Review of The Killing (1956) by Anthony D — 20 Jul 2009

Interesting mixed package: what works works really well, and what doesn't is almost laughable. Some things like the narration work well at times but at others it feels completely out of place and unnecessary.

One the one hand you have genuine suspense, some mostly fleshed-out characters, and some interesting twists. On the other hand you have little things like some occasional weird dialogue, a cheesy-yet-awesome fight scene, a laughably fake parrot, and an abrupt, almost anti-climactic ending.

Whilst some instances are predictable they are still quite fun, like the dog at the airport. But I must say my favourite aspect was the subplot involving the gunman and the Black parking officer. It'd be interesting to see how audiences reacted to it back then, especially to one memorable line, but the end of the sequence had one of the funniest punchlines (well not so much a line as a shot) I've seen in a while.