The Killing (1956)

70^th Anniversary! 35mm Screening!

Before 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, and A Clockwork Orange cemented him as one of cinema's defining auteurs, Stanley Kubrick pulled off one of the slickest heist films ever made. The Killing follows career criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) as he assembles an unlikely crew to execute the perfect racetrack robbery. Every detail is meticulously planned, every player has a role, and every second counts—but as any great noir will tell you, even the best-laid schemes are only one bad break away from disaster.

Adapted from Lionel White's novel Clean Break by Kubrick and pulp crime novelist Jim Thompson (The Getaway, The Grifters), The Killing heralded the 28-year-old director (on his 3^rd feature film) as a bold new cinematic voice. Its fractured, non-linear structure was years ahead of its time, influencing generations of filmmakers (from the French New Wave to Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.) with its razor-sharp compositions, tense pacing, and unflinching eye for human greed, transforming what should have been a pretty standard B-movie into one of the defining crime films of the ‘50s.

_{1956, 80 minutes, USA, directed by Stanley Kubrick, Unrated}