The Killing

Utterly brilliant, this heist-gone-wrong thriller will have you at edge of your seat with its unforgettable characters, lead by veteran actor Sterling Hayden, and a plot that tells the story through the eyes of its various individuals.

When hard-boiled criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) decides on one last robbery before settling down with sweetheart Fay (Coleen Gray), he pulls out all the stops to ensure nothing goes wrong. The seemingly foolproof plan involves a motley crew of rather mismatched characters, though each and every one has been chosen to serve a particular purpose. The plan is to rob a whopping two million bucks from the money-counting room of a racetrack during a race. In order to achieve this, Clay’s team includes corrupt cop Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia), wrestler Maurice (Kola Kwariani), sharpshooter Nikkie Arane (Timothy Carey), track bartender Mike O’Reilly (Joe Sawyer), and betting window teller George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.). But what would a film noir be without a deceitful femme fatale? Here we have her in the shape of blond bombshell Sherry (Marie Windsor), the unlikely wife of timid window teller George. He is besotted with her, she gives him a hard time for having failed to provide her with the riches he once promised… and takes every opportunity to remind him of what a loser he is. Eager to keep her, George makes one big mistake: he tells Sherry of the planned robbery in order to impress her. Bad move! Once Sherry realises that hubby speaks the truth, she lets her young lover Val (Vince Edwards) in on the ‘secret’. In turn, Val and his pals plan to liberate the stolen money after the heist.

On the day of the robbery, things seem to go to plan at first: sharpshooter Nikkie is at the ready to shoot a horse in order to distract the crowd at the racetrack. Wrestler Maurice is ready to start a fight in the bar to distract further from what is about to unfold. Meanwhile, teller George opens the door to allow Clay into the money-counting room and carry out the robbery, whilst cop Randy is waiting at a back lane for the money to get thrown out from the window above, stashed away in a duffel bag. But loose cannon Nikkie gets a little careless and is shot in a parking lot after having aimed at the horse. Meanwhile, things in the racetrack office don’t run too smoothly either, nonetheless Clay succeeds in getting the money and chuck it down to copper Randy, whom no one will suspect of having any kind of involvement. Next step of the plan is to lock the booty in a cabin where Clay will collect it at a later stage. Clay is then supposed to make his way to an apartment in town, where the others are waiting and where the cash will be divided accordingly. When teller George and his accomplices open the apartment door in the belief it is their ‘boss’, they’re in for a nasty surprise. Sherry’s lover Val and his mates barge in and demand the money, which has in fact not arrived yet. After a violent shoot-out, only George escapes and runs out on the street badly injured just as Clay drives around the corner. Sensing that something is terribly wrong, Clay hits the gas pedal double-quick and, having transferred the stash into a suitcase, makes his way to the airport together with Fay. Meanwhile, George stumbles back home and Sherry receives her well-deserved punishment before the wounded teller collapses. As for Clay… his two million bucks end up being blown across the airport’s tarmac in one of the movie’s most memorable and climactic scenes!

The Killing, based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White, is film noir at its best! The frantic score by Gerald Fried and the outstanding cinematography by Lucien Ballard further contribute to the film’s success.

As a fabulous bonus, Arrow Films have thrown in a second film noir by Kubrick on the Special Features, namely the 1955 Killer’s Kiss. This engaging thriller involves a ‘love triangle’ in which New York boxer Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) falls for his attractive neighbour, taxi dancer Gloria (Irene Kane), whilst Gloria is pestered by her infatuated and violent boss Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera). What ensues is a story of mistaken identity, kidnap and murder, culminating in an abandoned warehouse full of mannequins. The energetic score is once again by Gerald Fried, but it’s Kubrick himself who was responsible for the cinematography. Stark and moody, New York has rarely looked more dangerous and gritty!

SPECIAL FEATURES on this Blu-ray release include:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature
* Stanley Kurbrick’s second feature, Killer’s Kiss (1955), presented in High Definition (1080p)
* Original uncompressed mono PCM Audio on both films
* Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both films
* The Evolution of a Master – critic Michel Ciment discusses Kubrick’s 1950s output
* An extract from the French television series Journal de la cinéma featuring an interview with Sterling Hayden
* An appreciation by filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers)
* Theatrical trailers for both films
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist
* Collector’s booklet containing new writing by Peter Kramer, Barry Forshaw and filmmaker Ron Peck, illustrated with original archive stills.