The Killing (1956)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Lionel White (novel)
Stanley Kubrick (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Film-Noir

Tagline:

...In All Its Fury and Violence

Plot:

Crooks plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Caper | Beautiful Woman | Heist Movie | Heist | Cuckold

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Sterling Hayden	...	Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray	...	Fay
Vince Edwards	...	Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen	...	Marvin Unger
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	George Peatty (as Elisha Cook)
Marie Windsor	...	Sherry Peatty
Ted de Corsia	...	Policeman Randy Kennan (as Ted DeCorsia)
Joe Sawyer	...	Mike O'Reilly
James Edwards	...	Track Parking Attendant
Timothy Carey	...	Nikki Arcane
Joe Turkel	...	Tiny (as Joseph Turkel)
Jay Adler	...	Leo the Loanshark
Kola Kwariani	...	Maurice Oboukhoff
Tito Vuolo	...	Joe Piano - motel manager
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly

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:

South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Quebec) | Spain:T | Norway:16 | Finland:K-15 (2003) | Finland:(Banned) (1956) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (1960) (cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | 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:

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

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the locker room at the horse race, George is seen loading his pistol. He first makes the loading movement by pulling the slide back and letting it retreat, then inserts the magazine. Yet the gun would not be ready to fire like this, since you chamber the first round with the loading movement, and you naturally cannot chamber a round without a magazine inserted. pulling the slide back without a magazine inserted is only done during a personal safety control, to make sure no round is in the firing chamber, but this wouldn't make any sense at that point of the film.

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 Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove (2000) (V)

Kubrick-Noir: recommended

Everything about this movie fascinates me. Even the unexpected ending has a compelling and unique flavor to it. Sure, it looks like many crime dramas of the 50's. But we are talking about of a movie with a director of the prodigious talents of Stanley Kubrick.

Sometimes you wonder which genre Kubrick could not have handled brilliantly. He seems to know exactly what to do in such a wide variety of movies...Crime, Drama, War, Surreal, Historical Epic, Science Fiction and Black Comedy. My only wish would have been if Kubrick could have made MORE movies. When he died, that left only Woody Allen as the only major director who is working as a pure artist in the film medium.

THE KILLING is filled with crime-noir touches that form an absorbing whole that is hard to beat. The acting is top-notch, the scenes are set in gold taking from every crime movie and creating a whole that could not have been done so well by just any director - perhaps only Hitchcock could have pulled this off. Then there's the jazzy score that underlines the action which punch and atmosphere that just curdles off the screen.

Even if you're not a Kubrick fan (which might surprise many people when they find out he was the director) you will enjoy this movie.

Right to the end...which I won't reveal...but has an inevitability written with classical balance and a submission to fate that leaves a wry smile on your face.

Sterling Hayden is great in this role and he populates this character with just the right sort of mystery to keep you guessing until the end.

Recommended without reservation.