It didn't work out
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | It didn't work out |
| Original title | The killing |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stanley Kubrick |
| script | Stanley Kubrick, Jim Thompson |
| production |
James B. Harris , Alexander Singer |
| music | Gerald Fried |
| camera | Lucien Ballard |
| cut | Betty Steinberg |
| occupation | |
| |
The bill did not work out (original title: The Killing ) is an American crime film by Stanley Kubrick from 1956 based on the crime novel The Million Coup (original title: Clean Break , later The Killing ) by Lionel White . The film, which belongs to the genres of heist movie and film noir , is best known for its non-linear storyline and the portrayal of events from several angles, which has influenced directors like Quentin Tarantino .
action
Four innocent petty bourgeoisie with financial worries join professional criminal Johnny Clay , who has just been released from Alcatraz , with the aim of robbing the box office of the Lansdowne Park hippodrome during the most important race of the season . Bartender Mike O'Reilly and the cashier George Peatty are working on the racetrack, which is supposed to make the plan possible (which is currently withheld from the viewer). Instead, the viewer learns a lot about the unhappy marriage between the skinny George Peatty and his selfish wife Sherry. After he has cockily told her about the planned robbery, she and her lover plan to snatch the booty and go into hiding. Meanwhile, Johnny hires a catcher and a sniper who are supposed to cause confusion during the robbery and sets up a depot in a rental bungalow.
Despite a few incidents, the attack went according to plan. However, the viewer only learns the outcome of the robbery after the preparations for the start have been shown on the track for the third time, following the preparatory actions of various participants. In the end, however, it takes revenge that George Peatty could not keep his mouth shut. Sherry's lover surprises the robbers in Marvin Unger's apartment in order to steal the booty that is still in Johnny Clay's hands. He's late arriving after all but George have been killed in the firefight. When he got home covered in blood, he shoots his unfaithful wife. Shortly afterwards he collapses due to his wounds and remains motionless. Even Johnny cannot benefit from the windfall as he had hoped: The suitcase with the hastily stowed money falls to the ground on the runway when he tries to escape and the bills are blown away. When he tries to escape with his wife, he is caught by two police officers.
production
The bill did not work out was Kubrick's first collaboration with the same age producer James B. Harris , whom he met while filming The Tiger of New York . Harris and his family made it possible through their contacts in film and television that Kubrick could now make his first "real" film, which he later looked back on with pride.
The film is based on the " Pulp " novel The Million Coup by crime writer Lionel White, whose rights to the film were acquired by Harris and Kubrick for US $ 10,000.
“The Lionel White novel that inspired The Killing was a very good black suspense novel . The breaking of the temporal continuity was already present in the book itself. That made it more interesting than a simple crime story. These fades in the time we used were predetermined. That was what appealed to us, quite apart from the fact that the story was intelligently made. "
Kubrick wrote the screenplay together with the novel noir author Jim Thompson (The Grifters), whom he admired .
In The Killing worked Kubrick for the first time with the actor Sterling Hayden ( The Asphalt Jungle together). In the run-up, however, Jack Palance was also in discussion for the role of Johnny Clay. Kubrick on Hayden:
“He's a great actor. What may seem paradoxical is that this wonderful actor doesn't like to act at all. He thinks it is a job that is not worthy of a man. He is of remarkable character. You rarely find something like that. He's a real character from the 19th century. "
The film was shot in just 24 days on a budget of roughly $ 330,000. Released in 1956, the film received some good reviews but did not become a huge hit. However, he brought back the investments and created the financial basis for ways to fame .
synchronization
Ultra Film Synchron produced the German dubbed version in 1956.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Clay | Sterling Hayden | Wolf Martini |
| George Peatty | Elisha Cook | Walter Bluhm |
| Sherry Peatty | Marie Windsor | Gisela Trowe |
| Randy Kennan | Ted de Corsia | Konrad Wagner |
| Mike O'Reilly | Joe Sawyer | Paul Wagner |
| Fay | Coleen Gray | Elisabeth Ried |
| Val Cannon | Vince Edwards | Eckart Dux |
| Marvin Unger | Jay C. flipping | Hans Hinrich |
| Sam (originally Nikki) | Timothy Carey | Gert Günther Hoffmann |
| Maurice | Kola Kwariani | Stanislav Ledinek |
| teller | Kind of Gilmore | Curt Ackermann |
Reviews
“This is a perfectly staged crime thriller about the exact planning and execution of a perfect crime. Stanley Kubrick's class can already be found in this film, told in flashbacks - the robbery of the money is staged several times from the perspective of the individual participants. Like a puzzle, the action gradually comes together. But this by no means turned into a confusion. An enormous tension builds up, which at the same time delivers a precise characterization of the participants. By the way, here you can see that the master has taken up the gangster masks in clockwork orange again. "
"An excellent portrait of the crime, unusually tight and boldly staged and played according to a clear, concise script."
