"The Killing" was the breakthrough film for
director/screenwriter Stanley Kubrick. His
first few films were obscure and low budget,
but for "The Killing" he was given more to
work with: a better cast and a bigger budget.
This film promptly got the attention of
Hollywood, not just because of its quality,
but its cynical attitude, subtle black humor,
tight direction and editing. Also noted was
the then-original technique of presenting scenes
out of chronological order, but without framing
them as flashbacks.
The story is a crime drama, a robbery that
despite meticulous planning goes awry.
In this, it is similar to "The Asphalt Jungle",
which also starred Sterling Hayden. Since
he is older, Hayden's role has changed from
enforcer to organizer. The target is a
racetrack, to be robbed during the seventh
race. Diversions are created by a strongman
(Joseph Turkel) and a sniper (Timothy Carey),
while corrupt track employees (Elisha Cook Jr.
and Mike O'Reilly) provide Hayden entrance to
where the money's kept. The problem is, Cook
has confessed the plan to his adulterous,
cynically ambitious wife (Marie Windsor) whose
lover (Vince Edwards) is equally ruthless.
Turkel and Carey would show up as French
soldiers in Kubrick's next project, "Paths of
Glory". Hayden's semicomic bluster would
land him the role of the general obsessed
with bodily fluids in Kubrick's best film,
"Dr. Strangelove".
The moral seems to be that crime doesn't pay,
with the plotters all reaching their due
comeuppance. Cook, who also played a paranoid,
lovesick, two-timed man in "The Big Sleep",
may give the best performance, but Windsor and
Carey are also memorable. Edwards, whose character
is such a snake here, later became famous as
good-guy doctor Ben Casey on television. (80/100)
Sterling Hayden stars in Stanley Kubrick's crime noir classic THE KILLING based on crime Lionel White's novel CLEAN BREAK. Hayden plays Johnny Clay an...More at Family Video
When an ex-con schemes to steal $2 million in a racetrack robbery, his promise that no one will get hut goes incredibly awry in this taut crime thrill...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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