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After a stint in Alcatraz, ex-con Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) plans one final heist before settling down and marrying his sweetheart. Clay and his cohorts plot an elaborate racetrack robbery which should make them a $2 million killing. The precise plan sees timings and locations of each man involved in the crime integral to the success of the heist. This sets the plot up for numerous challenges, rather than the simple one-trick pony.
In all the delicate planning Clay and his gang forgot to consider the gold-digging Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor). This brilliantly cast vixen is the adulterous wife of the clownish crook in the gang and she doesn’t care who she hurts to feed her hunger for the money. Her marvelously executed cold-heartedness and greed drive the double-crossings.
It is also so refreshing to watch a thriller that does not rely on an avalanche of special effects and explosions to keep it interesting.
The casting of these characters is superb! Hayden delivers an excellent performance as the quiet, yet hard-boiled and calculating mastermind of the heist. It is also so refreshing to now watch a thriller that does not rely on an avalanche of special effects and explosions to keep it interesting.
But what stands out in this film and separates it from other crime thrillers of the time is the non-linear timescale. Kubrick gives the viewer a perspective of each of the men’s roles in the crime individually, which seems remarkably modern for the 1956 film. In addition, this method of storytelling heightens the tension, brilliantly prolonging the the outcome. It is perhaps this that inspired Tarantino’s time shifting techniques that are so well recognised in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
Although Kubrick has by no means perfected his direction at this early stage in his career, it is clear that The Killing nurtured the fluid camerawork that features in his later famous works. Even without noting this, it is an enjoyable approach to the tired crime thriller story.
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