The Killing
Encyclopedia
The Killing is a 1956 film noir
produced by James B. Harris
and directed by Stanley Kubrick
. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson
and based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White
. The drama features Sterling Hayden
, Coleen Gray
, Vince Edwards
and Elisha Cook Jr.
) is a veteran criminal planning one last heist before settling down and marrying Fay (Coleen Gray
). He plans to rob two million dollars from the money counting room of a racetrack during a featured race. He assembles a team consisting of a corrupt cop (Ted de Corsia
), a betting window teller (Elisha Cook Jr.
) to give access to the backroom, a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey
) to shoot the favorite horse during the race to distract the crowd, a wrestler (Kola Kwariani) to provide another distraction by provoking a fight at the track bar and a track bartender (Joe Sawyer
).
The betting window teller George Peatty, tells his wife Sherry (Marie Windsor
), about the impending robbery. Sherry is bitter at George for not delivering on the promises of wealth he made her at the time of their marriage and George hopes that telling her about the robbery will placate and impress her. Sherry does not believe him at first but after learning that the robbery is real, she enlists her lover, Val Cannon (Vince Edwards
) to steal the money from George and his associates.
The heist is successful although the sharpshooter, Nikki is shot and killed by the police. The conspirators rendezvous at the apartment where they are to meet Johnny and divide the money. Before Johnny arrives, Val appears and holds them up. A shootout ensues and a badly wounded George is the sole survivor. He goes home and shoots Sherry before dying.
Johnny, while on his way to the apartment, sees George staggering in the street and knows that something is wrong. He puts the cash in an old suitcase and he and Fay go to the airport. While boarding their plane, the suitcase falls off a cart, breaks open and the money is swept away by the wind. Fay urges Johnny to flee but he refuses, stating that there is no use trying to escape. The film ends with two officers coming to arrest him.
Three members of the cast, Hayden, de Corsia, and Carey, had appeared together the previous year in the low budget noir film, Crime Wave
.
to put up $200,000 for the film, with Harris adding $120,000. The film was the first of three on which Harris and Kubrick collaborated as producer and director in a span of less than ten years; Harris got the rights to the novel after Frank Sinatra
, who had approached the author before Harris, hesitated during negotiations. Working title
s for the film were Clean Break and Bed of Fear.
The art director, Ruth Sobotka
, was Kubrick's wife at the time.
magazine's prediction that it would "make a killing at the cash booths" and its assertion that Kubrick "has shown more audacity with dialogue and camera than Hollywood has seen since the obstreperous Orson Welles
went riding out of town on an exhibitors' poll." A.H. Weiler, film critic for The New York Times
, wrote, "Though The Killing is composed of familiar ingredients and it calls for fuller explanations, it evolves as a fairly diverting melodrama. ... Aficionados of the sport of kings will discover that Mr. Kubrick's cameras have captured some colorful shots of the ponies at Bay Meadows
track. Other observers should find The Killing an engrossing little adventure." Variety
magazine liked the acting and wrote, "This story of a $2 million race track holdup and steps leading up to the robbery, occasionally told in a documentary style which at first tends to be somewhat confusing, soon settles into a tense and suspenseful vein which carries through to an unexpected and ironic windup...Hayden socks over a restrained characterization, and Cook is a particular standout. Windsor is particularly good, as she digs the plan out of her husband and reveals it to her boyfriend."
Years later, The Killing gained a "cult" following. For example, Eddie Muller
placed the film at 15th among his top 25 favorite noir films, saying "If you believe that a good script is a succession of great scenes, you can't do better than this. Hey, that scene was so good, let's do it again from somebody else's perspective.". In his 1999 book Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir, Muller wrote, "With The Killing, Stanley Kubrick offered a monument to the classic caper film, and a fresh gust of filmmaking in one package. Who knew when he wrapped it, that it would be the last amusing movie he'd ever make?"
In 1999, film critic Mike Emery wrote, "Kubrick's camerawork was well on the way to finding the fluid style of his later work, and the sparse, low-budget circumstances give the film a raw, urgent sort of look. As good as the story and direction are, though, the true strength of The Killing lies in the characters and characterizations." The same year, director Peter Bogdanovich
, writing for The New York Times, noted that while The Killing did not make money, it, along with Harris-Kubrick's second film Paths of Glory
, established "Kubrick's reputation as a budding genius among critics and studio executives."