"Although 'The Killing' is made up of familiar ingredients and asks for other explanations, an entertaining melodrama develops here."
"Rough fare for the action market, where it can be exploited better than your average box office hit."
“This crime film is typically American, tough in the plot, realistic in its design and presentation. What he lacks, however, is an acceptable morality. "
“Some of the overly extended scenes with one of the luxury women involved are bad. Some close-ups of bloody gangsters also reveal taste uncertainty. The characteristic and strongly contrasting faces of the criminals are well chosen. The direction is also very tight. "
“This (third) film by the young author-director Stanley Kubrick is reminiscent of Jules Dassin's ' Rififi '. It lacks its formalistic 'tours de force', but it has dramaturgical and stylistic cohesion ahead of it. [...] Design and human warmth raise this film far above the other representatives of its genre; it is probably the best American crime film since John Huston's ' Asphalt Jungle ' from 1949. "
"An excellent film with a lot of tension, with fast cuts, a nervously graded style and furtive little character studies."
“The worn out faces of the aging crooks - the only young male figure is characteristically the rival - need nothing more than a normal lightbulb above their head and the simplest camera setups to give every scene a real atmosphere. The dialogue with Jim Thompson, the author of thrillers like ' The Getaway ' and 'The Killer Inside Me', opens up possibilities for characterization for Kubrick that his camera can easily expand on. "
“You shouldn't upgrade a film like 'The Killing' uselessly. It was shot with modest means and, in contrast to Kubrick's other (later) works, was designed exclusively as an entertainment film. Nevertheless, Kubrick points out things that can be found in later films. For example, his distant, negative attitude towards people. [...] Of course, this is humor of the very blackest kind. […] At this point in time [1950s], however, 'The Killing' is remarkable because of its malevolence. "
“Pessimistic-realistic film without sentimentality. Rating: 2½ stars (above average) "
“A cleverly devised, perfectly staged and well-acted American crime film […]. Not allowed for young people because of its toughness and some taste gaps. "
meaning
Even if this film can only be ascribed to film noir to a limited extent , its aesthetics have found their expression in the form of ever-present grid patterns: shadows from window crosses and curtains on ceilings and walls; Camera views through the vertical bars of an iron bed frame; George behind his barred betting counter and the handrail of a spiral staircase; the parrot cage in the Peatty's apartment; in the end Johnny behind the chicken wire at the airport.
As with a puzzle, the sequences that are constantly moving back and forth in the chronology only gradually create an overall picture. An off-comment provides the viewer with clues about the temporal and spatial relationships, which , like an acoustic time clock, provides precise information about the time of each action, but also gives the characters' inner monologue a voice.
Awards
- 1957: nominated for the BAFTA Award for best film
literature
- Lionel White : The million dollar coup. Detective novel (Original title: The Killing ). German by Fritz Moeglich . Heyne, Munich 1963, 155 pp.
- Interview Stanley Kubrick (with Renaud Walter) . In: Positif No. 100-101 (Dec. 1968), pp. 19 ff.
- Norman Kagan: The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick . New York 1972.
- Alexander Walker : Stanley Kubrick directs . London 1972.
- Daniel DeVries: The Films of Stanley Kubrick . Michigan 1973.
- Horst Schäfer (Ed.): Materials on the films by Stanley Kubrick . Duisburg 1975.
Web links
- The Killing in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- It didn't work out in the online film database
- The Killing atRotten Tomatoes(English)
- Film information, criticism and posters on der-film-noir.de
- Review on filmzentrale.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Interview with Stanley Kubrick (with Renaud Walter). In: Positif No. 100-101 (Dec. 1968), pp. 19 ff.
- ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Stars and their German voices. Lexicon of voice actors. Schüren, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89472-627-0 , CD-ROM.
- ↑ See prisma.de
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in Lexicon "Films on TV" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 670
- ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 351.