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Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Vince Edwards ... see more see more... , Jay C. Flippen , Ted de Corsia , Joe Sawyer , Timothy Carey , Jay Adler , Joe Turkel , Dorothy Adams , William Benedict , Mary Carroll , James Edwards , James Griffith , Kola Kwarian , Tito Vuolo , Robert B. Williams , Steve Mitchell

The Killing was director Stanley Kubrick's first major film effort -- though, like Kubrick's earlier films, it was economically produced with an inexpensive cast. In a variation of his Asphalt Jungle ... read more read more...role, Sterling Hayden plays veteran criminal Johnny Clay, planning one last big heist before settling down to a respectable marriage with Fay (Colleen Gray). Teaming with several cohorts, Johnny masterminds a racetrack robbery. The basic flaw is that all the crooks involved are losers and small-timers who find themselves in way over their heads despite their supposed cleverness. None of the participants is more pathetic than George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.), who is goaded into the robbery by his covetous and far-from-faithful wife (Marie Windsor). As in a Greek tragedy, Johnny's best-laid schemes go awry. Prominently featured in the cast of The Killing are offbeat character actors Tim Carey and Joe Turkel, who'd show up with equally showy roles in future Kubrick productions. The Killing is based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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32 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 23 min.

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: January 1, 1956

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DVD Release Date: August 15, 2001

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Flixster Reviews (1,191)

  • JonathanHutchings
    April 7, 2012
    JonathanHutchings
    There are two types of heist films: one relies merely on the act of the robbery to hold the audience's attention, and the other explores the psychology and meticulous nature of planning a robbery. For me, I'm with Truffaut in naming Riffifi as the undisputed "king of the heist fi... read morelm," but The Killing is a great example of the latter. Sure, Sterling Hayden is as stiff and wooden as ever, but he is bailed out by an exemplary supporting cast (minus the awful Coleen Gray, who thankfully only really has one scene). And of course, there's Kubrick's show-stopping dolly shots, and his patented lighting schemes. What he lacked in Fear and Desire and Killer's Kiss, he perfected in The Killing. Getting this complete, assuredly paced film under his belt would go on to be the impetus for him to create some of the greatest cinematic achievements in the 20th century.

    A lot has been made of the narration being sometimes irritating, that it carries a kind of B-movie police drama expository tone, and the information is too much. I would argue that the narration was necessary in establishing and maintaining the complex and non-sequential plot, and that the information is an interesting mold in the film's structure. It adds on a layer to that existentialist subtext, as every description makes it sounds like the narrator's a reporter looking back on the past events with a (detached) objectivity. Every aspect of the plan is on a rigid schedule (time of day is consistently highlighted throughout), but even the most stringent, meticulous of plans can't avoid the inevitable disruption of chance, luck, or in this case, fate.
  • blkbomb
    January 14, 2012
    blkbomb
    Johnny Clay: You'd be killing a horse - that's not first degree murder, in fact it's not murder at all, in fact I don't know what it is. 

    "In All It's Fury and Violence"

    Kubrick's third feature length film, The Killing, is really what jump started his career. Before it he had m... read moreade Fear and Desire, which he hated, and another decent film called Killer's Kiss. The Killing was his first great movie, and showed the potential he had as a director. This short heist film lacks in nothing. The one thing that did irritate me about it was the horrible narration. It sounded so out of place. The only place narration like that would fit in is a terrible and cheap 50's science fiction film. Other than that, the rest is just about as perfect as it could be.

    Johnny Clay is planning one last big score before settling into a quiet life. He enlists the help of some less than big time criminals. What he plans to do is take a horse track for all its got, which is roughly around $2,000,000. Everyone involved thinks they have the perfect plan and that nothing is going to go wrong, but it is a robbery, so you know that is never going to happen. 

    The film is really revolutionary in how it does the robbery. Kubrick manipulates time like no movie before it and really sets the stage for every movie that would use this technique in the future. He does the same scene, at different times, from different viewpoints. It's like how Tarantino does his crime scenes in movies like Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown. The Killing obviously had a huge influence on the crime and heist genres and an even bigger influence on how directors would look at time. You don't have to film everything in sequence, and that is exactly what Kubrick proved here. 

    The Killing is extremely intelligent and ahead of its time in just about every detail of the robbery. It isn't only about how Kubrick manipulated time, but how he built the film up to the disastrous ending. The dialogue is great, but where you really see the Kubrick touch is in the actual filming of the movie. This is the first film where we really see how Kubrick would approach the filming of his movies. 

    It isn't my favorite Kubrick film, nor would I classify it as his best. But there is something incredibly special about watching it. This is when Kubrick really started making films that were so much better than everyone else's. It was before Paths of Glory, before 2001. So looking at this movie decades later, after his great career in filmmaking is over; it is wonderful experience. There really is nothing else like watching a great Stanley Kubrick movie. 

    After this, Kubrick would make nothing but extraordinary movies. If you haven't seen any of his movies, this is where you should start, and then just follow his filmography by date. I bet Kubrick would even say, that he wished this was the first movie he had ever made.

