The Killing (1956)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay)
Jim Thompson (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

6 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

These 5 Men Had a $2,000,000 Secret Until One of them told this Woman!

Plot:

Crooks plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Racetrack | Robbery | Dog | Ex Convict

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Sterling Hayden	...	Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray	...	Fay
Vince Edwards	...	Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen	...	Marvin Unger
Ted de Corsia	...	Policeman Randy Kennan (as Ted DeCorsia)
Marie Windsor	...	Sherry Peatty
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	George Peatty (as Elisha Cook)
Joe Sawyer	...	Mike O'Reilly
James Edwards	...	Track Parking Attendant
Timothy Carey	...	Nikki Arcane
Kola Kwariani	...	Maurice Oboukhoff
Jay Adler	...	Leo the Loanshark
Tito Vuolo	...	Joe Piano
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Ruthie O'Reilly
Herbert Ellis	...	2nd American Airlines Clerk
James Griffith	...	Mr. Grimes, Airline Supervisor
Cecil Elliott	...	Lady with Small Dog
Joe Turkel	...	Tiny (as Joseph Turkel)
Steve Mitchell	...	Brown, American Airlines Clerk
Mary Carroll	...	Woman Asking Kennan for Help
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	American Airlines Clerk (as William Benedict)
Charles Cane	...	Plainclothesman at Airport (as Charles R. Cane)
Robert Williams	...	Plainclothesman at Airport (as Robert B. Williams)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rodney Dangerfield	...	Onlooker (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
John George	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Track Guard Slugged by Johnny (uncredited)
Harry Hines	...	Chess Player (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Racetrack Extra (uncredited)
Hal J. Moore	...	Race Track P.A. Announcer (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Richard Reeves	...	Bill, Track Employee in Locker Room (uncredited)
Frank Richards	...	Track Employee in Locker Room (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(screenplay)
Jim Thompson		(dialogue)
Lionel White		(novel "Clean Break")

Produced by
James B. Harris	....	producer
Alexander Singer	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Gerald Fried

Cinematography by
Lucien Ballard		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Betty Steinberg

Art Direction by
Ruth Sobotka

Set Decoration by
Harry Reif

Makeup Department
Robert Littlefield	....	makeup artist
Lillian Shore	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Clarence Eurist	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Milton Carter	....	assistant director
Paul Feiner	....	second assistant director
Howard Joslin	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Karl Brainard	....	assistant set decorator (as Carl Brainard)
Christopher Ebsen	....	chief carpenter
Bud Pine	....	construction supervisor
Robert L. Stephen	....	chief painter
Ray Zambel	....	property master

Sound Department
Rex Lipton	....	sound effects editor
Earl Snyder	....	sound

Special Effects by
Dave Koehler	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Louis DeWitt	....	photographic effects
Jack Rabin	....	photographic effects

Stunts
Bob Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lou Cortese	....	best boy
Paul Eagler	....	process camera operator
Carl Gibson	....	head grip
Robert Hosler	....	second assistant camera
Bobby Jones	....	gaffer
Richard Towers	....	camera operator (as Dick Tower)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Beaumelle	....	costumes: Miss Windsor
Rudy Harrington	....	wardrobe: women
Jack Masters	....	wardrobe
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Gerald Fried	....	conductor
Gilbert D. Marchant	....	music editor (as Gilbert Marchant)

Transportation Department
Dave Lesser	....	transportation

Other crew
Mary Gibsone	....	script supervisor
Joyce Hartman	....	assistant to director
Marguerite Olson	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Harris-Kubrick Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Art Free (2004) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1957) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cinemagia (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Studio S (2011) (Sweden) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Casta de malditos" - Argentina, Peru (imdb display title)
"Die Rechnung ging nicht auf" - Austria, West Germany
"Spelet är förlorat" - Finland (Swedish title) (imdb display title), Sweden (imdb display title)
"Atracament perfecte" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Atraco perfecto" - Spain
"Coup manqué" - Belgium (French title)
"Det store gangsterkup" - Denmark (imdb display title)
"Gennama ni karada wo hare" - Japan
"Gyilkosság" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Ha-Hereg" - Israel (Hebrew title)
"I klopi" - Greece (reissue title)
"Jaf la Hipodrom" - Romania (imdb display title)
"Killing" - West Germany (new title)
"L'ultime razzia" - France
"Mislukte opzet" - Belgium (Flemish title)
"Mordet" - Finland (Swedish title) (informal title)
"O Grande Golpe" - Brazil
"Peli on menetetty" - Finland
"Rapina a mano armata" - Italy
"Son darbe" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Spillet er tapt" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Tappo" - Finland (informal title)
"The killing" - Finland (reissue title)
"To hrima tis orgis" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Ubistvo" - Serbia
"Um Roubo no Hipódromo" - Portugal
"Zabójstwo" - Poland (imdb display title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1956) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (nf) (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (2003) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1960) (cut) | Spain:T | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Norway:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Italy:16+ | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Ireland:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #17836) (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bay Meadows Racetrack - 2600 S. Delaware Street, San Mateo, California, USA

Company:

Harris-Kubrick Productions

Trivia:

This was the first film on which Stanley Kubrick worked with a cinematographer. Lucien Ballard was hired because Kubrick was officially working on a film union production for the first time which prevented him from using himself as the cinematographer, as he had done in the past. The two often did not agree on camera and lighting matters.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the robbery you clearly see that a significant amount of the money is in neatly banded bundles of brand new crisp bills yet when it is transferred from the dufflebag to the suitcase all of the money is loose, unstacked & well used.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:At exactly 3:45 on that Saturday afternoon in the last week of September, Marvin Unger was, perhaps, the only one among the hundred thousand people at the track who felt no thrill at the running of the fifth race. He was totally disinterested in horse racing and held a lifelong contempt for gambling...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L.A. Noire (2011) (VG)

Young Kubrick's triumph

Stanley Kunbrick was still in his twenties when he made this film, yet his confidence and self-assurance are all over it. It is a well-written story, co-written by Kubrick (based on a novel called "A Clean Break"), about a meticulously planned horetrack heist told from the point of view of the several people who were in on the plot. Most of these guys weren't professional criminals, but otherwise honest men who were down on their luck and needed a break. They turned to this audacious plan in desperation, thinking they could do some real good in their lives with their share of the money. I won't give away the ending of course, but keep in mind this is a Kubrick film. That's all I say about that.

Standouts include Sterling Hayden as the ringleader, Marie Windsor as a snide, manipulative woman, Elisha Cook as her milquetoasty husband, Timothy Carey, as creepy as ever, and Kola Kwariani, the thinking man's Tor Johnson, as a chess expert/hired thug.

Speaking of chess, this is the first movie I've ever seen with a scene taking place in a chess parlor. Being from a provincial New England town, and not being a chess afficionado, I never knew such places existed.