The Killing (1956) Classic Movie Review 283

Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on The Killing (1956).

I want to shout out to Bob for his comments on William Holden. A truly great actor. Please keep those comments coming in.

This is a great Film Noir, a great heist film, and in general, just a great film. A very elaborate plan to rob a racetrack goes horribly wrong.

iMDB.com rates this film as 8.0[1]. I think it should be at least a whole point higher at a solid 9. Rottentomatoes.com rates this movie more to my liking with 96 percent on the Tomatometer and 92 percent audience approval.[2]

The great film Roger Ebert gave this movie four stars out of four in a January 9, 2012 review. Ebert stated:

“This is a heist movie. Like horror films, heists are a genre that make stars not so necessary. The durable form inspires directors to create plots that are baffling in their complexity or bold in their simplicity. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967)*, the gang parks in front of a bank, walks in with guns, and walks out (in theory) with the loot. In David Mamet’s Heist (2001)*, the characters are involved in interlocking levels of cons being pulled on each other. In Rififi (1955)*, a theft involves a plan of almost unnecessary acrobatic ingenuity. Kubrick’s plan here for a race track robbery involves two of those plot aspects; not so much the acrobatics. His narrative approach seems blunt, but the narrative itself is so labyrinthine we abandon any hope of trying to piece it together and just abandon ourselves to letting it happen. We feel in safe hands.”[3] *Movie years added.

New York Times film critic A.H. Weiler said in a May 21, 1956 review:

“The poor man’s sage who first noted that “all horse players die broke” not only was right but awfully conservative. “The Killing,”…is a sharp, black-and-white illustration of the theory that the odds are against both a daring gang who rob a race track and the bettors, to judge by the robbers’ record “take.” Though The Killing (1956)* is composed of familiar ingredients and it calls for fuller explanations. It evolves as a fairly diverting melodrama. Stanley Kubrick, the film’s youthful director, who also wrote the script, was not being niggardly in his stakes. The motley crew headed by Johnny Clay, the ex-convict who devises the scheme for the big “killing,” shoots at nothing less than a $2,000,000 haul. The preparations for this coup are reminiscent but not nearly as imaginative as those of the classic, “The Asphalt Jungle.” And, the motivations and backgrounds of a few of the mob appear to be weak considering their blameless backgrounds and the risks involved. Mr. Kubrick has kept things moving at a lively clip as the plotting is revealed in timetable fashion.[4]

Actors – The Killing (1956)

Returning

This movie has a huge ensemble cast and is a who’s who of Film Noir. The great screen and real-life rouge Sterling Hayden leads the cast as robbery organizer Johnny Clay. Hayden was first covered in the Film Noir Crime of Passion (1957).

Elisha Cook Jr. plays George Peatty, a cashier at the horserace track and a man that married, at least in terms of looks, well above his station. This fantastic actor was first covered in the prime Film Noir, The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Jay C. Flippen, a member of the John Wayne posse, played former alcoholic and crime financier Marvin Unger. This interesting actor was first covered in the western spoof Cat Ballou (1965).

Jay Adler was great as always playing Leo the Loanshark. This former Yiddish actor was first covered in the Film Noir 99 River Street (1953).

Marie Windsor, a classic Film Noir Femme Fatale, took that moniker again as the not-nice Sherry Peatty. This classic lady of evil was first covered in the claustrophobic Film Noir The Narrow Margin (1952).

The lovely Coleen Gray played the role of Fay. This outstanding actress was covered in the great Film Noir Nightmare Alley (1947).

James Edwards had a small but essential role as the racetrack parking lot attendant. This actor was first covered in the sweet science film The Set-Up (1949).

Film Noir regular Ted de Corsia played a crooked Policeman Randy Kennan, a heist crew member. De Corsia was first covered in the Film Noir The Big Combo (1955).

Another familiar face, Joe Sawyer, played Mike O’Reilly. Sawyer was first covered in the Bogart Pre-Noir The Petrified Forest (1936).

