The Killers (1964)

Synopsis: Don Siegel's adaptation of the previously filmed Ernest Hemingway story stars Lee Marvin as professional hit man Charlie. After Charlie and colleague Lee (Clu Gulager) force their way into a school... Don Siegel's adaptation of the previously filmed Ernest Hemingway story stars Lee Marvin as professional hit man Charlie. After Charlie and colleague Lee (Clu Gulager) force their way into a school for the blind and kill Johnny North (John Cassavetes), one of the teachers, Charlie wonders why the victim offered so little resistance--and why he was paid so much for the job. He also recalls rumors that Johnny was mixed up in a million-dollar heist. They visit Johnny's former partner, Earl Sylvester (Claude Akins), and learn that he had been a race-car driver. Led astray by femme fatale Shiela Farr (Angie Dickinson) before a big race, he racked up his car, ending his driving career. Earl spots Shiela with the wealthy Browning (Ronald Reagan) and realizes that his friend's been set up. Shiela approaches Johnny, who's working as a mechanic, and persuades the driver to take a job as wheelman in a mail-truck robbery Browning's devised. She plans for the two of them to double cross Browning and take off with the money. The film is a lean and mean daylight noir, with an entertainingly sociopathic Marvin. Reagan is good in a villainous role he later regretted having done. [More]

Starring: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Ronald Reagan, John Cassavetes

Starring: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Ronald Reagan, John Cassavetes, Claude Akins, Norman Fell, Virginia Christine

Director: Don Siegel

Director: Don Siegel
Composer: John Williams
Screenwriter: Gene L. Coon

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