturday afternoon in the last week of September, Marvin Unger was, perhaps, the only one among the hundred thousand people at the track who felt no thrill at the running of the fifth race. He was totally disinterested in horse racing and held a lifelong contempt for gambling. Nevertheless, he had a $5 win bet on every horse in the fifth race. He knew, of course, that this rather unique system of betting would more than likely result in a loss, but he didn't...

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Connections

Referenced in Kaante (2002)

User Reviews

Young Kubrick's triumph

Stanley Kunbrick was still in his twenties when he made this film, yet his confidence and self-assurance are all over it. It is a well-written story, co-written by Kubrick (based on a novel called "A Clean Break"), about a meticulously planned horetrack heist told from the point of view of the several people who were in on the plot. Most of these guys weren't professional criminals, but otherwise honest men who were down on their luck and needed a break. They turned to this audacious plan in desperation, thinking they could do some real good in their lives with their share of the money. I won't give away the ending of course, but keep in mind this is a Kubrick film. That's all I say about that.

Standouts include Sterling Hayden as the ringleader, Marie Windsor as a snide, manipulative woman, Elisha Cook as her milquetoasty husband, Timothy Carey, as creepy as ever, and Kola Kwariani, the thinking man's Tor Johnson, as a chess expert/hired thug.

Speaking of chess, this is the first movie I've ever seen with a scene taking place in a chess parlor. Being from a provincial New England town, and not being a chess afficionado, I never knew such places existed.