The Killers

Don Siegel's 'The Killers', based on Ernest Hemingway's short story of the same name, was originally produced for television but was so violent that NBC refused to broadcast it. Fortunately, it ended up in theaters. Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager play two professional hitmen who coldly and routinely shoot a racecar driver (John Cassavetes). But something about the task keeps nagging them: Why did their victim make no resistance? They begin to seek out people from the racecar driver's past, and the clues lead them through a world of crime and on to Ronald Reagan in his final film role, here as an ice-cold gangster.

Director: Don Siegel
Starring: Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, Claude Akins, Ronald Reagan
Country/year: United States, 1964
Running time: 93 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English Dialogue
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15

Part of the series: When film noir got colors
What happens to the shadows of noir films when they are suddenly surrounded by expressive colors? When pastel colors do not soften the obscure crime tales, but, on the contrary, make them sharper and more hard-hitting? This film series revolves around a special moment in postwar American film history, when film noir broke out in color.