The Killers (1946)
March 25, 2023 5:01 PM - Subscribe

Look, you get to stare at Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner for almost two hours, what more do you need? But fine, fine: you get a boxing movie, a heist movie, star-crossed lovers, a noir detective movie, betrayal, and amazing costumes.

Related: if you're a fan of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, which is one of the best movies ever, you need to see this. Some scenes are taken directly from it, but it's also clearly a major influence for the lighting and music.
posted by The corpse in the library (9 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is such a good movie. I’m not a huge Lancaster fan, but he’s damned good in this one.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:22 PM on March 25, 2023 [2 favorites]


One of the best film noirs of all time. Director Robert Siodmak was at a peak here and got a Best Director Oscar nom, as did the screenplay. Based on an Ernest Hemingway short story, Ava is fabulously sultry, Burt's excellent in his film debut...so much goodness.

It's not easy to make a suspenseful film where the lead character gets murdered in the opening scene but this one delivers.
posted by mediareport at 6:16 PM on March 25, 2023 [1 favorite]


Great movie. It was remade in in 1964 with Lee Marvin, which is not as good as the original, but quite fun. Plus the remake was infamous for a while because of a scene where Ronald Reagan slaps Angie Dickinson.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:12 AM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]


> It was remade in in 1964 with Lee Marvin

Yes, the DVD I got from the library has both movies in the box, which I think is an interesting choice.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:24 AM on March 26, 2023


1964 FanFare
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:24 PM on March 27, 2023


I think you can tell the exact point at which the Hemingway original material ran out and they had to start adding more stuff.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on March 27, 2023


The original Hemmingway story, if you're in a completist mood.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:59 PM on March 27, 2023


You had me at stare at Ava Gardner for almost two hours.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:01 PM on March 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


I just rewatched it the other day and it's great but Ava has limited screen time. She's key to the story and every scene she's in is great - in sharp contrast to the Ronald Reagan slap of Angie Dickinson in the remake scene linked above, Ava, when threatened with a smack by her thug boyfriend, tells him he won't live through the night if he does it - but I had remembered her with more sultry screentime than she has. Her song when we first meet her is pure femme fatale, though.
posted by mediareport at 6:22 AM on March 30, 2023


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