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
produced by James B. Harris
James B. Harris
James B. Harris is a film screenwriter, producer and director. He worked with film director Stanley Kubrick as a producer on The Killing, Paths of Glory and Lolita...
and directed by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
and based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White
Lionel White
Lionel White was an American crime novelist, several of whose dark, noirish stories were made into films. His books include The Night of the Following Day , The Money Trap , The Big Caper Lionel White (January 1905 – December 1985) was an American crime novelist, several of whose dark,...
. The drama features Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
, Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. She is known for her roles in the films Nightmare Alley , Red River , in which she played John Wayne's fiancée, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing .-Early career:Born Doris Jensen, Gray was a farmer's daughter...
, Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
and Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Vanslyck Cook, Jr. was an American character actor who made a career out of playing cowardly villains and weedy neurotics in dozens of films...
Plot
Johnny Clay (Sterling HaydenSterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
) is a veteran criminal planning one last heist before settling down and marrying Fay (Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. She is known for her roles in the films Nightmare Alley , Red River , in which she played John Wayne's fiancée, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing .-Early career:Born Doris Jensen, Gray was a farmer's daughter...
). He plans to rob two million dollars from the money counting room of a racetrack during a featured race. He assembles a team consisting of a corrupt cop (Ted de Corsia
Ted de Corsia
Ted de Corsia was a radio and movie actor.He is probably best remembered for his role as a gangster turned state's evidence in The Enforcer...
), a betting window teller (Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Vanslyck Cook, Jr. was an American character actor who made a career out of playing cowardly villains and weedy neurotics in dozens of films...
) to give access to the backroom, a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey
Timothy Carey
Timothy Agoglia Carey was an American film and television actor....
) to shoot the favorite horse during the race to distract the crowd, a wrestler (Kola Kwariani) to provide another distraction by provoking a fight at the track bar and a track bartender (Joe Sawyer
Joe Sawyer
Joe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1962.He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and died in Ashland, Oregon from liver cancer....
).
The betting window teller George Peatty, tells his wife Sherry (Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
), about the impending robbery. Sherry is bitter at George for not delivering on the promises of wealth he made her at the time of their marriage and George hopes that telling her about the robbery will placate and impress her. Sherry does not believe him at first but after learning that the robbery is real, she enlists her lover, Val Cannon (Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
) to steal the money from George and his associates.
The heist is successful although the sharpshooter, Nikki is shot and killed by the police. The conspirators rendezvous at the apartment where they are to meet Johnny and divide the money. Before Johnny arrives, Val appears and holds them up. A shootout ensues and a badly wounded George is the sole survivor. He goes home and shoots Sherry before dying.
Johnny, while on his way to the apartment, sees George staggering in the street and knows that something is wrong. He puts the cash in an old suitcase and he and Fay go to the airport. While boarding their plane, the suitcase falls off a cart, breaks open and the money is swept away by the wind. Fay urges Johnny to flee but he refuses, stating that there is no use trying to escape. The film ends with two officers coming to arrest him.
Cast
- Sterling HaydenSterling HaydenSterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
as Johnny Clay - Coleen GrayColeen GrayColeen Gray is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. She is known for her roles in the films Nightmare Alley , Red River , in which she played John Wayne's fiancée, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing .-Early career:Born Doris Jensen, Gray was a farmer's daughter...
as Fay - Vince EdwardsVince EdwardsVince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
as Val Cannon - Jay C. FlippenJay C. FlippenJay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....
as Marvin Unger - Elisha Cook Jr.Elisha Cook Jr.Elisha Vanslyck Cook, Jr. was an American character actor who made a career out of playing cowardly villains and weedy neurotics in dozens of films...
as George Peatty - Marie WindsorMarie WindsorMarie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
as Sherry Peatty - Ted de CorsiaTed de CorsiaTed de Corsia was a radio and movie actor.He is probably best remembered for his role as a gangster turned state's evidence in The Enforcer...
as Policeman Randy Kennan - Joe SawyerJoe SawyerJoe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1962.He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and died in Ashland, Oregon from liver cancer....
as Mike O'Reilly - James EdwardsJames Edwards (actor)James Edwards was an African American actor in films and television. His most famous role was as Private Peter Moss in the 1949 film Home of the Brave, in which he portrayed a soldier experiencing racial prejudice while serving in the South Pacific during World War II...
as Track Parking Attendant - Timothy CareyTimothy CareyTimothy Agoglia Carey was an American film and television actor....
as Nikki Arane - Joe TurkelJoe TurkelJoe Turkel is an American character actor. He is credited in several films as Joseph Turkel.-Background:Turkel was born in Brooklyn, New York, and served in the U.S. Military during World War II. He currently lives in southern California, and has been involved in writing screenplays.-Career:His...
