Director: Robert Siodmak
Producer: Mark Hellinger
Screenwriters: Anthony Veiller, Richard Brooks, and John Huston
Cinematographer: Elwood Bredell
Music: Miklos Rozsa
Studio: Universal Pictures 1946
Main Acting: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O’ Brien
Since I already focused extensively on the opening scene of another noir on this countdown, I will keep my adoration for the beginning of The Killers brief and limited to a single paragraph. I will say that it challenges and even surpasses Kiss Me Deadly in effectiveness. Robert Siodmak (no stranger to this countdown) really comes out punching with that opening right cross to whichever “bright boy” you care to inflict bodily harm on. That first image is basically lifted by both Aldrich and Lynch in their own filmographies and put to extensive use. Focusing on a car barreling down a dark road with a behind-the-shoulder shot, we are quickly placed in the prototypical noir universe of a stylized and menacing Brentwood, New Jersey. Rozsa’s intense and rousing score sets up the mood perfectly, as Sodmak’s name on the screen can’t cover up the two figures stalking about in the background. Their initial destination is a service station that looks closed and empty. They instead walk across the street to Henry’s Diner which is open and accepting customers. Unfortunately, these guys are not really looking for “roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes.” What they really want is the whereabouts of The Swede (Burt Lancaster) and to plug him with enough holes that he looks like one of those old cartoon characters that takes a drink and begins to spout water all over his body. The tension elevates to almost unbearable proportions as the duo takes the whole eatery hostage and we wonder what these assassins will do next. Fortunately they go away without any bloodshed. They have only one intended target, and he sits hopelessly in bed, waiting for the end to come.
The other day, I mentioned how Jane Greer appearing out of the sunlight to enter Jeff Bailey’s shadowy cafe as my favorite scene in all of noir. I will hold myself to that, but also give a strong recommendation to what transpires in The Killers after the two henchman walk out of Henry’s Diner. We watch as one of the freed hostages goes running across town to warn the Swede of his dangerous predicament. As the soundtrack blares forth in a glorious racket of melding notes, we witness our protagonist already preparing for his funeral by refusing to save himself and run away. As his friend implores the sullen Lancaster to get the hell out of Dodge, his efforts are returned by the feeble retort of “there is nothing I can do about it. I’m through with all that running around.” Forget D.O.A., where Frank Bigelow recounts his final few hours before dying, this seemingly central figure in The Killers refuses to even put forth an effort to save his own life in any capacity. What can be more noir and fatalistic than accepting death as it arrives just outside your door and not bothering to lift your head off the pillow? Shockingly, the hitmen are successful in their endeavor, and the Swede gets a barrage of merciless bullets. His expression at the twelve-minute mark, just before the hail of little steel projectiles rip open his body speaks of unimaginable pain and existential detachment. Here, we have a guy who has felt the cold sting of life and cannot find his way back to salvation. A look of total apathy resides all over his face. He’s a sitting corpse, whose isolation has reached a fevered pitch. The end is near, my friend. Go forth bravely.
The death of the Swede has a shocking Psycho-like ripple effect throughout the rest of the movie. We can’t believe that Burt Lancaster has been bumped off in the first reel of the movie. At first, we think about how the rest of The Killers will fill out its running time with the main star in the credits already expired. Robert Siodmak, being the consummate film noir director decides to employ an impeccable flashback structure that recounts all the weighty moments that eventually lead to the first thirteen minutes and early dramatic conclusion. He frames this slow exposition by having Edmond O’Brien play an insurance agent looking for clues as to what actually happened that fateful night. O’ Brien’s Jim Reardon functions like a detective, as he goes on the hunt for some clarity over the particulars of Lancaster’s character demise. The Swede hangs over the picture like a wailing ghost trying to find some peace and justice. In life, he may have given up on finding an answer to his sorrow. But as a conduit through Reardon, he may finally get the last laugh and put to bed all the people responsible for his death. Double crosses, femme fatales, robberies, heists, boxing scenes….The Killers has it all within its 103 minutes. Classic film noir cannot be packaged any better.
