347 - The Killing, United States, 1956. Dir. Stanley Kubrick.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

347 - The Killing, United States, 1956.  Dir. Stanley Kubrick.

Why does love have to get in the way of a good bank robbery?

Johnny Clay has set up the perfect heist.  The seventh race at the Lansdowne Stakes.  The cash room.  Red Lightning will be in the lead.  He is the favorite.

He has three insiders.  The cashier George Peatty (Elisha Cook at his most pusillanimous).  The bartender Mike O'Reilley (character stalwart Joe Sawyer).  And the police officer Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia).

He has an investor.  Marvin Unger (Jay C. Flippen).  And he has two outsiders.  Hired men.  Paid a flat fee to do a single job.  The sharpshooter Nicki Arcane (Timorthy Carey).  And the muscle Maurice Oboukhoff (Kola Kwariani).

Each stage of the job is timed to the minute.

Each has a job to do.  Each man does his job.

Nothing will go wrong.

Unless some weak-kneed nitwit opens his big fat mouth.

George Peatty loves his wife.  Or more accurately, he is her desperate puppy dog.  He will do anything to secure her love in return.

Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) has better things to do than fool with him.  She just wants the money.  She has her own boyfriend on the side.  And as soon as George impetuously confides in her, she takes it straight to her lover boy Val Cannon (Vince Edwards).

So he hatches his own plan.

He will let the gang rob the track.  Then he will show up and rob them.

He may just be in over his head himself.

If only people could use their minds and not their hearts.  Then crimes could be pulled off so much more smoothly.

Stanley Kubrick shows each stage of the heist.  Timed to the minute.  And he goes back in time to pick up each individual's job.  Until it all comes down to the job itself.

So much of it will go exactly as planned.

Until . . .