New

Timothy Carey plays Nikki Arcane, a guy hired to shoot a horse, and he comes off like a guy that would shoot a horse. Carey was born in New York City in 1929. With a poked face, dark hair, and deeply set dark eyes, Carey looked the part of a villain.

By the age of 22, Carey had graduated from acting school. It is unconfirmed that Carey was one of the construction workers in Ace in the Hole (1951) as his first film. He certainly played a corpse in the Clark Gable western Across the Wide Missouri (1951). Carey received much attention for his role as a biker in The Wild One (1953) with Marlon Brandon and Lee Marvin.

Carey continued with small bits such as a vicious cathouse bouncer in East of Eden (1955). The following year he was in The Killing (1956), and his creepiness oozed off the screen. The following year he was terrific in Paths of Glory (1957) as a World War I French private wrongly condemned to be executed.

Carey was hard to work with and very unpredictable. However, he continued to get work in films such as One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), where Carey played South Dakota Slim, the brother of North Dakota Slim (Len Lesser), a bad guy in Head (1968), the crazy Monkees film, Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976).

He released The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962), which he wrote and directed. After his acting career slowed, Carey taught acting. His last film was Echo Park (1985). He died in 1994 at the age of 65.

Vince Edwards played the vicious gangster Val Cannon. Edwards was born in 1928 in New York City. The child of immigrants from Italy, Edwards longed to work in entertainment. Edwards was a champion swimmer in high school. He attended Ohio State University on an athletic scholarship. He was on track to compete in the Olympics until emergency surgery derailed his chances.

Edwards attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1950. Edwards worked on stage in the 1940s and 50s. Edwards got his start in film with an uncredited role in Dark Passage (1947). He continued to work on television and in movies such as Rouge Cop (1954), The Night Holds Terror (1955), and Hit and Run (1957). However, the movie that helped him the most was The Killing (1956).

Edwards continued with more tough guy roles in films like Ride Out For Revenge (1957), Murder By Contract (1958), and City of Fear (1959) until his most significant break came. Edwards was cast as Dr. Ben Casey in television’s “Ben Casey” 1961-1966. Edwards continued to make movies like The Devil’s Brigade (1968), Hammerhead (1968), and The Mad Bomber (1973) as he made more television appearances. His last film was The Fear (1995). Edwards died unexpectantly in 1996.

Story – The Killing (1956)

The movie begins with frenetic drum and horn music that evokes the Roman Colosseum as the credits roll. The visuals are the interworkings of a sprawling racetrack. The horses take to the track for a race as larger horses pull the starting gate into place. The race starts.

The narration begins at exactly 3:45 p.m., as Marvin Unger (Jay C. Flippen) walks by the ticket window. He doesn’t like to gamble, but he has placed a $5 bet on each horse in the fifth race. Unger orders a bottle of Ginger Ale from the track bartender Mike O’Reilly (Joe Sawyer). Mike says to put a $5 win next to the $5 place. On a track sheet, Unger sees an address and the time of 8:00 p.m.

Unger walks away from the bar as the race continues. Unger writes the address and time on the betting ticket for the 8^th horse. He goes to the cashier at the second $5 win window. The clerk in the cage is George Peatty (Elisha Cook, Jr.).

An hour earlier, on the same day in September, a police patrolman Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia), goes to a bar and meets with Leo the Loanshark (Jay Adler). Randy is late on a payment to Leo. Randy says he can pay off the loan in two weeks or less. Leo adds $400 to the total owed.

At 7:00 p.m. on the same day, Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) discusses the plan with his girlfriend Fay (Colleen Gray). Johnny says Unger is putting up the money to pay for the heist. Fay doesn’t care about the plan. She is all in for Johnny. She only worries that he will return to prison and leave her alone again. Johnny says they will leave by plane on Saturday night. Unger comes in and breaks up their love fest.

A half-hour before, Mike, the bartender, returns home to his ailing wife, Ruthie (Dorothy Adams). Mike needs the money from the robbery to pay the medical bills.