Elwood Bredell had a relatively scant career as a cinematographer, lensing only 16 to 17 pictures throughout. No other feature in his resume matches The Killers, even Curtiz’s The Unsuspected. His efforts here should be applauded as he does a remarkable job turning Siodmak’s film into a visual feast for the eyes. So many brilliant moments make us glad we are watching this handsome film noir, which effectively merges the narrative strengths with its pictorial geometric perfection. The movie is also helped along by a complex, but rarely convoluted screenplay that was adapted from an Ernest Hemingway short story. In fact, the writer supposedly remarked that The Killers was the first film that used his work that made him proud and he could “genuinely admire.” John Huston also worked on the script uncredited and helped in including and shaping many elements that were not in the original story. The flashback structure adds an extra dimension to the narrative that propels it further than if the plot were told straight. The successful ploy of having Reardon interview succeeding people and then visualize their thoughts worked incredibly well. One of three main examples as to why Robert Siodmak is in the frontline of legendary film noir directors.
Lately Criss Cross has come forth to battle The Killers for Siodmak-directed supremacy in the eyes of many noir lovers. Both movies are five-star classics that reach the upper echelon of the genre. The Killers has had the longer reputation as a classic, however Criss Cross is the newer kid on the block when it comes to critical plaudits. Still, I confess to admiring the former flick more as it may very well be the greatest noir of the 40s for me. Making such a strong statement is telling when we are talking about the most rewarding decade for the movement. The Killers is that good and here it sits at the lofty position of number two.
Should also mention the great turns by Ava Gardner and Sam Levene. Both are effective in their roles and Gardner’s femme fatale is one of the most selfish and duplicitous in the genre. The 1964 remake proves why color and classic film noir mix even worse than oil and vinegar. Not a horrible film, but without B/W loses much of the malignant and oppressive atmosphere that Siodmak created with Bredell.
Great Number 2 choice. Ernest is smiling somewhere Maurizio!
Very True Frank.
My absolute favorite Siodmak film is THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, which of course you’ve given the red carpet treatment in your exceptional review here, (CRISS CROSS is undoubtably a great film as well) but who’s to argue with this placement, or with the general estimation of this underrated director as one of film noir’s visionaries. Certainly not me, and I kinda of expected this would place just about in this position, (based on sentiments you expressed at other sites)though I kept hedging on what I think the final four will be, and if our beloved Melville will be showing up here. You subsequently answered that question though quite earlier on.. However, I am very confident I do know what #1 will be, though my lips are sealed. I am expecting however to host a huge celebration at my house tomorrow when the poll position is announced, and am just now pondering what food Lucille and I will be serving up. I wonder if ‘fish n’ chips’ will be appropriate? What da ya think?
It could be argued that THE KILLER’S story is conventional and dated, but the brilliant atmosphere and dialogue and excellent performances are really what count, and as has been mentioned here a number of times it was based on a popular Hemingway story.
Miklos Rozsa’s score is a vital component, and then there’s Elwood Bredell’s superlative cinematography, which is a necessary ingredient for the best film noirs. (you frame the latter’s contribution here most superlatively, but then you’ve given noir fans yet another astounding, wholly passionate piece!)
Do they serve fish n’ chips in LA? There was a wonderful Park Slope eatery that served English food. I personally prefer French…
I don’t find The Killers dated or conventional in any way. It would be much easier to lobby that complaint at The Spiral Staircase, though I would not be the one saying such filth lol.
Maurizio, I come here to praise Caesar, not to bury him!
I said that some may pose that complaint (I’ve read as much over the years) but that doesn’t mean I agree. I emphatically do not, and 99% of what I said here in this comment was suffused with high praise both for the choice and the excellence of the review.
My attempt at feeble humor might not have translated well. I didn’t think you felt that The Killers was dated, but I know there is a segment that believes such a horrible thing to be true. I have heard the same things lobbied at Staircase… I say we wash these people’s mouths out with soap lol.
If you’re serving food based on the food from a NOIR film…
Then I guess Lucille should be serving something like Meatloaf, on a blue plate with black coffee on the side and a filled ashtray with a freshly lit cigarette going next to you.
No conversation at the table unless a deal is going down and a racing form in your hands as you squint to see the fine print on the body-building ad under a single bulbed lamp that hangs over you head and clinging to a cloud of lingering smoke that is careening from the butt that perched from your lips.
