The Killers
Short description
Two professional hit men, Charlie Strom and Lee, carry out a contract killing on Johnny North, a former race-car driver. The job goes so smoothly that it troubles them: North made no attempt to flee or resist, and the fee they were paid seems far larger than the task warranted. Suspecting that their anonymous employers misled them, the pair set out to learn who ordered the killing and why, retracing North's past and crossing paths with his former associates, his lover Sheila Farr, and the criminal figures around her.
The film is a second adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers," following the 1946 version. Don Siegel directed and produced it from a screenplay by Gene L. Coon, placing it eighth among the nineteen features he directed, between Hell Is for Heroes and Coogan's Bluff. Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager play the two killers, with Angie Dickinson as Sheila, John Cassavetes as the doomed North, and Claude Akins and Norman Fell in supporting roles. Twenty-two performers are credited.
Released in July 1964 by Universal Pictures and Revue Studios, the film runs 93 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 10,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 out of 10 from roughly 200 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from 25 reviews is slightly higher than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to director Don Siegel (1912-1991), it was common practice at Universal Pictures at the time to film the very last scene of the movie first. As Siegel and actor Clu Gulager (1928-2022) recounted, Lee Marvin (1924-1987) arrived late and intoxicated on the first day of filming, but since he had no lines to deliver, it was decided not to cancel the shoot.
- Only after John Cassavetes (1929-1989) was approved for the role of the driver did director Don Siegel discover that Cassavetes was a very poor driver.
- NBC had an agreement with MCA Inc. for the so-called “Project 120,” or a series of one-hour television films. The first was to be Johnny North, or “The Killers.” It was to be the first color film made for television, and filming was scheduled to take four weeks (at the time, this was the longest shooting period in history for this type of project). The title was decided to be “The Killers” due to the abundance of violence and sex scenes in the script, and the film was intended for theatrical release.
- During the filming of the movie, US President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) was assassinated, which led to delays in filming.
- The film was initially intended for television, but due to scenes of violence, it was re-targeted for theatrical release.
- Ronald Reagan's last role before entering politics; it is also his only role as a villain throughout his film career.
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