At 7:15 p.m., George, the cashier, returns home to his wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor). In this film, George is a three, and Sherry is an eight. Sherry is pretty mean to George and only wants a drink. He tries to talk, and she is only interested in mocking him. Her gold-digging dreams have been dashed by George’s tiny income. He tells her that he has money coming in soon. He says he knows he can trust her. George says he must go out to a meeting, but she gives him grief. He foolish tells her about the heist.

After George is gone, Sherry heads to her boyfriend’s apartment. He is Val Cannon (Vince Edwards), a low-level mobster. Sherry is jealous because Val goes out with other women. Sherry tells Val that they are going to have money soon because George is going to rob the racetrack. She wants Val to take away George’s cut from the robbery. She has also found the address of the meeting in George’s clothes. Val decides that he wants to rob the entire gang and not just get George’s share.

Johnny is with Mike, Randy, George, and Unger at the meeting apartment. He tells that there will be two more guys involved in the robbery, but they won’t know who they are. Johnny says that one guy will handle the rifle, and the other will start a fight in the track bar. These two extras will not be part of the robbery but will be paid $5,000 and $2,500 in advance. Since Unger is fronting the money, he will get it off the top before the loot is split.

Johnny shows the track’s layout and orders the crew to make updates on any changes. He expects to steal two million before the armored car arrives for pickup. In today’s terms, the haul would be about 20 million.

The group hears a noise in the hallway. Randy and Johnny rush to the next room. A punch is heard but not shown. Johnny places the knocked-out woman on the bed. George identifies her as his wife, Sherry. Randy slaps George for running his mouth. Johnny says George can tell what he has done, or they will get the information out of Sherry. George denies that he has told her anything. He says she is jealous and was just checking on him. Randy and Mike take George back to his apartment.

Unger wants to know what they are going to do with Sherry. Johnny says he will slap her pretty face into hamburger meat. OH! Unger leaves to be away from the violence. When Unger walks outside, Val and another guy are waiting in a car.

Sherry starts charming Johnny, and her story is the same as George’s. Johnny, who knows her, calls her a no-good tramp and warns her to sit tight. Johnny warns her to keep her mouth shut, and she will get money from George.

Later, George and Sherry are back in their apartment. He is complaining about the way he was treated. She tells him he is important and they couldn’t do the job without him. George wants to drop out, but Sherry wants him in on the theft. She says she will feel unloved if he doesn’t get the money. She tries to chisel the day of the heist out of George using sex as her instrument.

Three days later, early in the morning, Johnny goes to the Academy of Chess and Checkers. He meets chess master Maurice Oboukhoff (Kola Kwariani). The two are old friends. Maurice advises Johnny not to stand out. Maurice makes extra money wrestling when he is not at the academy.

Johnny says he will give Maurice $2,500 to start a fight during the 7^th race. He won’t tell Maurice why he needs him to start a fight. The Russian wrestler agrees to start the fight.

Next, Johnny meets with Nikki Arcane (Timothy Carey). Nikki is firing a shotgun at some paper targets. The sawed-off shotgun is to be used in the robbery. Johnny says he will pay Nikki $5,000 for killing a horse. Nikki will set up in a parking lot and shoot the lead horse when it makes the turn into the final stretch. Johnny doesn’t give any details of the robbery.

Later, Johnny drives to a motor court and meets with Joe Piano (Tito Vuolo). Johnny gets a cabin and leaves a guitar case. Johnny says he doesn’t want anyone in the room, and another bag will be dropped off next week.

Four days later, Sherry wakes up early. George is already awake and in the kitchen. Sherry pals up with her husband. She keeps talking about the money and how she will support him emotionally after he gets the money. She knows it is the day for the robbery, but George doesn’t fess up. Sherry says that Johnny sexually assaulted her the night they caught her outside the meeting room. George is insanely jealous and upset.