Oh, and no A/C, you can’t really enjoy a dinner like that unless it’s 90 degrees outside, you are fully dressed and donned out in an over coat and fedora and the windows are locked tight.
Remember, sweat is good for the circulation and it’ll help you react when an enemy walks through the door with a revolver pointed at your tiny stone heart…
HA!
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!
Wouldn’t the Noir food be a ‘bachelor’s breakfast’? Which is an actual real thing: 2 cigarettes, and a cup of black coffee.
Damn Jamie beat me to it!!! I was going to say the true noir meal is coffee and smokes since the typical down and out protagonist can’t afford much more…
Maybe a Knuckle Sandwich.
Sweet, we’ve been driven to cliche.
I’m thinking of Al’s face in Detour when he’s offered a burger by Haskell. The broad gesticulation is Timothy Carey worthy or even when the young cowboy dies in Peter Fonda’s The Hired Hand!!!
It seems like we should set our own precedent. Should the Noir meal just be a few jet black porters? They drink like a meal, get you pocked, and there isn’t a mass in your stomach, meaning one can still wear those double breasted suits with ease.
I would love to give Sergio Busquets a knuckle sandwich from Barcelona. What a pathetic flopper. Red card this clown off the pitch!!
and the cigarettes are ALWAYS unfiltered.
Either Chesterfields (the ones I started with as a kid), or Camels. If you were daring you’d go for the harshness of LUCKY STRIKES (I smoked them for half a year before I thought my lungs were gonna fall out) or PALL MALL (called PELL MELL in Philadelphia where I went to college). Filtered cigarettes were not for the NOIR scene although Joe Mantegna made filtered Marlboro’s sexy enough to get Lindsy Crouse into bed in HOUSE OF GAMES.
I’m cigarettes and smokeless for a month now, I have no idea what to do with my hands (except blog blog blog), I’m trying not to eat everything in the house…
But, I AM breathing deeper now…
Still, the romanticism and machismo of cigarettes in early romance films or NOIR is a staple….
Cigarettes in films is a dying thing sadly. I’ve written a script that states: there shall be no frames of the ones that feature a person where at least one person isn’t smoking. It needs to be ‘re-romanticized’.
For me? I do love an unfiltered (I do like Pall Malls, but Lucky’s seem ‘cooler’ which is sort of the point), but if I want to be honest it’s the lung ripping fiberglass of a Kool that does me nice.
I have only taken one puff on one cigarette my whole life. I did a jig up and down my neighborhood when NYC Mayor Bloomberg outlawed smoking in bars and clubs here. So happy I don’t have to come home smelling like an ashtray when I go out.
Maurizio, thank you for your thoughtful review of one of my favorite noirs. It should be noted that besides Gardner and Levene there is the splendid work of Jeff Corey, Albert Dekker and of course, Charles McGraw and William Conrad as the Swede’s efficient and brutal assassins. As you noted, the exceptional efforts of Robert Siodmak left an indelible mark on the film noir canon. I also enjoyed the aforementioned Criss Cross and Cry of the City with Victor Mature and Richard Conte.
HA. Now I know what MR’s #1 noir is! Thanks, Sam!!
Stolen Face it is!!!!!
Mark: It may still not be all that obvious. We won’t really know until the morning. Ha!
All this confidence is going to make me torpedo the whole countdown and select something weak like The House on 92nd street…
Fuck that Maurizio. Stay with the street titles, and go for a sublime Neo-Noir, and American to boot: ACROSS 110th STREET. lol
Bobby. Womack.
Well Jamie I stayed with the obvious…
I’ve pushed Sam to think about a Countdown for Blaxploitation films…
I have never seen this one, but then I haven’t seen about 60-70% of the films on this countdown. I have heard so many good things, though, that I think I’m going to have to go out and find this pretty quick, along with In a Lonely Place. Both sound fantastic.
BTW, what do you think of the Don Siegal 1964 remake of this film, with Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, and Ronald Reagan? I haven’t seen it either, but with a cast like that it sounds at least as good as the original!
C’mon Stephen you failed to read the last paragraph lol. I explain explicitly what I think about the 1964 version. Suffice to say it is nowhere near as great as the Siodmak classic.
