The Killers (1964) [VHS]
As with its 1946 predecessor of the same title and directed by noir maestro Robert Siodmak, this version ofThe Killersmakes much ado out of Ernest Hemingway's classic short story of two hit men who shake up a diner while looking for their prey. Hemingway's sketch took up perhaps the first six minutes of Siodmak's film, and everything after that was an add-on. This 1964 remake (of sorts) by Don Siegel builds another whole world around Hemingway's narrow if intense premise. The two assassins of Siegel's film (Clu Gulager, Lee Marvin) go in search of their intended victim--a teacher (John Cassavetes) at a school for the blind--and find that he not only recognizes his fate when they show up, but seems entirely resigned to it. Curiosity leads the killers to seek out the party who hired them and discover why Cassavetes's character didn't run or fight. Soon the facts tumble into place: the dead man had once been a top-drawer racer who fell for a glamorous woman (Angie Dickinson), the latter gradually pulling him into the orbit of a criminal villain (a convincingly evil Ronald Reagan). Once Gulager and Marvin's characters realize there is an unrecovered stash of money to be found, the film becomes increasingly dark and dangerous. Originally shot for television but rejected for its violence, Siegel's film is a blistering experience of swimming against the currents of fate for one's survival--and losing.--Tom Keogh