Product description

The Killers [1946]

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Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5050582411720
Label : Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer : Universal Pictures UK
Publisher : Universal Pictures UK
Release date : 2007-02-12
Title : The Killers [1946]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Parental Guidance
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1946-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 105
Studio : Universal Pictures UK
Theatrical releaseDate : 1946

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
This 1946 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's short story adds well over an hour of new material to the original tale. The reason is, while director Robert Siodmak, star Burt Lancaster, and an outstanding supporting cast are faithful to Hemingway's work, his story only takes up about 15 minutes of screen time. Burt Lancaster plays the doomed man sought by hired guns in a small town. Hemingway's bruisingly concise dialogue makes an early sequence set in a diner quite unnerving, but after the killers dispense with their prey, Siodmak turns to an insurance investigator (Edmond O'Brien) who looks into the reasons behind the murder. An exemplary film noir (complete with a fickle femme fatale played by Ava Gardner), The Killers is all mood and fatalism.--Tom Keogh

Customer reviews

review by: mgcs date: 2008-05-31 rating:

A Thrill and a Joy
How great it is to come across such gems - great story, sincere acting, and sense of style and genuine menace. At this price it is virtually being given away. Actors and reputation speak for themselves - so won't cover here. What I will say is that the opening episode is astonishly good. Brilliantly composed, lit and acted, it exhudes menace without any explicit violence - just smart talk and attitude. It's a lesson in just how good film making can be - a genuine treat.

review by: brendoclarke date: 2008-02-25 rating:

Noir
Ava Gardner and Burt Lanchaster star in this dark (Ernest Hemmingway penned) noir masterpiece. Its got everything: velvety voiceover, split narrative- flashback, frosty femme fatale, and great performances.

review by: petermoore3032 date: 2007-11-10 rating:

lee marvin version
MARVINS VERSION IS FAR BETTER IN MY PERSONAL OPINION AND THE TWO VERSIONS OUGHT TO BE SEEN FOR COMPARISON

review by: BookDiva date: 2007-08-31 rating:

I adore films of the 40's, Film Noir at it's peak of success!
I recently read Ava Gardner's biography and she stated that her role as Kitty in "The Killers", closely resembles that of herself in regards to her outlook upon her personal relationships with the men she had been involved with. She felt at home with her character and could identify with her feelings. Therefore felt comfortable during the making of this particular picture, unlike many others. I adore film noir and this is one of the best. It has a wonderful plot and is very well shot (No pun intended), Ava looks so young and fresh, a classic beauty of the 40's. How could a women that looked so incredibly stunning and whom was clearly intelligent ever doubt herself so?

review by: date: 2007-05-31 rating:

A first-rate crime noir from 1946
How do you make an interesting movie when the character the movie ostensibly is all about is just a dumb lug, as interesting as a boiled potato? The Swede stumbles into one situation after another, willing to believe in true love or lies. For me, director Robert Siodmak and screenwriters Anthony Veiller, Richard Brooks and John Huston (the last two uncredited) solve this problem three ways.

First, there is the great look and style of the movie. I think it's impossible to say one movie looks better than all others, especially when it comes to noirs, but The Killers nails as well as any the dark, foreboding feel of cheap hotel rooms, shadowy streets and close-ups of white, worried faces. Second, all the flashbacks in this movie create the sense of a complex jigsaw puzzle slowly being solved. The story not only becomes complicated and interesting, it's great fun to see what the next piece in the puzzle is going to show us. And what helps make all those puzzle pieces interesting is the cast of characters who take turns in the flashback spotlights. There's not a dud actor in the lot. And third, for me, is the sourness of the ending. No, not the last scene of a smiling Edmond O'Brien jauntily leaving his boss's office. It's the revelation of what a nasty piece of work Kitty Collins really was and how far out of her league was the Swede. He was just a big, thick-eared guy who, in other circumstances, might have gone straight, but he didn't have a chance when he saw Kitty that first time at the party sitting next to the piano player. I don't think this was what Rodgers and Hammerstein had in mind when they wrote about seeing a stranger across a crowded room.

Besides, "I did something wrong once" is a great line to power a crime movie with.

What also struck me is the simplicity of the logic behind Jim Colfax' decision to unleash the two hit men onto the Swede. At first, it seemed so much smarter just to let things coast by. But Colfax's reasoning holds up if you think about it, and that logic powers the action of the movie. What doesn't hold up is the motivation of the two hit men's behavior in the diner. How much easier it would have been to walk in, sit down and order a couple of cups of coffee. Then mention they were in town to pay back some money to the Swede but they don't have his address. Anybody know where he lives? Someone would have said, "Why, sure. He lives at Ma's boarding house just a couple of blocks from here." I know, this more practical approach would have gutted the foreboding and nervousness of the movie. I'm not advocating this, just suggesting that it's a little bothersome when a great plot device has a flaw.

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