Crap, you’re right, I did forget to read it. It was in italics, I didn’t think it was important!
Hard to decide if it’s this one for me or THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE.
No matter. Maurizio has written a superlatively rousing little essay here and conveys his apreciation for every dynamic that makes this little gem a winner in every way. That I was dreading this countdown, due to the genre not being my cup of tea, only to see it blossom into something I will be sad to see go, has alot to do with the Maurizio’s passion for the films he’s dissecting and the interesting order of importance he is throwing films I would have never thought would make it so high or on the count at all.
Case in point, THE KILLERS. I figured for sure this film would make the cut somewhere… However, I never dreamed this movie would make it all the way to the top of the list.
I’m absolutely thrown now on what is going to take the throne tomorrow.
BRAVO! All around to the big “M”!!!!!!!!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
You da MAN!!!!!
Thanks Dennis. I also love your meatloaf analogy above. If every noir character gorged on such delicacies, then they would be to fat and stuffed to go pull off a heist or try to snag a dangerous femme fatale.
In actuality, it always looks like meatloaf or bacon an eggs on the plate in every noir film I have ever seen where the character is sitting in a diner and having a conversation. Of course, black coffee and cigarettes are there to accompany it…
Maurizio, The Killers is definitive the same way Maltese Falcon is. Hemingway wrote a hard-boiled story that barely hinted at what might have brought the Swede to his fate. Siodmak’s film attempts to answer the “why?” question that Hemingway left hanging. The original story is a suggestive snapshot of an underworld, while the film reflects an impulse to delve deeper. While pleasing the author by keeping his vignette largely intact, the filmmakers elaborated on it in a complementary way to tell what they felt needed telling. Whatever Huston added to Falcon and contributed along with Siodmak et al to Killers is quantifiably noir.
The funny part is, I never like the story that this is film is based on and yet I love this movie with a passion.
Wierd, for all the love that I have for Hemingway on film (this movie, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA and a personal, guilty, favorite of mine, ISLANDS IN THE STREAM), I never had the same kind of enthusiasm for him as a writer. He was newspaper man and I feel his prose is inherent of a newspaper man. The lack of feeling in 90% of his work is often balanced with a hardboiled style that I feel only conveys the settings and situations of the stories and never pierces the feelings and emotions of the characters.
That’s just my take on the guy. As for the great American writer?
I’d easily thwart Hemingway for Melville, Faulkner and, absolutely, for STEINBECK…
Dennis, I think Hemingway often succeeds in suggesting emotional depth but his early commitment to minimalism always put him at risk of missing it, especially as “grace under pressure” became a kind of ideology for him. I don’t think anyone would think of turning “The Killers” into a movie unless Hemingway had already made you feel for the Swede enough to ask how and why he reached such an ending. A lot of the short stories I’ve read have a similar effect and could probably inspire equally creative adaptations.
No doubt, SAMUEL, and I agree with you on this short story as it is better than some of his others…
But, on a whole, I never cared for the minimalism of his work, especially as a novelist and prefer the detailed landscapes (literal) of Faulkner and Steinbeck.
Not just that, but Hemingways world was never one that grabbed me like the others…
Samuel, great comment!! One sweet paragraph that really hit the nail on the head. I think perhaps Hemingway liked the film so much because it does expand on his story in a positive way. Siodmak was like a noir filter at this time. You could of given him a Shirley Temple vehicle and he would of had her smoking cigarettes and destroying some sucker’s life!!
Another one that I saw some time ago and will have to revisit. It’s probably been 10 years since I’ve seen it. I don’t recall thinking it was all that special at the time, but that was then. If anything, this gives me a reason to revisit it. I recall that the score was actually a bit heavyhanded.
I like the score which definitely is not subdued and very powerful. I can see where someone might disagree and claim heavy handedness. Who knows maybe after 10 years your opinion will be different. Thanks for the comment Jon and hopefully you will revisit this at some time.
Sure thing. Yes I’ll need to add it to my queue for sure. Along with some others on this list.
Hi! Maurizio…
Maurizio said,”But as a conduit through Reardon, he may finally get the last laugh and put to bed all the people responsible for his death. Double crosses, femme fatales, robberies, heists, boxing scenes….The Killers has it all within its 103 minutes. Classic film noir cannot be packaged any better.”
