{ "id": "ep8jb811t5", "slug": "the-killers-1964-film", "title": "The Killers (1964 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "label": "1960s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Killers (1964) is Don Siegel's color remake of the 1946 film noir, from Hemingway's 1927 story, starring Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, and Ronald Reagan; made for NBC but released theatrically as too violent for TV.", "snippet": "The Killers (1964) is Don Siegel's color remake of the 1946 film noir, from Hemingway's 1927 story, starring Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, and Ronald Reagan; made for NBC but released theatrically as too violent for TV.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "markdown": "# The Killers (1964 film)\n\n*The Killers* is a 1964 American crime film directed by [Don Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-siegel), loosely adapted from [Ernest Hemingway](https://www.edgepedia.org/ernest-hemingway)'s 1927 short story \"The Killers\" and remaking [Robert Siodmak](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-siodmak)'s 1946 film noir of the same name. It stars Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager as two hired killers who investigate why their victim, a former race-car driver played by John Cassavetes, accepted his death without resistance.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1011573-killers) The film was produced for NBC as what was planned to be the first made-for-television movie, but it was judged too violent for television, especially in the wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination, and was released to theaters instead.[3](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/made-television-movies) • [4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / writer | Don Siegel; screenplay by Gene L. Coon[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) • [5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/) |\n| Source | Ernest Hemingway's 1927 short story \"The Killers,\" first filmed in 1946 by Robert Siodmak[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) |\n| Original destination | Made for NBC as the first made-for-television movie; deemed too violent and released theatrically[3](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/made-television-movies) |\n| Release | New York opening 17 July 1964; Los Angeles opening mid-August 1964[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) |\n| Principal cast | Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Ronald Reagan, Clu Gulager[6](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-killers-1964) |\n| Reagan's role | Jack Browning, a gangster masquerading as a respectable businessman; his last on-screen performance and only villain role[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) • [4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) |\n| Technical | 95 minutes; Eastman Color by Pathé, print by Technicolor; copyright Revue Productions, 12 September 1964[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nCharlie (Marvin) and Lee (Gulager), two professional hit men, go to an institution for the blind and shoot Johnny North (Cassavetes), a teacher there. Surprised that their victim made no resistance and suspecting he had been involved in a million-dollar robbery years earlier, they piece together his past. North had been an ace racing driver until he became involved with Sheila Farr (Dickinson), a woman kept by the middle-aged gangster Jack Browning (Reagan), now masquerading as a respectable businessman. Injured in a crash and disillusioned, North worked as a mechanic until Sheila persuaded him to drive the getaway car in a robbery planned by Browning; she and North supposedly double-crossed Browning and absconded with the money. The killers learn that Sheila in fact double-crossed North by leading him to Browning, whom she had married. In the confrontation that follows, Browning kills Lee and wounds Charlie; Charlie hunts Browning down, kills him and Sheila, and dies of his wounds.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488)\n\nThe major structural change from the 1946 film is that the hit men, rather than an insurance investigator, tease out the victim's story, told largely in flashback.[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) • [11](https://metrograph.com/film/9999002011-the-killers/) The opening scene moves from the stark diner of the original to a bustling school for the blind.[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023)\n\n## Production origins\n\nThe film grew out of NBC's partnership with Universal TV in stand-alone \"mini-movies.\" Their first joint effort was this adaptation of Hemingway's story, which Siegel directed with a cast including Cassavetes, Marvin, Dickinson, and Reagan. Deemed \"too spicy, expensive, and violent\" for TV, it was released as a theatrical feature instead; the partnership's next effort, *See How They Run*, premiered on NBC in October 1964 and set off the made-for-television movie phenomenon.[7](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/49115/files/2026/01/American-Film-History_-Selected-Readings-1960-to-the-Cynthia-Lucia-Roy-Grundmann-Art-Simon-1-2015-Wiley-Blackwell.pdf) • [3](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/made-television-movies)\n\nProduction ran from 25 November 1963 to late December 1963 or early January 1964, beginning shortly after the Kennedy assassination of 22 November 1963. *The Daily Variety* of 15 November 1963 reported that Marvin had been hired for a lead role with production tentatively set to start 21 November 1963.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488) Siegel had been reputedly producer Mark Hellinger's first choice to direct the 1946 version two decades earlier, and the Criterion Collection describes him as initially slated for that film.[8](https://buddwilkins.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/take-two-ernest-hemingways-the-killers-robert-siodmak-1946-amp-don-siegel-1964/) • [9](https://www.criterion.com/films/725-the-killers) Siegel's main condition for accepting the remake, according to one review, was that the film have as little to do with Hemingway as possible; the screenplay by [Gene L. Coon](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-l-coon), best remembered for his work on *Star Trek*, drops the source dialogue and recasts the marked boxer of the 1946 film as a has-been race car driver.[10](https://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/k/killers_cc.shtml) • [5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/)\n\n## Cast and performances\n\n**Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager** play the killers as the film's center of gravity. A contemporary review in the *Monthly Film Bulletin* observed that the film takes a sharp lift each time the two appear, Marvin playing an aging, tiring professional vaguely hurt in his pride, and Gulager a handsome, brutal, playful sidekick who hero-worships his colleague.[5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/) Geoffrey O'Brien, a critic and essayist writing for the Criterion Collection, described Gulager as a \"humorously psychopathic health-nut sidekick\" providing the foil to Marvin's \"moody philosopher-killer.