The Killers

Locations
Call Number: DVD Film-Noir Killers
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD Film-Noir Killers	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD Film-Noir Killers	1-week checkout	Due 04-14-2024
Westgate Adult A/V 1-week checkout	DVD Film-Noir Killers	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Title from container.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1946 and 1964.
Special features: Andrei Tarkovsky's short film adaptation ; Interview from 2002 with writer Stuart M. Kaminsky; audio recording from 2002 of actor Stacy Keach reading Hemingway's short story; "Screen directors' playhouse" radio adaptation from 1949 of the 1946 film, starring Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters; interview from 2002 with actor Clu Gulager ; audio excerpt from Don Siegel's autobiography, A Siegel Film, read by actor and director Hampton Fancher; trailers; essays by novelist Jonathan Lethem and critic Geoffrey O'Brien.
The killers (1946): Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker Sam Levene. The killers (1964) Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Ronald Reagan.
Ernest Hemingway's simple but gripping short tale is a model of economical storytelling. Two directors adapted it into unforgettably virile features: that was intended for television but deemed too violent for home audiences and released theatrically instead. The first is poetic and shadowy, the second direct and harsh as daylight, but both get at the heart of Hemingway's existential classic.
DVD, NTSC, region 1, Dolby digital, mono.
Contents: Killers.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Burt was so young. submitted by lisa on July 26, 2018, 4:37pm And there's Cannon. And Lee Marvin. And --- well, lotsa famous faces.

The '46 version is much better than '64 submitted by Will O on August 25, 2020, 7:42pm 1946 Review
An interesting storytelling technique a la Citizen Kane for Noir where an insurance investigator tries to piece together why a gas station attendant was murdered by two hit men which leads to a gradual unraveling of an old heist gone wrong.
It was a little on the slow side and dragged a bit for me especially in the middle despite the flashbacks. As new information is gathered about said heist a fuller picture of the who the attendant was and why he was murdered is pealed away until the final reveal ties everything together very nicely.
It's top of the middle for me as far as Noir goes and I'm glad I saw it but probably won't rewatch anytime soon, if at all.

1964 Review
Not nearly as good as the original although I did like that the killers were the ones on the trail of the missing money the flashbacks were not used nearly as well and dragged the pacing down.
The rear projection for the driving and racing was not very good especially the go cart scenes and aside from Lee Marvin as one of the hit men none of the new cast were as good in their roles as the '46 counterparts were in theirs.
Overall not worth a watch especially if you've seen the first version.