The Killing (1956)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay)
Jim Thompson (dialogue)

Release Date:

6 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Film-Noir

Tagline:

These 5 Men Had a $2,000,000 Secret Until One of them told this Woman!

Plot:

Crooks plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Racetrack | Robbery | Airport | Heist | Dog

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Sterling Hayden	...	Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray	...	Fay
Vince Edwards	...	Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen	...	Marvin Unger
Ted de Corsia	...	Policeman Randy Kennan (as Ted DeCorsia)
Marie Windsor	...	Sherry Peatty
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	George Peatty (as Elisha Cook)
Joe Sawyer	...	Mike O'Reilly
James Edwards	...	Track Parking Attendant
Timothy Carey	...	Nikki Arcane
Kola Kwariani	...	Maurice Oboukhoff
Jay Adler	...	Leo the Loanshark
Tito Vuolo	...	Joe Piano - motel manager
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly
Herbert Ellis	...	2nd American Airlines Clerk

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

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1956) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (2003) | Finland:K-16 (1960) (cut) | Spain:T | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Norway:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | 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] [faces]George Peatty, when he finds out about his wife's dalliance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Johnny first arrives at the apartment, we see the car door open through the rear window - the scene cuts to a shot from the rear driver side of the car and we see the car door open again.

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 Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) (VG)

An odd sense of exhilaration

This is seemingly the most exhilarating and uplifting movie I have ever seen. I go away from it strengthened and encouraged for the task or lonely road ahead. I know it would be wrong to identify with the protagonist, Johnny Clay, but I certainly sympathize with him. It may be indicative of some baseness in my character. I don't know or much care after the movie is over. His terrible downfall is, oddly, an upper rather than a downer for me. My only difficulty is rather too much exhilaration, and I need to be brought back down to earth after the curtain falls maybe by some silliness that serves to remind me of the pointless futility of human endeavor. Oddly, "The Killing" does just the opposite. Go figure. The casting and narration and direction are superb. I've read a criticism that the actress playing Johnny's girl friend is weak or miscast. I disagree. I think she's perfect for the part and lends a great verisimilitude to it as well as other qualities that are crucial to the overall effect of the story on me. I don't have a favorite movie anymore but I'd go see this one again if I were lucky enough to be able to see it in a theater, where it should be seen. The movies being made today usually ain't worth mentionin'.