The Killing (1956)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

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

Release Date:

6 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Film-Noir

Tagline:

These 5 Men Had a $2,000,000 Secret Until One of them told this Woman!

Plot:

Crooks plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Racetrack | Robbery | Airport | Heist | Dog

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

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 - motel manager
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly
Herbert Ellis	...	2nd American Airlines Clerk
James Griffith	...	Mr. Grimes, Airline Supervisor
Cecil Elliott	...	Lady with Small Dog
Joe Turkel	...	Tiny (as Joseph Turkel)
Steve Mitchell	...	Brown, American Airlines Clerk
Mary Carroll	...	Woman asking Kennan for Help
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	American Airlines Clerk (as William Benedict)
Charles Cane	...	Plainclothesman at Airport (as Charles R. Cane)
Robert Williams	...	Plainclothesman at Airport (as Robert B. Williams)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franklyn Farnum	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
John George	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Track Guard slugged by Johnny (uncredited)
Harry Hines	...	Chess Player (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
Hal J. Moore	...	Race Track P.A. Announcer (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Richard Reeves	...	Bill, Track Employee in Locker Room (uncredited)
Frank Richards	...	Track Employee in Locker Room (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(screenplay)
Jim Thompson		(dialogue)
Lionel White		(novel "Clean Break")

Produced by
James B. Harris	....	producer
Alexander Singer	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Gerald Fried

Cinematography by
Lucien Ballard		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Betty Steinberg

Art Direction by
Ruth Sobotka

Set Decoration by
Harry Reif

Makeup Department
Robert Littlefield	....	makeup artist
Lillian Shore	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Clarence Eurist	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Milton Carter	....	assistant director
Paul Feiner	....	second assistant director
Howard Joslin	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Karl Brainard	....	assistant set decorator (as Carl Brainard)
Christopher Ebsen	....	chief carpenter
Bud Pine	....	construction supervisor
Robert L. Stephen	....	chief painter
Ray Zambel	....	property master

Sound Department
Rex Lipton	....	sound effects editor
Earl Snyder	....	sound

Special Effects by
Dave Koehler	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Louis DeWitt	....	photographic effects
Jack Rabin	....	photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Lou Cortese	....	best boy
Paul Eagler	....	process camera operator
Carl Gibson	....	head grip
Robert Hosler	....	second assistant camera
Bobby Jones	....	gaffer
Richard Towers	....	camera operator (as Dick Tower)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Beaumelle	....	costumes: Miss Windsor
Rudy Harrington	....	wardrobe: women
Jack Masters	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Gerald Fried	....	conductor
Gilbert D. Marchant	....	music editor (as Gilbert Marchant)

Transportation Department
Dave Lesser	....	transportation

Other crew
Mary Gibsone	....	script supervisor
Joyce Hartman	....	assistant to director
Marguerite Olson	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Harris-Kubrick Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Art Free (2004) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Cinemagia (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Bed of Fear (USA) (working title)
Clean Break (USA) (working title)
Day of Violence (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1956) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (2003) | Finland:K-16 (1960) (cut) | Spain:T | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Norway:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Ireland:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #17836) (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bay Meadows Racetrack - 2600 S. Delaware Street, San Mateo, California, USA

Company:

Harris-Kubrick Productions

Trivia:

Frank Sinatra expressed interest in this project, but production rights were granted to Stanley Kubrick first.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the motel, the camera shadow can be seen on the pavement, along with the crane and operator.

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...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Alien³' (2003) (V)

Hitchcock like in style...

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.