Irish Film Institute -THE KILLERS

THE KILLERS

Director: ROBERT SIODMAK

U.S.A. • 1946 • BLACK AND WHITE • 105 MIN


REVIVED IN A NEW PRINT FOR A BURT LANCASTER TRIBUTE, DIRECTOR ROBERT SIODMAK’S NEGLECTED FILM NOIR CLASSIC USES A COMPLEX FLASHBACK STRUCTURE TO TELL A TALE OF ROBBERY, BRUTAL BETRAYAL AND DOUBLE-CROSS.
There have been few actors given a more striking introduction to the screen than Lancaster in the opening sequence of The Killers: the powerful yet ravaged-looking face revealed from the shadows of his narrow bed, five words spoken with the haunting resignation of accepted doom: ‘I did something wrong . . . once’. The archetypal fall guy of this epochal film noir, Lancaster is the Swede, an up-and-coming palooka who follows his worst instincts to a short life of crime, prison and annihilation. It’s all about a woman, of course, this being noir, a gangster’s scheming moll, a shadowy Circe played to perfection by an eye-poppingly beautiful Ava Gardner in her breakthrough role. Produced by Mark Hellinger, with stunning high contrast images by Woody Bredell, The Killers is a highpoint of Hollywood art as entertainment.—Lee Server.

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