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7.4Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.
Cast
- Edmond O'Brien as Jim Reardon
- Burt Lancaster as 'Swede' Andersen
- Ava Gardner as Kitty Collins
- Albert Dekker as Big Jim Colfax
- Sam Levene as Lt. Sam Lubinsky
- Vince Barnett as Charleston
Themes
- small town
- new jersey
- gas station
- boxer
- heist
- femme fatale
- film noir
- murder
- black and white
- attempted robbery
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Ratings
IMDb
7.7/10
25,760 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
100%
- Year
- 1946
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
- Rated
- Approved
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 4 wins & 4 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- Robert Siodmak
- Screenplay by
- Anthony Veiller
- Based on
- " The Killers ", (1927 short story), by Ernest Hemingway
- Produced by
- Mark Hellinger
- Starring
- Edmond O'Brien Ava Gardner Albert Dekker Sam Levene Burt Lancaster
- Cinematography
- Woody Bredell
- Edited by
- Arthur Hilton
- Music by
- Miklós Rózsa
- Production company
- Mark Hellinger Productions
- Distributed by
- Universal Pictures
- Release date
- August 30, 1946 ( 1946-08-30 )
- Running time
- 103 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Box office
- $2.5 million (US rentals)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Part of
- National Film Registry
- Genre
- drama film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Based on
- The Killers
- Director
- Robert Siodmak
- Screenwriter
- Ernest Hemingway
- Cast member
- Vince Barnett
- Composer
- Miklós Rózsa
- Producer
- Mark Hellinger
- Production company
- Universal Pictures
- Cinematographer
- Elwood Bredell
- Narrative location
- New Jersey
- Duration
- 103
- FilmAffinity ID
- 566080
- Distribution format
- video on demand
- Image
- Killers001.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- The Killers (film)
- publication date
- 1946-09-18
- film editor
- Arthur Hilton
- title
- The Killers
- production designer
- Jack Otterson
- after a work by
- Ernest Hemingway
- color
- black-and-white
- distributed by
- Netflix
- review score
- 100%
- aspect ratio (W:H)
- Academy ratio
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Killers is a 1946 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Burt Lancaster in his film debut, along with Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien and Sam Levene. Based in part on the 1927 short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, it focuses on insurance detective Jim Riordan’s investigation into the execution by Al and Max, two professional killers, of former boxer Pete Lund who did not resist his own murder. The screenplay was written by Anthony Veiller, with uncredited contributions by John Huston and Richard Brooks.
Released in August 1946, The Killers was a critical and commercial success, earning four Academy Award nominations, including for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hemingway, who was habitually disgusted with how Hollywood distorted his thematic intentions, was an open admirer of the film. It is widely regarded as one of the classics of the film noir genre.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Killers” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.