The Killing (1956)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: An expertly crafted noir with more on its mind than stylishly staged violence, The Killing establishes Stanley Kubrick as a filmmaker of uncommon vision and control.
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Cast
as Johnny Clay
as Fay
as Val Cannon
as Marvin Unger
as Sherry Peatty
as Randy Kennan
as George Peatty
as Mike O'Reilly
as Nikki Arane
as Leo
as Tiny
as Kola Kwarian
as Black Man
as Airline Clerk
as Onlooker (uncredited)
as Maurice Oboukhoff
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Critic Reviews for The Killing
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2) | DVD (4)
This taut crime picture was one of the earliest films in the career of Stanley Kubrick, but something of the director's voice and characteristic preoccupations are already evident here.
Underneath The Killing's clockwork violence is a pungent layer of irony, something Kubrick would further explore many times later in his career.
Faultless and enjoyable.
Plotted with the kind of Swiss-watch precision and attention to detail that would eventually get Kubrick labeled Hollywood's most notorious perfectionist.
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 town on an exhibitors' poll.
Even though he was just staring out, Kubrick instantly mastered the crime genre. A stunning film.
Audience Reviews for The Killing
A nice and tidy little heist film, one of the early works of Kubrick, is notable for a myriad of subtle details that work to crank up the suspense and tension until the sublime payoff at the very end. And there's film great Elisha Cook, with nearly a quarter of the film to story arc, which is tidy indeed. Kubrick before he was "a great director!"
Super Reviewer
Kubrick already showed early signs of his genius when he brought us this masterpiece, an elaborate heist thriller full of rich details for its time, with a deliciously wry dialogue and a suspenseful plot that grows unbearably tense until the very end.
Super Reviewer
Admittedly, not a movie I would pick out for myself to watch, this wasn't a bad older movie. I particularly liked the gold digging wife and the ending at the airport. It's a heist movie, but the characters and acting are very good.
Super Reviewer
The Killing Quotes
| Sherry Peatty: | You've never been a liar, George. You don't have enough imagination to lie. |
| George Peatty: | None of these men are criminals in the usual sense. They've all got jobs, they all live seemingly normal, decent lives, but they got their problems and they've all got a little larceny in 'em. |
| Johnny Clay: | You know, Fay, the mistake I made before was shooting for peanuts. Five years have taught me one thing, if nothing else. If you take a chance, be sure the reward's worth the risk. They can put you away just as fast for a ten-dollar heist as for a million. |
| George Peatty: | I gotta go out. I don't suppose there's anything for dinner? |
| Sherry Peatty: | Of course there is. There are all sorts of things. Well, steak and asparagus and potatoes |
| George Peatty: | I don't smell nothin' |
| Sherry Peatty: | That figures. You're too far away from it. |
| George Peatty: | Too far away? |
| Sherry Peatty: | Certainly. You don't think I had it cooked, do you? It's down the shopping centre |