as Tiny - Jay AdlerJay AdlerJay Adler was an American actor in theater, television, and film.Born in New York City, New York, he was the eldest child of Yiddish theater stars Jacob and Sara Adler, and the brother of the more famous Luther and Stella.Jay Adler died at age 81 in Woodland Hills, California and was buried in the...
as Leo the Loanshark - Kola Kwariani as Maurice Oboukhoff
- Tito Vuolo as Joe Piano - motel manager
- Dorothy AdamsDorothy AdamsDorothy Adams was an American character actress. She was married to character actor Byron Foulger from 1921-1970. She was the mother of soap opera actress Rachel Ames...
as Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly
Three members of the cast, Hayden, de Corsia, and Carey, had appeared together the previous year in the low budget noir film, Crime Wave
Crime Wave (1954 film)
Crime Wave is a 1954 film noir, directed by André De Toth. It was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post - Criminal Mark by John and Ward Hawkins.-Plot:...
.
Pre-production
Harris, a "prosperous young television distributor" and Kubrick's "Maecenas," set up Harris-Kubrick Films with the writer/director; the two convinced United ArtistsUnited Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
to put up $200,000 for the film, with Harris adding $120,000. The film was the first of three on which Harris and Kubrick collaborated as producer and director in a span of less than ten years; Harris got the rights to the novel after Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, who had approached the author before Harris, hesitated during negotiations. Working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
s for the film were Clean Break and Bed of Fear.
The art director, Ruth Sobotka
Ruth Sobotka
Ruth A. Sobotka was an Austrian-born dancer, costume designer, art director, painter, and actress.The daughter of prominent Austrian architect and interior designer, Walter Sobotka and Viennese actress, Gisela Schönau, Ruth Sobotka immigrated to the United States from Vienna with her parents in...
, was Kubrick's wife at the time.
Critical response
The film performed poorly at the box office and was in general not critically acclaimed in spite of TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's prediction that it would "make a killing at the cash booths" and its assertion that Kubrick "has shown more audacity with dialogue and camera than Hollywood has seen since the obstreperous Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
went riding out of town on an exhibitors' poll." A.H. Weiler, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, wrote, "Though The Killing is composed of familiar ingredients and it calls for fuller explanations, it evolves as a fairly diverting melodrama. ... Aficionados of the sport of kings will discover that Mr. Kubrick's cameras have captured some colorful shots of the ponies at Bay Meadows
Bay Meadows
Bay Meadows was a horse racing track in San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States.-History:Built on the site of an old airfield, Bay Meadows Racecourse was the longest continually operating thoroughbred racetrack in California, having been founded on November 13,...
track. Other observers should find The Killing an engrossing little adventure." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine liked the acting and wrote, "This story of a $2 million race track holdup and steps leading up to the robbery, occasionally told in a documentary style which at first tends to be somewhat confusing, soon settles into a tense and suspenseful vein which carries through to an unexpected and ironic windup...Hayden socks over a restrained characterization, and Cook is a particular standout. Windsor is particularly good, as she digs the plan out of her husband and reveals it to her boyfriend."
Years later, The Killing gained a "cult" following. For example, Eddie Muller
Eddie Muller
Eddie Muller is a writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about movies, particularly film noir. Founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, he is considered a noir expert and is called on to write and talk about the film genre, notably on wry commentary tracks for Fox's...
placed the film at 15th among his top 25 favorite noir films, saying "If you believe that a good script is a succession of great scenes, you can't do better than this. Hey, that scene was so good, let's do it again from somebody else's perspective.". In his 1999 book Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir, Muller wrote, "With The Killing, Stanley Kubrick offered a monument to the classic caper film, and a fresh gust of filmmaking in one package. Who knew when he wrapped it, that it would be the last amusing movie he'd ever make?"
In 1999, film critic Mike Emery wrote, "Kubrick's camerawork was well on the way to finding the fluid style of his later work, and the sparse, low-budget circumstances give the film a raw, urgent sort of look. As good as the story and direction are, though, the true strength of The Killing lies in the characters and characterizations." The same year, director Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
, writing for The New York Times, noted that while The Killing did not make money, it, along with Harris-Kubrick's second film Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory is a 1957 American anti-war film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refused to continue a suicidal attack...
, established "Kubrick's reputation as a budding genius among critics and studio executives."
Awards
Nominations- BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source, USA; 1957.
External links
- The Killing film trailer at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....