NOTE: THIS REVIEW PERTAINS TO THE UK REGION 2 BLU-RAY RELEASE
By Darren Allison
Based
on the short story by Ernest Hemingway, Don Siegel’s movie was a remake of the 1946
Robert Siodmak film of the same name. Originally, the film was to be one of the
first to be made for American TV; however NBC deemed the film too violent for
TV and subsequently the film was shown in theatres. The move to theatres may
have been considered as a blessing in disguise, as the film enjoyed some rather
good reviews in America. In Europe however, it proved even more successful, in
fact, in the UK, The Killers went on to receive a 1966 BAFTA for Lee Marvin in
the Best Foreign Actor category. So it is with a great deal of excitement that
we welcome Arrow’s new Blu Ray release of this cult classic and consider how it
holds up some 50 years on.
Charlie
Strom (Lee Marvin) is a cold blooded and experienced hit man. Along with his
young partner Lee (Clu Gulager), we join them as they enter a suburban school
for the blind. Suited smartly and wearing dark glasses, it soon becomes apparent
that the nature of their visit is far from pleasant. After violently attacking
the (blind) receptionist, Charlie and Lee proceed to search the corridors of
the school in search of their prey Johnny North (John Cassavetes). North, a onetime
big shot race driver, is now teaching car engineering at the school. Whilst
North is alerted that two men are in the school and closing in on him, he makes
no attempt to flee from the scene. After Charlie and Lee crash the classroom
and get confirmation of their target, North stands there, unflinching in his
fate – and openly receives the killers’ bullets.
It
is obvious from these opening five minutes that we are witnessing something
rather interesting. First, there is the violence. Whilst Charlie’s attack on
the blind receptionist takes place off camera, the heightened sound of her
brutal attack plays havoc in the mind’s eye. The atmosphere is loaded to the
max – witnessed first by Lee’s teasing tension building, the tipping of a vase
of water over the her desk, the mocking gesture of his fingers in front of her
blank, expressionless face. Suddenly, it becomes rather clear what may have
been going through the heads of NBC bosses upon their initial viewing of the
film! Secondly, Siegel cleverly employs the ‘Dutch Angle’ (or oblique angle)
technique when focusing on his two hit men as they both survey the school
corridors. Not only does he succeed in creating a rather unsettling POV for the
audience – but arguably suggests that we are certainly observing a couple of
‘unbalanced’ characters. Originating from German expressionism in the 1920s, the
procedure was (somewhat relevantly) used to depict ‘madness or unrest’ – making
it a rather interesting choice of direction on Siegel’s part. Thirdly, there is
Johnny North’s execution and the use of slow motion photography to showcase his
death. While Sam Peckinpah (who was a protégé of Siegel) had used slow motion on
TV in The Losers in 1963, Siegel’s use in The Killers is an extreme and early
example of its use (particularly in such violent fashion) in American cinema.
Following
on from the opening ‘hit’, Charlie and Lee are on a train, Charlie is somewhat troubled
by North’s final actions, he’s never seen a man just stand there and take it.
Figuring there may have been more to this than a simple hit, they decide to
investigate deeper. They detour to Miami and track down North’s racing partner Earl
Sylvester (Claude Akins) who spills the story of North’s involvement with the
stunning Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson). From here on, the back story of a mail
heist is slowly revealed involving Mickey Farmer (Norman Fell) and Jack
Browning (Ronald Reagan). Reagan appears here in his last film role before
taking up politics and eventually becoming governor of California in 1966.
Gathering up the information and setting the pieces of the jigsaw in place,
Charlie and Lee track down the individuals in order to find the missing loot
and retire on the proceeds. A path of deceit, revenge and double crosses soon
begins to emerge and eventually leads to a bloody climax.
Arrow’s
Blu Ray release of The Killers looks far better than I could have ever imagined. It is certainly a stylish presentation, apart
from a very rare blemish or dirt spec it is a very nice, clean print which also
benefits from a fine level of film grain. The Black detail is fairly consistent
throughout, whilst colours are vibrant (as one would expect for a title of this
period), resulting in a rich, realistic pallet with beautifully detailed flesh tones.
Unlike a lot of 60s films, The Killers offers little room to hide in terms of detail,
there are no soft focus shots when it comes to close ups of Angie Dickinson -
but it remains clear, with great depth and fine texture. Obvious composites
such as back projection on the train with Charlie and Lee can look a little fuzzier,
but hey, this is the 1960s and representative of everything that we’ve come to
love about the period. Sound is presented in clear, uncompressed 2.0 mono PCM
audio.
Because
the film was originally filmed in Academy Ratio (for TV) Arrow has had the good
sense to present both the 1.33:1 version and the theatrical matted 1.85:1
(16:9) version. I have to say, after watching both versions I was very impressed
by the matted version. I’m usually somewhat critical of this process, as of
course the 1.33:1 contains more picture information. But the framing here is
really very good indeed, and naturally this is down to director Siegel. With
Arrow including both versions on their disc, they have certainly eliminated
themselves from any negative criticism – ‘should have used this, shouldn’t have
used that…’ so top marks for making that decision.
There
are also some very nice extras including Reagan Kills: an interview with New
York Times bestselling writer Marc Eliot, author of ‘Ronald Reagan: The
Hollywood Years’. Then there is Screen Killer: interview with Dwayne Epstein,
author of ‘Lee Marvin: Point Blank’ a very entertaining and detailed 30 minute
feature. Plus there is also a rare archive interview with Don Siegel (1984)
from the French television series ‘Cinéma Cinémas’ and, to round off a very
nice package, there is also a gallery of rare behind-the-scenes images.
Unfortunately,
the check disc I received for review purposes arrived in a generic clear case,
but the retail version comes with a reversible sleeve containing both the
wonderful original artwork (contained here) and a newly commissioned design by Nathanael
Marsh. Again, Arrow seems to have covered every eventuality in this department,
satisfying both the purists and those open to more modern concepts. Whilst
unable to give full details, there is also a booklet featuring new writing on
the film by Mike Sutton, extracts from Don Siegel’s autobiography and
contemporary reviews plus illustrations of original lobby cards, which I’m
sure, would have been a most enjoyable read. Overall, The Killers remains both
an important and incredibly powerful film that continues to flex a whole lot of
muscle. Lovers of 60s Cinema, Screen heroes, Don Siegel or simply great movies in
general, will certainly lap this one up. Miss it at your peril!
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON UK
(For major coverage of The Killers, see Ian Brown's article in Cinema Retro issue #21 in our back issue section.)