One of the most ingenious crime capers ever constructed, the screenplay was co-written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson and based on Lionel White's novel The Clean Break.
Sterling Hayden stars as ex-con Johnny Clay, who is planning the robbery of a race track along with several other men, some of whom actually work at the track. A crooked cop is also in on the deal. Clay wants to use his cut of the loot, which he hopes will be around $2,000,000, to leave town with his girlfriend, Fay (Coleen Gray). One of the men in the group, George Peatty (Elisha Cook, Jr.), mistakenly tells his grasping, cheating wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the robbery. She informs her lover, Val (Vince Edwards), so that he can apprehend the money after it's stolen.
Telling too much of the plot would be a grave disservice to anyone who hasn't yet seen this film. The details of the robbery plan are revealed early in the film as the group meets together to coordinate their movements. But the heart of the story is woven together with the development of each of the characters. The actual robbery is shown from the perspectives of each character as the time frame jumps back and forth to show their different actions and movements. THE KILLING is as much a character study as it is a crime thriller and thus relies more on dialogue and human interaction than the shadowy lighting and bizarre camera angles usually associated with Film Noir. However, it does feature two classic Noir elements: a central character (Johnny Clay) who seems doomed from the start, and another man (George) whose involvement with a femme fatale (his own wife) leads to his destruction.
This film held my interest from start to finish. I found it amazing that these men thought their convoluted plan could possibly work. And it was exciting to see certain parts of their plan work while other parts went horribly awry.
Sterling Hayden is excellent in his leading role. Johnny Clay could almost be a reincarnation of Dix Handley, the doomed criminal he portrayed in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950). He is supported by a marvelous group of actors: Jay C. Flippen, Ted diCorsia, Joe Sawyer, James Edwards, and the incredibly offbeat Timothy Carey. But the best supporting performances are given by Elisha Cook, Jr. and Marie Windsor. They have some of the best lines in the film as George reveals his obsessive love for Sherry, who, in her silky, sexy voice, assaults him with insults and ridicule. Few actresses were as good at this sort of thing as Windsor.
THE KILLING is not only exciting entertainment, but also essential viewing for students of Film Noir and Stanley Kubrick.
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