{"id":37224,"date":"2016-09-09T13:40:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T20:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37224"},"modified":"2024-02-03T15:49:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T22:49:17","slug":"killers-the-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37224","title":{"rendered":"Killers, The (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;A man stood still while we burned him, and I&#8217;d like to know why.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-37225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Poster.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen their target (John Cassavetes) isn&#8217;t surprised about being killed, two hitmen (Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager) decide to investigate by talking with his former partner (Claude Akins), and learn that Cassavates &#8212; a race car driver &#8212; was fatally in love with a kept woman (Angie Dickinson) supported by a wealthy crook (Ronald Reagan) planning a major heist with his partner (Norman Fell).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Angie Dickinson Films<\/li>\n<li>Car Racing<\/li>\n<li>Don Siegel Films<\/li>\n<li>Femmes Fatales<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Heists<\/li>\n<li>Hitmen<\/li>\n<li>John Cassavates Films<\/li>\n<li>Lee Marvin Films<\/li>\n<li>Ronald Reagan Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this Don Siegel-directed &#8220;version of Hemingway&#8217;s short story&#8221; &#8212; previously <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37584\">made in 1946 by Robert Siodmak<\/a> &#8212; was &#8220;meant to be the first made-for-television movie&#8221;, but &#8220;was released instead as a theatrical feature because its violence was deemed too strong&#8221;. Indeed, the opening scene in which Marvin and Gulager &#8220;rub out John Cassavetes, who works as an instructor for the blind&#8221; is almost shockingly sadistic, as they terrorize numerous blind individuals while cold-bloodedly carrying out their task.  It&#8217;s been rightfully noted that Marvin and Gulager &#8212; who are &#8220;really bastards&#8221; &#8212; are prototypical Tarantino-esque hitmen; you&#8217;ll likely think of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in <em>Pulp Fiction<\/em> (1994) while watching their banter. <\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the flashback format of the screenplay works better than expected: despite knowing from the outset that Cassavetes will be killed, we remain curious (like Marvin and Gulager) to know why he&#8217;s so non-resistant to being assassinated. Dickinson, meanwhile, makes a perfect femme fatale: she&#8217;s beautiful, thrill-seeking, loving, and deceptive like nobody&#8217;s business. As Peary notes, Ronald Reagan (in his final role before becoming governor of California) &#8220;is particularly stiff&#8221;, and didn&#8217;t really deserve the excellent reviews he received; as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4433kill.html\">DVD Savant writes<\/a>, he plays &#8220;a one-dimensional heavy with no redeeming qualities&#8221; and &#8220;is as rigid as a washboard&#8221;. He was much better in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27202\"><em>Kings Row<\/em> (1942)<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"492\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-59204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan.png 492w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan-300x235.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan-128x100.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Killers-1964-Reagan-344x270.png 344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The unnerving opening sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Opening.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Opening.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"492\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Opening.png 492w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Opening-128x100.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Opening-300x235.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Top-notch direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction-128x103.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction-300x241.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"492\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction2.png 492w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction2-128x100.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Direction2-300x235.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine performances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Performances.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Performances.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"492\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Performances.png 492w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Performances-128x100.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Killers-1964-Performances-300x235.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an enjoyable, well-directed thriller. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#goodshow\">Good Show<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058262\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4433kill.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/index.php?page=review&#038;id=3323\">Q Network Review (scroll down to second review)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/us\/film\/the-killers-1964\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A man stood still while we burned him, and I&#8217;d like to know why.&#8221; Synopsis: When their target (John Cassavetes) isn&#8217;t surprised about being killed, two hitmen (Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager) decide to investigate by talking with his former partner (Claude Akins), and learn that Cassavates &#8212; a race car driver &#8212; was fatally in love with a kept woman (Angie Dickinson) supported by a wealthy crook (Ronald Reagan) planning a major heist with his partner (Norman Fell). Genres,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37224\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37224"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95324,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37224\/revisions\/95324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}