That same morning, Johnny wakes and says goodbye to Unger. Unger says he feels like a father to Johnny and then asks him to go away with him. It is a little odd. Johnny tells the former alcoholic to stay away from the track.

Johnny goes to the airport and checks his bags. He says he will be carrying another bag when he boards the flight. Johnny arrives at the motor court, having previously purchased a large box of flowers. He tells Piano that a cop in a patrol car will drop something off at 6:30p.m. Johnny says he will pick that packet up later, and Piano will not see him again.

Inside the room, Johnny transfers the shotgun from the guitar case into the flower box. He then goes to the bus station, where he places the flower box inside a storage locker. Next, he travels to Mike’s apartment, where he drops the key to the bus locker in the mailbox.

Around 11:00 a.m., Mike talks to his sick wife about not eating. He gives the sick woman words of hope. Mike retrieves the locker key and heads to the bus station, where he retrieves the flowerbox/shotgun. Mike takes a bus to the track. Mike takes the flower box into the employee’s locker room and places it in his locker. George has brought a pistol to work as well. Guards bring a box of money to the counting room across the hall from the employee’s locker room.

The races begin, and everything is proceeding normally. Mike is busy at the bar, but Unger staggers in very drunk, having fallen off the wagon very hard. Mike refuses him service, and Unger wanders away.

At 3:32 p.m. Randy calls the police station to say his radio is not working. A lady comes out screaming for help because of a fight. Randy pulls away, leaving her standing in the road. Randy’s time is critical. He arrives at the track in his patrol car just before the 7^th race begins. He parks on the grass outside of the track offices.

Earlier, at 2:30 p.m., Maurice prepares to leave the academy. He tells another worker that if he is not back by a specific time, the man should call his lawyer. Maurice arrives at the track bar just as the 7^th race is about to start. Johnny is loitering near the entrance to the back offices. He has a briefcase with him. Maurice calls Mike an Irish pig and starts the fight. Maurice does an excellent job of handling everyone that comes near him. In the fight, he changes to his hair suit. He uses wrestling moves to take down a bunch of cops. Finally, about 8 people subdue the man.

George slips out of the cage and opens the door for Johnny. Maurice is drug away by the brute squad. He is the brute squad.

Earlier, at 11:40 a.m., Nikki leaves his house carrying a guitar case. Nikki is driving a convertible 1950 MG-TD with the hood ornament from a Jaguar. Nikki arrives at the lot at 12:30 p.m. The lot attendant (James Edwards) tells Nikki that the lot will not be opened until the other lot fills up. The attendant is pretty hostile. Nikki says he has paraplegia from World War II and wanted to watch the race from the parking lot. The attendant also has a bad leg from the war. He decides to let Nikki in, and Nikki gives him a large tip. Nikki parks his car by the track.

Later, the attendant brings a race program to Nikki. The track gets ready to begin the 7^th race. The attendant returns to Nikki and tries to give him a horseshoe for luck. Nikki turns harsh and drops the n-word. The attendant leaves, throwing down the horseshow as he does. The race starts, and Nikki pulls his rifle, preparing to shoot. Nikki shoots the horse, and there is a pileup on the track.

Nikki reverses his car, but his tire is flattened by the dropped horseshoe. A track guard arrives and kills the fleeing Nikki.

Earlier at 2:15 p.m., Johnny leaves the city for the track. Johnny takes his place by the entrance door and waits for the fight to begin. He sees the drunk Unger and nods for him to leave. The fight begins, and Johnny slips into the back with the aid of George.

Johnny goes into the locker room, where he picks up the shotgun from Mike’s locker. He also has a mask, gloves, and bags. The mask Johnny wears is a rubber clown face. It is one of the most frightening things I have seen in cinema since the flying monkeys.

The 7^th race is being reviewed as Johnny heads to the counting room. There is no peephole in the door; they just open it when Johnny knocks. He has the four counters raise their hands. Johnny has one of the men stuff about $2 million in a bag. Johnny sends the four men into the locker room before he throws the bag of money and other evidence out a window. Johnny goes outside and looks like a track guest. A cop tries to stop him at the door, but Johnny slugs the cops and blends into the crowd.

