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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
    • 146Critic 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

    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.
    Infofreak

    Kubrick's first classic, and still one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.

    '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!
    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.
    8dierregi

    A masterpiece

    The non-linear storytelling, overused nowadays even when it does not make any sense, is key to this taught thriller, narrated almost as a documentary.

    Besides, despite the non-linear structure, the plot is very easy to follow, thanks to the narrator who tells the audience everything from the time of the day to the details about the gang involved in the audacious heist at the races.

    It does't hurt that main character Johnny Clay is played by one of my favourite actors, Sterling Hayden, in a role that reminds me of his doomed character in The Asphalt Jungle. Clay is a coincise, world-wary character who planned the heist to the last detail, unfortunately missing the "human factor".

    As it's customary in stories about failed heists, there's always one detail that is either unknown or unpredictable, but important enough to wreak havoc even in the most perfect plan.

    Perhaps my favourite Kubrick's movie, with a tight script, excellent cast and no-nonsense approach.
    frank_olthoff

    A crime classic, and a monument for actor Elisha Cook, Jr.

    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.

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    Storyline

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    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

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

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