jpstewart-02578 This opens atmospherically, then leads into a plot overcooked by several hours. Well filmed in black and white of course, it has a beautiful look for much of its running time. Edmond O'Brien who should be named as the lead as he has the most screen time and carries us along the plot is good, no better, Burt Lancaster in his first screen role is wooden or overacting, Ava Gardner is similarly poor and the rest of the cast just pass muster. Very overrated. If you want great noir try Murder My Sweet, This Gun For Hire or The Maltese Falcon, but this'll pass the time for you while looking good; no better than that.

lampic Inspired by Ernest Hemingway short story "The Killers" turned out to be quintessential film noir and marvel for any lover of the genre - everything happens in half shadows, there is exciting crime story, bad guys (well, almost everybody here is a bad guy), detectives and policemen, sexy femme fatal and enough twists and turns to keep you glued to the screen until the end.Very young Burt Lancaster is the main protagonist here - typical film noir character, a good guy who somehow gets involved in bad company - and he dies at the very beginning of the movie. From now its up to life insurance investigator to trace the story back in flashbacks, talking to everybody who might have known Lancaster and slowly trough all these stories and memories we get more or less clear picture why was Lancaster killed and why he never even resisted his murder. Its impossible not to feel sorry for Lancaster who was basically a good guy with lots of bad luck, he never had a chance involving himself with this crowd. There is a lot of strong supporting characters, notably Vince Barnett (ex prison cell mate) and stunning Ava Gardner as gangster moll who double crosses everybody and watches Lancaster like a black spider.

Tweekums In the opening scene two threatening men enter a diner in Brentwood New Jersey and start inform the owner that they intend to kill 'The Swede' when he comes for his dinner. When it becomes apparent that he isn't coming they head off to where he is living. One of the diner customers runs ahead to warn him but he has no intention of running or fighting back and is gunned down in his bed minutes later! The local police aren't too interested but insurance man Jim Reardon is curious and starts asking questions that lead us to discover why The Swede was murdered and who sent the two killers.We learn that he was a boxer who had to quit when he broke his right hand. His life goes wrong when he meets femme fatale Kitty Collins; he immediately falls for her and even does time in prison to protect her. Once out he gets involved with a robbery and it looks as if he double crossed his associates and took the $250,000 stolen… a certain motive for murder; Reardon isn't so sure though and continues digging.This film gripped me from the start; the two killers' behaviour in the diner is genuinely threatening; there is a real sense of menace and when they kill The Swede it is a real shock… after all he is played by Burt Lancaster who gets top billing! Of course that isn't the last we see of him as much of the story is told in flashback. Lancaster does a solid enough job as The Swede but the real star of the show is Edmond O'Brien who plays Reardon; the character who's investigation drives the story. Ava Gardner is good as Kitty Collins although her role isn't as large as one might expect. The way the story unfolds keeps things interesting even if some of the links are a bit far-fetched… at one point Reardon listens to a delirious dying man who just happens to be talking about the robbery several years previously. Still that is a small quibble about what is otherwise a great film noir.

grantss A superb crime-drama. Clever, original, complex (but not overly so) plot, based on an Ernest Hemingway short story. Well directed by Robert Siodmak.Performances are top-notch. Burt Lancaster, in his debut role, plays the easily-lead dumb boxer, Swede, to a T. Edmond O'Brien is solid as Reardon, the insurance investigator. The performance that stands out, however, is that of Ava Gardner. Surely one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen, she does not disappoint here. The fact that the movie is in black and white doesn't understate her beauty, and she plays the femme fatale perfectly. An absolute classic, and no doubt a movie that inspired people like Scorsese and Tarantino.