Review of The Killing (1956) by Kris W — 24 Apr 2015

"$2,000,000 Pay-Off? Blood splattered apartment and four dead bodies greeted the police of the 47th Precinct last night. Mass murder took place at 21 Walker Drive and is believed to be tied in with "THE KILLING"!".

These 5 Men Had a $2,000,000 Secret Until One of them told this Woman!

"...In All Its Fury and Violence".

"...Like No Other Picture Since "Scarface" and "Little Caesar"!".

Excellent film from Kubrick starring Hayden, best known to most as Capt Mccluskey in The Godfather. Supposedly was huge influence on Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

Rodney Dangerfield reportedly appears as an extra in the racetrack fight scene.

Initial test screenings were poor, citing the non-linear structure as the main problem. Stanley Kubrick was forced to go back and edit the film in a linear fashion, actually making the film even more confusing. In the end, it was released in its original form, and is often cited as being a huge influence on other non-linear films like Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

Stanley Kubrick initially wrote a script outline. He then asked Jim Thompson (writer of The Getaway and The Grifters) to flesh it out with dialog.

Randy Kennan: You jerk, you clown!

[strikes George Peatty].

Randy Kennan: Come on, clown, sing us a chorus from "Pagliacci"!

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.

Johnny Clay: A friend of mine will be stopping by tomorrow to drop something off for me. He's a cop.

Joe: A cop? That's a funny kind of a friend.

Johnny Clay: Well, he's a funny kind of a cop.

Johnny Clay: You like money. You've got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart.

[last lines].

Fay: Johnny, you've got to run!

Johnny Clay: Eh, what's the difference?