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The Killing

  • 1956
  • Approved
  • 1h 24m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
102K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,843
124
Sterling Hayden and Marie Windsor in The Killing (1956)
Three Reasons Criterion Trailer for The Killing
Play trailer1:34
1 Video
99+ Photos
CaperFilm NoirHeistPsychological DramaPsychological ThrillerTragedyCrimeDramaThriller

Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

  • Director
    • Stanley Kubrick
  • Writers
    • Stanley Kubrick
    • Jim Thompson
    • Lionel White
  • Stars
    • Sterling Hayden
    • Coleen Gray
    • Vince Edwards
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    102K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,843
    124
    • Director
      • Stanley Kubrick
    • Writers
      • Stanley Kubrick
      • Jim Thompson
      • Lionel White
    • Stars
      • Sterling Hayden
      • Coleen Gray
      • Vince Edwards
    • 470User reviews
    • 141Critic reviews
    • 91Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    The Killing: The Criterion Collection
    Trailer 1:34
    The Killing: The Criterion Collection

    Photos160

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    + 152
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    Top cast57

    Edit
    Sterling Hayden
    Sterling Hayden
    • Johnny Clay
    Coleen Gray
    Coleen Gray
    • Fay
    Vince Edwards
    Vince Edwards
    • Val Cannon
    Jay C. Flippen
    Jay C. Flippen
    • Marvin Unger
    Ted de Corsia
    Ted de Corsia
    • Patrolman Randy Kennan
    • (as Ted DeCorsia)
    Marie Windsor
    Marie Windsor
    • Sherry Peatty
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    • George Peatty
    • (as Elisha Cook)
    Joe Sawyer
    Joe Sawyer
    • Mike O'Reilly
    James Edwards
    James Edwards
    • Track Parking Attendant
    Timothy Carey
    Timothy Carey
    • Nikki Arcane
    Kola Kwariani
    Kola Kwariani
    • Maurice Oboukhoff
    Jay Adler
    Jay Adler
    • Leo the Loanshark
    Tito Vuolo
    Tito Vuolo
    • Joe Piano
    Dorothy Adams
    Dorothy Adams
    • Ruthie O'Reilly
    Herbert Ellis
    • Second American Airlines Clerk
    James Griffith
    James Griffith
    • Mr. Grimes
    Cecil Elliott
    • Lady with Small Dog
    Joe Turkel
    Joe Turkel
    • Tiny
    • (as Joseph Turkel)
    • Director
      • Stanley Kubrick
    • Writers
      • Stanley Kubrick
      • Jim Thompson
      • Lionel White
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews470

    7.9101.9K
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    Featured reviews

    7drqshadow-reviews

    The Thick, Pulpy Roots of Modern Heist Epics

    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.
    9ccthemovieman-1

    Great Characters In Here!

    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.
    9Xstal

    You Win Some, You...

    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 accomplishment that so many films of that time fail to achieve when revisited.
    FrenchEddieFelson

    2 thumbs up !

    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'.
    8TOMASBBloodhound

    Kubrick's first serious effort packs a punch.

    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.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Initial test screenings were poor, citing the non-linear structure as the main problem. Stanley Kubrick was forced to go back and edit the film in a linear fashion, making the film even more confusing. In the end, it was released in its original form, and is often cited as being a huge influence on other non-linear films like Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994).
    • Goofs
      During the robbery, it's clear that a significant amount of the money is in neatly banded bundles of crisp brand-new bills, yet when it's transferred from the duffel bag to the suitcase, all the bills are loose, unstacked, and appear well-used.
    • Quotes

      Johnny Clay: You'd be killing a horse - that's not first degree murder, in fact it's not murder at all, in fact I don't know what it is.

    • Connections
      Edited into Hai-Kubrick (1999)

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    FAQ20

    • How long is The Killing?Powered by Alexa
    • Is "The Killing" based on a novel?
    • What is the heist plan?
    • Any recommendations for other horse track heist films like "The Killing"?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 6, 1956 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Casta de malditos
    • Filming locations
      • Bay Meadows Racetrack - 2600 S. Delaware Street, San Mateo, California, USA(Location)
    • Production company
      • Harris-Kubrick Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $320,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $380
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 24 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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