The Killing

"In all its fury and violence..."

1956 1h 25m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 1,776🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●91Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 105,025

CrimeThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

“In all its fury and violence...”

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Cast

Sterling Hayden
Johnny Clay
Coleen Gray
Fay
Vince Edwards
Val Cannon
Jay C. Flippen
Marvin Unger
Ted de Corsia
Patrolman Randy Kennan
Marie Windsor
Sherry Peatty
Elisha Cook Jr.
George Peatty
Joe Sawyer
Mike O'Reilly

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

70 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, shot by Lucien Ballard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Gerald Fried. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Betty Steinberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray and Vince Edwards carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In all its fury and violence...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stanley Kubrick directs. Lucien Ballard behind the camera. Gerald Fried scores. Betty Steinberg cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
370 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Stanley Kubrick, shot by Lucien Ballard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Gerald Fried. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Betty Steinberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray and Vince Edwards carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In all its fury and violence...".
9IMDB entry: tt0049406 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "sniper", "adultery", "robbery", "husband wife relationship".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Original score: Gerald Fried
Editing: Betty Steinberg
Makeup / hair: Robert Littlefield
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $320,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Killing (1956)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 91/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 105,025 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award1 nomination total

Also by

Stanley Kubrick

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Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-03-14
★ 8/10
This is a bad joke without a punch line. The Killing is directed by Stanley Kubrick who co-adapts to screenplay with Jim Thompson from the novel Clean Break written by Lionel White. It stars Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen and Coleen Gray. Music is by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Lucien Ballard. Ex-con Johnny Clay (Hayden) has a plan to make a killing at the racetrack, with some special inside help he plots to nab $2 million in an intricate robbery. It looks a good thing, the right people are in place, but there's a potential spanner in the works in the shapely form of Sherry Peatty (Windsor), the unfaithful and devious wife of one of the robbers. Cheaply made by Kubrick and his producer partner James B. Harris, The Killing is a lean and mean mid 50's film noir. Poorly received at the box office and met with indifference by critics upon release, it's a film that has come to be noted as hugely influential - more so as Kubrick's reputation has grown over the passing years. Clocking in at under 85 minutes, film is told in a fractured narrative structure that at the time was viewed as an oddity. Story is constructed around crosscut flashbacks as the robbery is planned and then executed, with Kubrick's direction as meticulous as the actual robbery itself. It's not hard to understand why confusion was an issue back upon its release, but this is something that now comes off as something of a masterstroke, and this even if Kubrick was forced to tinker with the final product where it was decided to add in a voice-over to aid those troubled by the nonlinear narrative (which the director despised). In spite of some problems, such as the cheapo sets and some stiff performances from secondary characters, The Killing is quintessential film noir. Kubrick thrives on filming his characters in cramped surroundings, the use of angles very effective, and Ballard photographs superbly for the low-key interiors, thus the mood is perfectly set. Story is filled out with hapless characters, where destinies are defined by greed, betrayal and the devils trump card - that of bad luck. As is normally the case with the best film noir, it's a dame who holds the key to the misery here. Sherry Peatty (Windsor excellent) is cold and utterly bitch like. She has a hold over her cuckolded husband George (Cook Junior never better) that would be easy to detest, that is were it not for the fact George is so pitifully weak! From that coupling bursts a doom and bleakness that underpins the story, rendering the film with a fatalistic sheen. The Killing does have a dated feel to it, but only slightly (and not remotely irritatingly) so. While there's no denying that the budgetary restrictions - the voice-over and some less than good performances - stop this being the masterpiece of the crime genre some of us want it to be. However, it's a damn fine film, that's tense, exciting and very compelling, and it does deserve to warrant a place on a favourite list of any self respecting film noir fan. 8/10
CinemaSerf2023-06-20
★ 7/10
Though it's Sterling Hayden who takes top billing here, it's actually Marie Windsor who steals the show as "Sherry". She is the rather money-grabbing, bullying, wife of "George" (Elisha Cook Jr). Now he works in the cashier's office at the local racetrack where "Mike" (Joe Sawyer) works behind the bar. These two are to be lynch pins in a daring plan to rob the place of two million dollars as it's feature race brings in the punters. Ex-con "Johnny" (Hayden) is the brains behind the scheme that also includes a bent cop "Randy" (Ted de Corsia), marksman "Nikki" (Timothy Carey) and financier "Unger" (the familiar face of Jay C. Flippen). Meticulous planning is required, diversions are created and it all looks set fair. Except, that is, for the blabbermouth "George" who tells his wife - in a bid to retain her love for him (and money) - who proceeds to tell her lover "Val" (Vince Edwards) and so a bit of double-play is soon on the cards too. It's constructed almost like a jigsaw puzzle, this film. We do a little bit of work on one aspect of the story, then move timelines and/or locations to another, or to another character before it all gradually comes together delivering a really effective eighty minutes of crime drama. Although I thought the ending just a little bit of a let down, there are strong performances across this tautly directed and effectively scored story. There's quite a lively bit of action from strongman Kola Kwariani in here too that's quite entertaining. Well worth a watch.