Ernest
Hemingway’s short story was adapted into two very different films, though both
somehow manage to capture the essence of the narrative while maintaining
stylistic individuality from both the source material and each other. First was
Robert Siodmak’s classic 1946 black-and-white adaptation, which is now
considered an iconic example of the post-World War II film noir genre. Producer
Mark Hellinger originally wanted to borrow Warner Brothers director Don Siegel
to direct this early version, but he eventually made his own adaptation in 1964
as the first planned made-for-TV movie. While the first is a classic example of
the shadowy style that noir is best known for, Siegel’s version became a gritty
adaptation in full color and violence in broad daylight. Both have distinctly
different approaches to the same material, making for one of the few narratives
with both adaptations fittingly paired together in one package.
Siodmak’s film
remains loyal to Hemingway’s source material, opening with a couple of hired
assassins walking through a small town and entering a sandwich cart in search
of a man they were sent to kill. Burt Lancaster plays their target, Ole “Swede”
Anderson
As is the case
with nearly all noir, there is a femme fatale at the center of the narrative,
played by a smoldering Ava Gardner. Reardon pursues the truth about the hit on
Swede and where the money from the heist ended up, even though it is mostly his
personal curiosity driving him for the answers. This film has often been
referred to as the Citizen Kane of
film noir, and the mystery behind the man who didn’t run from death is The Killers’ ‘rosebud.’ John Huston
collaborated on the screenplay with Anthony Veiller, though he went uncredited,
and they made the wise decision to keep sections of dialogue nearly the same as
they were written in Hemingway’s story. This paired with a solid cast of veterans
and newcomers makes The Killers a
significant film as well as a great one.
It is
quite clear from the beginning that Don Siegel’s version is very different from
Siodmak’s. Cleverly written ominous dialogue is cut short, replaced by
unabashed violence. There is also an interesting twist in the morality of the
film with the removal of the insurance investigator role. Instead it is the
hired killers who dig for the truth, seemingly trying to answer the same
question about a man willing to face death. This time the victim of the first
hit is a former racecar driver named Johnny North (John Cassavetes), who is
found working in a home for the blind.
Uncertain why
North met the bullets with ambivalence, the two hit men (played by Lee Marvin
and Clu Gulager) do their own investigation. While Reardon thoughtfully probed
with questions, these two use violence to seek out the same answers. They trace
the reasons for the hit back to a heist full of double-crosses, with Ronald
Reagan playing the villain in his final film role, and Angie Dickinson as the temptress
femme fatale. Its brash and bold, and though it was originally made for
television, the content was deemed to violent for the small screen.
Both films are
included on one Blu-ray disc, with a new high-definition digital restoration
for each of them. There are also plenty of special features for both of the
films, even including Andrei Tarkovsky’s student film adaptation of the short
story from 1956. There is also an audio recording of Hemingway’s story, read by
Stacy Keach from a 2002 recording, as well as the 1949 radio adaptation
starring Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters. Also from the 2002 DVD release is
an interview from writer Stuart M. Kaminsky about both of the films. From the
second film is an interview with actor Clu Gulager and audio excerpts from Don
Siegel’s autobiography, read by Hampton Fancher. Both films also have
individual inserts, with essay by novelist Jonathan Lethem and critic Geoffrey
O’Brien.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 9/10
Historical
Significance: 10/10
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