ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
SusanJL The beginning of this movie, when the Swede has given up on life, is one of the most riveting and memorable of any movie ever made!!! Ava is drop-dead gorgeous and Burt is a hunk. Worth seeing for those things alone. I gave it a ten because it's a must-see movie, at least once!! Unforgettable.
rodrig58 Burt Lancaster, a great great actor, is very convincing even when is badly beaten as a boxer and when is tough with the other characters. I did not understand why he gave up and left himself to be shot and killed, perhaps Hemingway wanted like that, I did not read the book. Ava Gardner is too young and too beautiful for anything, too delicate to be a felon's mistress. Edmond O'Brien, very natural in the role of insurance guy Jim Reardon. The other actors are very good too, Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, Vince Barnett, Virginia Christine, Jack Lambert. Queenie Smith, in a very small role, is excellent. Robert Siodmak, good craftsman.
Mr_Ectoplasma "The Killers" follows tow hit men who takes out a complacent victim (Burt Lancaster), after which a detective and insurance agent go down the rabbit hole into a web of mystery which entangles the magnetic Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner).Marked by what may be the best opening scene in film noir history, "The Killers" is in the ranks with Wilder's "Double Indemnity," though it doesn't so often get the same amount of talk. The fact that the film partially riffs on the Ernest Hemingway story gives "The Killers" a bit more of an edge in my opinion. It is rife with suspense that holds up even as the narrative breaks up into kaleidoscopic fragments, twisting and turning through time and space.As the hallmark of most all film noir, moody cinematography, shadows, and darkness play a major aesthetic role here. The film is photographed exceptionally, yet retains a grittier feel than its glossier Hollywood peers; in that respect, "The Killers" is a bit more hard-edged and reminiscent of the B-movie noir, yet thematically and otherwise, it is not a B film in the slightest. The film marks Burt Lancaster's first starring role, with Ava Gardner as the mysterious femme fatale who appears in the thick of things.Overall, "The Killers" is a historical game changer for noir, and a real convention-setter. It's a bit nervier than some film noir, and a bit grittier in tone, but I think that that fact alone sets the film apart to some extent. Gardner's appearance as the jet black-haired Kitty Collins is also one of the most memorable femme fatale performances in history. 9/10.
TheLittleSongbird Regarding the latter, that is saying quite a lot seeing as Ernest Hemingway's work is very difficult to adapt and has met very mixed success on film. What is remarkable about The Killers is how it takes a very good and remarkably powerful short story and expands further on it, one of the few Hemingway adaptations to be just as good as its source material and at times be even better than it.This said it is a fabulous film too on its own , and is quintessential film noir, audacious, taut, exciting and suspenseful when it could have been overblown, overwrought or dull if done wrongly. And as much as I did like the 1964 remake, mostly because of Lee Marvin, the 1946 original is the far superior film, with an obvious difference for the better being the production values. The remake was hurt by its rather rushed and cheap made-for-TV look, whereas the production values is one of the strongest things about this version, with its crisp photography, brilliantly atmosphere production design influenced by Edward Hopper and shadowy lighting, that bring such an effective noir-ish atmosphere, the opening scene is particularly striking in this regard.Miklos Rozsa's music here is one of his most ominous and stirringly orchestrated, used sparingly but with palpable effect, really allowing the atmosphere to speak and enhancing it even further when it features. So good in fact, that it was used again for the TV series Dragnet. Robert Siodmak's expertly direction, which maintains a powerfully bleak tone throughout, and a cracking screenplay are further great things, as is a story that is tightly paced and excitingly taut with tons of suspense and intrigue and intricately done and never confusing flashbacks, not getting dull for a minute. This viewer for one was riveted throughout and never found herself confused.Strong acting also helps, with Burt Lancaster thoroughly convincing in his first starring role, his best moments in fact are stunning, and Ava Gardner in the femme fatale role is wonderfully beautiful, classy and mysterious. Albert Dekker and Edmund O' Brien are the standouts in , Dekker is splendidly larcenous and O'Brien drives the investigation with such taut aplomb. Charles McGraw and William Conrad are chilling too, and you wish the film developed their characters just a little more. While the characters are not the most well-developed, they are still interesting and carry the narrative without any annoyances or irrelevance.All in all, superior version and quintessential film noir in its own right. 10/10 Bethany Cox