Once again, what a very well-written review Of a film that I think should sit at your lofty spot Of No#2…All I can say is great points…abound in your look at director Robert Siodmak’s 1946 film “The Killers.…also very interesting comments by the other commenter on this thread too!
“…The death of the Swede has a shocking Psycho-like ripple effect throughout the rest of the movie. We can’t believe that Burt Lancaster has been bumped off in the first reel of the movie. At first, we think about how the rest of The Killers will fill out its running time with the main star in the credits already expired.
Great comparison…not quite as “shocking” as Hitchcock’s murder, but still shocking just the same…Because after I first viewed this film I wondered how the rest Of the film would unfold too…Maurizio said,”Gardner’s femme fatale is one of the most selfish and duplicitous in the genre…”
[ Here Goes That duplicitous femme fatale [actress Ava Gardner] with actor Burt Lancaster’s Swede.]
Maurizio said,”His expression at the twelve-minute mark, just before the hail of little steel projectiles rip open his body speaks of unimaginable pain and existential detachment…”
Robert Siodmak’s “The Killers” in its entirety…Watch for the opening sequence [with actors Charles McGraw, and William Conrad…and for Lancaster at that 12 minute mark too!]
Cont…
Dennis said,”The funny part is, I never like the story that this is film is based on and yet I love this movie with a passion…”
Hmmm…Dennis, I wonder how you feel about student Andrei Tarkovsky’s version which…
…”tackled the story with a faithful 19-minute short in 1956.”
Gary Tooze, review all three versions Of “The Killers”
Dennis said,”I’m cigarettes and smokeless for a month now, I have no idea what to do with my hands (except blog blog blog), I’m trying not to eat everything in the house…”
Congratulation! on kicking the habit…I know that advice is “cheap,” but try to drink plenty Of bottled water…then you, will feel full.
[Postscript:author Ernest “Papa” Hemingway, happens to be one Of my favorite writers…]
[Postscript: My administrator, (Who use to work for a studio…) knew actress Ava Gardner after she retired from the film industry.
He would see her taking long strolls during the day and would talk to her…and according to my administrator she appeared to be extremely, lonely. [My Personal Note: I would think after a person lived a fast and quite an adventurous life that Miss Gardner, appeared to have lived…that you would be rather lonely once your lifestyle became quiet.]
Maurizio, Thanks for sharing!
DeeDee 😉
DEE DEE-
Thank you for the kind wishes and the “advice”. The only reason I mentioned the kicking of the smoking habit was because we were talking about the predominance of smokers that frequently inhabit NOIR movies.
Yes, it’s just about a month now and I have really been fine with it… The only problem seems to be the jitters I get when I don’t know what to do with my hands. I am chewing gum to cessate the oral fixation, and food seems to curb the inner craving for the cigs… But, what to do with my hands as I’m watching TV, reading, seeing a movie or writing??????????
I was considering the nicotine free electronic cigarettes just to keep myself busy and until I get so tired of them I just walk away from even that…
I do admit to getting a little dizzy once a day from the cravings for the drug (nicotine), but the dizziness has gotten shorter and shorter as each day passes…
Again, Dear Dee Dee, thank you for the concern and the well wishes!!!!!
You’re a real peach!!!!!!
Dennis
Maurizio said,”In fact, the writer supposedly remarked that The Killers was the first film that used his work that made him proud and he could “genuinely admire…”
Maurizio, I also read that he [Hemingway] fell a sleep after actor Burt Lancaster’s character “The Swede” was killed…Why?
A. He had to Get Up The Next Morning and Go Fishing?
B. He Couldn’t Stand The Thought Of Being Compared To Hitchcock?
C.That is where his short-story ended?…or
D.Mrs. (Mary) Hemingway, stopped preparing Breakfast after 9:00am?
Hmm Dee Dee I’ll pick A!!!
Ah, I seem to be a day late in replying. But what the hell, I’ll still go ahead, cos this is one of my favourites too!!! Right from the brilliant opening sequence till the fatalistic climax, this was one hell of a movie. And in Ava Gardner’s Kitty we sure have one of the most unforgettable femme fatales. Can’t think about one aspect in the movie that can be criticised – its that good!!!