MovieChat Forums > The Killers (1946) Discussion > Misleading title; bad film because it ab...

Misleading title; bad film because it abandons title's premise

posted 15 years ago by Navaros
8 replies | jump to latest

Why is this movie called "The Killers?"

Based on the content of the film, it should be called "A Moron and His Harlot" or something like that.

The only good sequence in the entire film is the very first one, wherein the hitmen are the main characters.

This film turns to crap once it shifts gears by flushing those fascinating characters down the toilet and instead focusing on a moron and his harlot.

What a shame.

I guess it would have been too ballsy to make a film that actually lives up the title and opening sequence?

In any case, they should not have left it with a misrepresentative title, and they should have cut out the opening sequence because it sets up a great film to come that never ends up coming.

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Well, I think I liked this film more than you did, but I agree with most of your points. The title is very generic, and really this film would be better titled "The Fall Guy." I also was hoping Burt Lancaster would be in this more, and starting at the end diminished its impact. OK, he's dead, but please bear with us while we introduce all these other characters and explain why ...

[–] rogueforte 14 years ago

Have to agree with the OP here. Frankly, the later, much worse Don Segal remake actually seems to try and address the issue of the title. In that movie, the hitmen (Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager) had much larger roles, essentially assuming the role of insurance investigator Edmund O'Brien.

If the original version had used the remake's screenplay, it would have been a much more interesting movie where the title made more sense. Of course, I don't know if Robert Conrad or Charles McGraw could have pulled it off, but if they had, The Killers might be known today not so much as a 'pretty good' film noir, but as a great one.

In fact, I've always maintained that Quentin Tarantino used the roles of Al and Max in The Killers as the template for Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction a half-century later, and look at how great that movie is regarded.

[–] Rheli 11 years ago

A Moron and his Harlot

The Fall Guy

Yeah, give away the whole plot in the title. Good plan.

Where's your crew?
On the 3rd planet.
There IS no 3rd planet!
Don't you think I know that?

[–] guy_in_west_houston 14 years ago

Were you disappointed in "To Kill a Mockingbird" since no one killed a mockingbird?

[–] rogueforte 14 years ago

That's a tad specious considering there was an explanation for the title within the movie.

Maybe if there had been a similiar explanation in The Killers, your reply would have more validity.

[–] eschwartzkopf 14 years ago

Apologies if this is too obvious, but the reason for the title is simple: Ernest Hemingway. At the time (the late 1940s), Hemingway was easily the most-famous living author in the United States, due to his novels, short stories and work as a World War II correspondent.

The opening sequence, with the contract killers in the diner and The Swede in the rooming house, comes from Hemingway's 1927 short story, "The Killers." (In fact, much of the memorable dialogue from Charles McGraw and William Conrad is word-for-word from Hemingway's story.)

Hemingway provided the draw for the audience, as the cast consisted of a number of supporting actors, including Edmund O'Brien. (Probably the most-famous of the cast was Sam Levene, who'd appeared as the bumbling Lt. Abrams in two of the "Thin Man" film series.) "The Killers" had been published in Scribner's Magazine and two short-story anthologies; it's almost certain that the anthologies were part of the roving collections of U.S. servicemen in World War II, so the story and the author were well-known and provided the film's marquee attraction.

The problem came with the brevity of "The Killers" in print; the short story doesn't even get to the point of the gunmen entering The Swede's room. The result is a plotline that simultaneously gives the background behind the killing and moves forward to solve the mystery of Kitty Collins' betrayal.

Using Hemingway's short-story title got the people in the door, but you can take a look at the original (http://www.scribd.com/doc/6547255/Ernest-Hemingway-The-Killers) and see that it couldn't be the entire plot of a 90-minute movie.

[–] kenny-164 10 years ago

Nice post, esch. Very interesting.

Another comment is about the proposed title referring to the Swede as a moron. I can't agree with that. Because he loved Kitty? People do stupid things all the time because they are in love, but that doesn't make them generally a moron.

Speaking from personal experience. Heh.

[–] ridge-m-1 10 years ago

Thanks man for introducing facts and sanity to this inane thread. The OP is apparently of the CGI generation.