The Killing

The Killing, motion picture about a plan to rob a racetrack, based on the novel Clean Break, by Lionel White. Released in 1956, this film was directed by Stanley Kubrick and features dialogue by pulp crime writer Jim Thompson. Johnny Clay (played by Sterling Hayden) wants to make one last score before getting out of the crime business. He enlists several men to help him in a scheme to rob the vault room at a racetrack, the plan hinging on a diversion created by shooting one of the horses during a race. However, the members of the criminal team each have other problems besides the robbery, undermining the carefully planned robbery and resulting in disaster for all involved.

Director

• Stanley Kubrick

Cast

• Sterling Hayden (Johnny Clay)
• Coleen Gray (Fay)
• Vince Edwards (Val Cannon)
• Jay C. Flippen (Marvin Unger)
• Marie Windsor (Sherry Peatty)
• Ted De Corsia (Randy Kennan)
• Elisha Cook, Jr. (George Peatty)
• Joseph Sawyer (Mike O'Reilly)
• Timothy Carey (Nikki Arane)
• Jay Adler (Leo)
• Joseph Turkel (Tiny)
• Maurice Oboukhoff (Kola Kwarian)
• James Edwards (Black man)
• William Benedict (Airline clerk)

Trivia

• Director Kubrick produced this film independently for $200,000.