The Killers

Genre: crime drama (in black and white)

Director: Robert Siodmak

Release: 1946

Studio: Mark Hellinger Productions, Universal International (Universal Pictures)

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.5/10

Who Says Crime Doesn’t Pay?

When a friend warns him that two strangers are in town looking for him, Pete Lunn, a gas station attendant, barely registers a pulse. ‟I’m through with all that running around, Pete says blandly. I did something wrong once.Thanks for coming.” Later that day, Pete is found murdered in his room and the local sheriff won’t investigate for reasons of State jurisdiction. Enters Jim Reardon, an Atlantic Casualty man, who will try to find out just what happened. With Burt Lancaster (Pete Lunn), Edmond O'Brien (Jim Reardon), Ava Gardner (Kitty Collins), Albert Dekker (Big Jim Colfax), Sam Levene (Police Lt. Sam Lubinsky), Vince Barnett (Charleston), Virginia Christine (Lilly Harmon Lubinsky) and Jack Lambert (‟Dum-Dum” Clarke).

Though THE KILLERS shows its hand early on, it never ceases to stump and trump ’til the very end. In his quest for the truth, Reardon will criss-cross the States of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, visit a few joints not fit for your mother-in-law and meet several shady types. Yes, THE KILLERS is a film noir… and one that mixes all the right ingredients:

- a story so complex and twisty you’ll need some time to get into it (courtesy of Anthony Veiller, Richard Brooks and John Huston, from a story by Ernest Hemingway);

- snappy dialogues especially strong on vernacular;

- colourful, erratic characters and a fabulous femme fatale in Ava Gardner;

- impressive acting by a sturdy cast;

- expert direction, storytelling and editing that use flashbacks with rare intelligence;

- a fair amount of mayhem; and

- an emphatic, threatening score by Miklós Rózsa.

Concerning the story, there is one issue I’d like to address for your viewing benefit. When Reardon first meets Lubinsky and tells him about Pete’s murder, some Internet sources claim that Lubinsky couldn’t have known about it at the time and that the screenplay as such is defective. I beg to differ. An explanation is given for Lubinsky’s muted reaction and, considering he was a well-informed cop and a long-time friend of Pete’s, it does seem plausible. Case closed.

That’s all you need to know about THE KILLERS, a thriller so compelling and well-planned that it stands firmly on its own at the ripe old age of 69. Crime may not pay – as the cliché goes – but movie buffs will be amply rewarded this time around.  

MBiS

© 2015 – All rights reserved