The Killers
Two hired killers (Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager) muscle their way into a school for the blind and terrorize the secretary until she reveals the whereabouts of racecar driver Johnny North (John Cassavetes). When the gunmen track him down, Johnny wordlessly accepts his fate with the passivity of a man already dead. Why? This gnawing question leads the hit men deep into a twisted underworld of violence and betrayal under the bright California sun, populated by an unsavory cast of characters including the vicious white- collar gangster Browning (Ronald Reagan) and the beautiful Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson). With The Killers, hard- nosed director Don Siegel deviates radically from the Ernest Hemingway short story and the 1946 film of the same name, fashioning a tale of amorality and white-knuckled suspense uniquely his own.
Member Reviews
Interesting 'made-for-TV' movie... - Coconut_Willy
...if you can believe that! I am not really surprised that it was actually not shown on television at the time. For a 1964 film, this is incredibly violent although, by today's standards, it might seem not really excessive. The storyline is quite good and grabs your attention right from the start with a very good death scene. The next hour of flashbacks though gets a bit annoying but the payoff in the end is just excellent. The cast is nothing short of fabulous, all doing a superb acting job with an appropriate dialogue and interesting characters. The sets and locations are good as well as the soundtrack and the camera work is appropriate. This movie certainly deserves 4 stars but the sub-par quality of the DVD transfer for a Criterion release is very disappointing even if this was possibly the best they could do.Lee Marvin - Scurfy
I found this film worth watching just to Lee Marvin take command of the movie in every scene he is in.I cannot think of an actor that can create a feeling of menace in a movie just by his presence.He makes Tom Cruise look like a Boy Scout.Some reviewers say another version of the film may be better but this version is still worth watching.Go for the 1946 version ! - kap0n3
If you were lucky enough and you have seen Robert Siodmak's 1946 excellent version which was based on the same Hemingway's short story, then you'll find this one a wreckage. I don't know whether the whole can be worse than any of its parts, in case yes, this feature is worse than its components; in case not there is only one thing worse than the entire movie: its dialogue. Nothing is more melancholy than an educated writer playing the sedulous ape to hard boiled writers; you have the talent (or the lack of talent) it takes to write straightforward stories with witty dialogue or you have not and if the latter is your case, please spare me the wanna-be film noir style. Unfortunately only Lee Marvin saves face in this movie. I imagine that Criterion edited this one as a mere curiosity, in the same vein they edited Tarkovsky film school version, there is no other possible explanation; or maybe they had a surplus of blank dual layer DVDs and needed to spend them quickly. In spite of the fact that I'm not a particular fan of Angie Dickinson I certainly do not dislike her, but I could not avoid thinking she was playing a role previously and gloriously played by Ava Gardner.
Member Reviews
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Interesting 'made-for-TV' movie... - Coconut_Willy
...if you can believe that! I am not really surprised that it was actually not shown on television at the time. For a 1964 film, this is incredibly violent although, by today's standards, it might seem not really excessive. The storyline is quite good and ...Lee Marvin - Scurfy
I found this film worth watching just to Lee Marvin take command of the movie in every scene he is in.I cannot think of an actor that can create a feeling of menace in a movie just by his presence.He makes Tom Cruise look like a Boy Scout.Some reviewers say ...Go for the 1946 version ! - kap0n3
If you were lucky enough and you have seen Robert Siodmak's 1946 excellent version which was based on the same Hemingway's short story, then you'll find this one a wreckage. I don't know whether the whole can be worse than any of its parts, in case yes, this ...