    Johnny Clay: You like money. You've got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart. 
  • fb100001592288964
    January 11, 2012
    fb100001592288964
    Director Stanley Kubrick in his earliest days as a filmmaker, delivers an engrossing film noir tale of the "robbery gone wrong," featuring razor sharp dialogue, Kubrick's classic directing trademarks and a strong lead performance by Sterling Hayden. Most likely one of my top 25 f... read moreavorite movies of all-time!
  • groaningbitch
    October 1, 2011
    groaningbitch
    asphalt jungle is much better.
  • mjgildea
    August 24, 2011
    mjgildea
    Not the best, but definitely my favorite Kubrick film. There is nothing wrong with this film whatsoever. I remember thinking Tarantino was a hack after originally seeing this but then again, the kind of genius contained within this film is going to escape eventually. Kubrick's di... read morerection and camera work are absolutely astonishing. The cast, the dialogue and story are all to die for. This movie is so underrated its depressing...
  • stevenecarrier
    August 19, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    With his third ("Fear and Desire," and "Killer's Kiss" preceded) feature film, "The Killing," Stanley Kubrick had proved he was here to stay. "The Killing" is such a triumph because it did so many things at once, almost effortlessly. Kubrick demonstrated that he understood what m... read moreakes a great crime film, but also updated it with his near expert manipulation of narrative. He also brought a sense of that noir existentialism to a heist film, which was extremely exciting at the time. Something that really stood out to me was the confidence in which he moved his camera. It was some of the most innovative, subtle and stylish cinematography since Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane." "The Killing's" influences have been far reaching, most notably in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and to a much different extent, Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven." Because of this, the film might not seem as relevant today, but I assure you, "The Killing" is the real deal. A blazingly original, stylish and uncommonly confident heist film that works just a nicely as a great slice of film history.
  • sergioogarcia
    August 18, 2011
    sergioogarcia
    LOVE IT. What a great movie! Stanley Kubrick never stops amazing me. After watching The Killing I'm totally convinced that I will watch his entire filmographty. The perfect plan for the perfect robbery. Sterling Hayden wow. Almost evrything is perfect in this movie. I loved it, r... read moreeally. Go for it, NOW!
  • bookmunki
    August 1, 2011
    bookmunki
    tarantino had to have watched this flick several times before making resevoir dogs...
  • FilmFanatik
    June 27, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    Pure film noir from Stanley Kubrick, this being only his third full-length film. I guess my biggest problem with it is the actual narration of the piece. It stands out like a sore thumb and sounds almost exactly like the same narrator from Plan 9 from Outer Space. Not that either... read more film has anything to do with each other OR that the narration is the wrong move, but it just took me out of the moment each time it came up. The story is there and comes across very strong so I'm curious how different it would be without it. Just a theory. Regardless, this is a strong work from one of the grand masters.
  • axadntpron
    June 15, 2011
    axadntpron
    There are just some directors out there who are so visionary that everything they touch is pure gold. After watching The Killing, it is hard to argue that Kubrick wasn't one of those people. His only stab at noir is certainly impressive. Much like Huston's Concrete Jungle, this f... read moreilm is centered around the plight of the criminals involved in a heist. The films also share the star Sterling Hayden who, while not as charismatic as other men of Noir such as Bogart, still delivers a great performance. However, while Huston's film seems to focus on telling a great story, Kubrick's film plays like an exercise in style. Casual walks across the inside of an apartment become opportunities for Kubrick to pull off an excellent tracking shot. Kubrick's camera is fluid and the shots are beautiful without drawing too much attention to the camera. The story isn't particularly fascinating and the supporting actors aren't anything to write home about. However, this is one of the more exquisitely shot noirs I have seen and another example that Kubrick was one of the most visionary directors of the 20th century.

View All The Killing Reviews

Critic Reviews

August 3, 2011
TIME Magazine

At 27 Writer-Director Stanley Kubrick, in his third full-length picture, has shown more audacity with dialogue and camera than Hollywood has seen since the obstreperous Orson Welles went riding out of... Full Review

Variety Staff
May 8, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

[The film] at first tends to be somewhat confusing, soon settles into a tense and suspenseful vein which carries through to an unexpected and ironic windup. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
May 8, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Arguably Stanley Kubrick's most perfectly conceived and executed film. Full Review

A.H. Weiler
January 1, 2000
A.H. Weiler, New York Times

An engrossing little adventure. Full Review

Eric Melin
October 27, 2011
Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com

A brisk, satisfying film noir that features all the details of a racetrack heist gone wrong - even if the timeline is all shuffled out of order. It's thick with atmosphere and razor-sharp dialogue. Full Review

James Kendrick
August 16, 2011
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

Despite this only being his third feature and his first with a significant budget, Kubrick displays many of the thematic preoccupations and visual traits that would come to define his unique, cinemati... Full Review

Wesley Lovell
August 15, 2011
Wesley Lovell, Oscar Guy

A tight heist thriller from master director Stanley Kubrick. Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
October 19, 2010
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

May be the greatest of American heist films because it bursts the genre to the point of existentialism. Full Review

Dan Jardine
January 17, 2010
Dan Jardine, Cinemania

1956 and it's already Kubrick, being Kubrick. Full Review

October 3, 2007
Film4

Kubrick made grander and greater films, but this is among his most dramatic. Full Review

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