\"[12](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/253-the-killers-1964)\n\n[Ronald Reagan](https://www.edgepedia.org/ronald-reagan) played Jack Browning in his last on-screen performance and his only villain role.[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) Metrograph's program notes describe him as \"brilliantly cast against type in his final film role.\"[11](https://metrograph.com/film/9999002011-the-killers/) One retrospective review judged the casting of Reagan as the antagonist the one element that pales beside the 1946 original.[13](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/film-noir-review-the-killers-1964/)\n\nDon Siegel hired Cassavetes to play race car driver Johnny North after considering [Steve McQueen](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-mcqueen) and [George Peppard](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-peppard), then learned that Cassavetes could barely drive.[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) Actress Virginia Christine connects the two versions: she played Lilly Harmon Lubinsky in the 1946 film and appears in the opening scenes of Siegel's film as the blind receptionist Miss Watson.[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023)\n\n## Style and reception\n\nWhere Siodmak's film worked in black-and-white nocturnal shadows, Siegel's version is shot in vibrant color, with bright primary colors and glossy luxuries that critic Richard Brody of *The New Yorker* described as \"imbued with menace,\" conveying \"a terrifyingly cold world view.\"[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) • [14](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-killers-2) O'Brien wrote that the remake jettisons the suggestiveness of the original, leaving only faint traces of Hemingway's story and replacing the femme fatale myth with \"the early sixties ideal of very high-priced arm candy.\"[12](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/253-the-killers-1964) A Senses of Cinema essay noted that the film shows relatively little on-screen violence while its total impression is of a work saturated in violence, with Siegel's method implying it in all behavior after an early demonstration.[15](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2014/john-flaus-dossier/the-killers/)\n\nThe music score was by Johnny Williams; the opening and end title music was taken from *Touch of Evil* (1958), scored by [Henry Mancini](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-mancini), and the song \"Too Little Time,\" with Mancini music and Don Raye lyrics, was sung by Nancy Wilson.[13](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/film-noir-review-the-killers-1964/) • [5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/)\n\nOn the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 83% Tomatometer rating based on 24 reviews, with the critics' consensus that though it cannot best Siodmak's 1946 version, Siegel's take \"stakes out its own violent territory, and offers a terrifically tough turn from Lee Marvin.\"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1011573-killers) The film won one BAFTA Award, according to IMDb.[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058262/)\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film is remembered both as a near-miss of television history and as a cult companion to the 1946 classic. It was one of the first noir remakes to go into production, and its influence has been traced in neo-noir films such as *Pulp Fiction* (1994) and *In Bruges* (2007).[13](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/film-noir-review-the-killers-1964/) The English director Michael Reeves was reportedly obsessed with Siegel's film and watched it repeatedly while preparing his own horror films.[5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/) [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) restored the film from the original 35mm negative in a 4K workflow in collaboration with [The Film Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-film-foundation), with consultation from Martin Scorsese and [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg).[4](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023) The Criterion Collection issued the 1964 film together with the 1946 version, plus a student-film screen version of the story by a young Andrei Tarkovsky.[10](https://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/k/killers_cc.shtml)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Killers (1964), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23813-THE-KILLERS?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=7&sid=4054ce41-3dd1-493a-b919-52abeb7f9314&sr=0.11355488)\n2. [The Killers, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1011573-killers)\n3. [Made-for-Television Movies, Encyclopedia.com](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/made-television-movies)\n4. [The Killers (1946 + 1964), The Film Foundation, July 2023](https://www.film-foundation.org/rsr-july-2023)\n5. [The Killers, BFI Southbank Programme Notes](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/joanna%20hogg%20-%20influences/2023/10/28/killers/)\n6. [The Killers (1964), Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-killers-1964)\n7. [American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present (Wiley-Blackwell)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/49115/files/2026/01/American-Film-History_-Selected-Readings-1960-to-the-Cynthia-Lucia-Roy-Grundmann-Art-Simon-1-2015-Wiley-Blackwell.pdf)\n8. [Take Two: Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (Budd Wilkins)](https://buddwilkins.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/take-two-ernest-hemingways-the-killers-robert-siodmak-1946-amp-don-siegel-1964/)\n9. [The Killers (1964), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/725-the-killers)\n10. [The Killers: The Criterion Collection, The DVD Journal](https://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/k/killers_cc.shtml)\n11. [The Killers, Metrograph](https://metrograph.com/film/9999002011-the-killers/)\n12. [The Killers: A Decisive Reversal of Values, Geoffrey O'Brien, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/253-the-killers-1964)\n13. [Film Noir Review: The Killers (1964), Classic Movie Hub](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/film-noir-review-the-killers-1964/)\n14. [The Killers, Richard Brody, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-killers-2)\n15. [The Killers, Senses of Cinema](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2014/john-flaus-dossier/the-killers/)\n16. [The Killers (1964), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058262/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Killers (1964 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Killers (1964 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Killers (1964 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers-1964-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Killers is Don Siegel's color remake of the 1946 film noir, from Hemingway's 1927 story, starring Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, and Ronald Reagan; made for NBC but released theatrically as too violent for TV." }