The Killers (1964)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Ernest Hemingway (story)
Gene L. Coon (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 July 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

There is more than one way to kill a man!

Plot:

Surprised that their contract victim didn't try to run away from them, two professional hit men try to find out who hired them and why.

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Teacher | School For The Blind | Violence | Helicopter Shot

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Charlie Strom
Angie Dickinson	...	Sheila Farr
John Cassavetes	...	Johnny North
Clu Gulager	...	Lee
Claude Akins	...	Earl Sylvester
Norman Fell	...	Mickey Farmer
Ronald Reagan	...	Jack Browning
Virginia Christine	...	Miss Watson
Don Haggerty	...	Mail Truck Driver
Robert Phillips	...	George
Kathleen O'Malley	...	Receptionist
Ted Jacques	...	Gym Assistant
Irvin Mosley Jr.	...	Mail Truck Guard (as Irvin Mosley)
Jimmy Joyce	...	Salesman
Davis Roberts	...	Maître D'

Also Known As:

Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (USA) (promotional title)
Johnny North (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1964) (uncut) | Finland:(Banned) (1964) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (1968) (cut) | Iceland:12 | Norway:16 (1964) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:M | Spain:18 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California, USA

Company:

Revue Studios

Trivia:

Despite having a score composed by John Williams, the film's opening and end title music were lifted excerpts from Touch of Evil (1958) which was scored by Henry Mancini.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Charlie and Lee go down to Miami to visit Earl Sylvester there are mountains clearly visible in the background as they drive up to the garage.

Quotes:

Jack Browning: I approve of larceny; homicide is against my principles.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Angie Dickinson: Tinseltown's Classiest Broad" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Too Little Time

Ahead of it's time, uncompromising b-grade thriller.

Don Siegel's 'The Killers' is a diamond in the rough! Initially filmed for television, its technical limitations are easily overlooked as they are more than compensated for by the drive of the no-nonsense narrative, and the high standards of the acting. Caught somewhere between Kubrick's 'The Killing' and Boorman's 'Point Blank', it may not be as flamboyantly impressive as either, but it is just as memorable in its own low key way.

Quentin Tarantino has admitted that the structure of 'The Killing' has influenced him, but after watching 'The Killers', one must question whether this movie is also high on his list. Especially as the cooler-than-thou hit-men played by Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager almost anticipate Travolta and Jackson's similarly quirky ones in 'Pulp Fiction' thirty years later. Just like Vincent and Jules, Charlie and Lee are eccentric and likable when "off duty" and brutal sociopaths when on. Lee Marvin is one of Hollywood's legendary screen tough guys, and his performance here is as good as any he ever did, but the real stand out for me is Clu Gulager's health nut contract killer. He just about steals every scene he is in. Up to this point he was mainly known as a Western TV star. Why this role didn't launch him into a Bruce Dern/Harry Dean Stanton/Dick Miller style career baffles me. Instead he was mainly consigned to the "made for TV" wasteland, and never got the breaks his talent deserved.

Marvin and Gulager's star turns are backed up by strong supporting performances from John Cassavetes, as their enigmatic "job", Angie Dickinson, a double-crossing femme fatale, and Ronald Reagan in a surprising turn as a nasty gangster. Also keep an eye out for a dialogue-free cameo by a very young looking Seymour Cassel!

'The Killers' looks better and better as the years go by. Not without flaws, sure, and calling it a masterpiece would be overkill, but it's a movie that was ahead of it's time in many ways, and it can't help but impress discerning fans of 50s/60s b-grade crime movies, film noir, or Sam Fuller.