Back at the meeting apartment, George, Unger, Mike, and Randy are waiting. They hear about the robbery on the radio. They also hear that Nikki is dead.

The scene goes back to when Johnny throws the bag of money out the window. Randy is waiting below and picks up the bag and gear. Randy has dropped the money at the motel. George is apprehensive that the money has not arrived by 7:15 p.m. The men hear the elevator and open the door looking for Johnny. Val and his partner Tiny (Joe Turkel) burst in with guns drawn. Val wants to know where Johnny is and when the money is coming. Val brags about a particular lady and then asks where the jerk George is.

George comes out of the back room with his pistol in his hand. George fires, killing Val and Tiny. Val fires his shotgun as he falls, killing Unger, Mike, and Randy. George is shot through the cheek.

Earlier, at 6:40 p.m., Johnny arrives at the motor court. His arrival was delayed by traffic. In the room, Johnny finds the bag of money sitting on the bed. Johnny arrives at the apartment at 7:29 p.m. The mortally wounded George staggers past Johnny’s car and gets into his own. The narration says that whoever has the money should hold it for the others if there is trouble. Johnny drives away as police are already responding to the shooting.

Johnny goes to a pawnshop and buys a giant suitcase. Johnny dumps the money in the suitcase and abandons the gun and other gear by a field. He tries to lock the secondhand suitcase, but the keys don’t work.

Sherry is packing to leave when she hears someone come into their apartment. She calls for Val, darling, but George staggers in and asks why she did it. Sherry then switches to mocking him for getting shot. She says he better leave before Val arrives. George professes his love before shooting Sherry. George then falls dead, taking the parrot down with him.

Johnny meets Fay at the airport. There are cops all over the airport. A lady baby talks to her toy poodle while waiting for her husband to arrive. Johnny tries to take the giant suitcase on the plane, but ticket agent Brown (Steve Mitchell) says it must be checked. Johnny goes full Karen and asks for a supervisor. Mr. Grimes (James Griffith) offers a full refund. Finally, Johnny agrees to let the bag be checked.

Johnny and Fay see the bag being trucked to the plane. The toy poodle escapes, and the baggage truck has to swerve. The suitcase falls, and the money scatters all over the flight line. Johnny and Fay head out front to hail a taxi, but the police begin to close in on the pair. Fay suggests Johnny run, but knowing he is caught, he says, “What’s the difference.”

Conclusion – The Killing (1956)

This movie is told in an extremely non-linear fashion. This is common in Film Noir, and this film is probably the best example of how to do it for significant effect. However, this movie would be hard to follow from a single viewing in a theater.

Of course, by now, you know that this movie was the template for Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Director Quentin Tarantino stated that this movie strongly influenced his filmmaking.

Sherry (Marie Windsor) was cast in this film as a Femme Fatale based on her performance in The Narrow Margin (1952). After seeing this film, Kirk Douglas was instrumental in having Kubrick selected as the director for Paths of Glory (1957).

This film cost $320,000 to make. Oddly, it was marketed as the second feature of a double feature and ended up losing about $130,000 on its initial release.

This film has nine killings, seven gangsters, one Femme Fatal, and one horse. As he chased the money, Johnny (Sterling Hayden) was supposed to be chopped up by a plane propellor. American Airlines felt this would make their company seem unsafe. So, the scene was cut from the film. One horse really died as a result of over 40 takes.

Of course, this movie like Of Mice and Men (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and Dr. Strangelove (1964) show the fallacies of human planning. Humans make plans, and god laughs.

World-Famous Short Summary – Stick to the plan

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Beware the moors.

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[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049406/
[2] The Killing – Rotten Tomatoes
[3] The Killing movie review & film summary (1956) | Roger Ebert
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/1956/05/21/archives/screen-the-killing-new-film-at-the-mayfair-concerns-a-robbery-the.html