The Killing

This is a bad joke without a punch line.

The Killing is directed by Stanley Kubrick who co-adapts to screenplay with Jim Thompson from the novel Clean Break written by Lionel White. It stars Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen and Coleen Gray. Music is by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.

Ex-con Johnny Clay (Hayden) has a plan to make a killing at the racetrack, with some special inside help he plots to nab $2 million in an intricate robbery. It looks a good thing, the right people are in place, but there's a potential spanner in the works in the shapely form of Sherry Peatty (Windsor), the unfaithful and devious wife of one of the robbers.

Cheaply made by Kubrick and his...

Though it's Sterling Hayden who takes top billing here, it's actually Marie Windsor who steals the show as "Sherry". She is the rather money-grabbing, bullying, wife of "George" (Elisha Cook Jr). Now he works in the cashier's office at the local racetrack where "Mike" (Joe Sawyer) works behind the bar. These two are to be lynch pins in a daring plan to rob the place of two million dollars as it's feature race brings in the punters. Ex-con "Johnny" (Hayden) is the brains behind the scheme that also includes a bent cop "Randy" (Ted de Corsia), marksman "Nikki" (Timothy Carey) and financier "Unger" (the familiar face of Jay C. Flippen). Meticulous planning is required, diversions are created and it all looks set fair. Except, that is, for the ...