THE KILLERS (Double-Disc Special Edition)
Criterion Collection, $39.95 Anyone who needs reminding of the glory that was film noir, and the belly flop that was 1960s cinema, need only rent the 2-DVD set of Ernest Hemingway's
The Killers, filmed in 1946 and 1964 by Robert Siodmak and Don Siegel, respectively. Both take as their premise Hemingway's 1927 story in which a man who knows he will be killed makes no effort to escape -- but that's where the similarities stop. Siodmak's version follows an insurance investigator (Edmond O'Brien) piecing together the story of the dead prizefighter (Burt Lancaster) through a series of flashbacks set in the landscape of perpetual midnight that was classic film noir at its peak. The 1964 version, on the other hand, was very much a product of the giddy new television age. Cheap and flashy, this
Killers was actually supposed to be the first made-for-TV movie but was deemed too violent in the post JFK assassination era and released theatrically instead. Siegel, who lost a bid to make the 1946 version, replaces the fighter with a racecar driver and the investigator with a pair of hit men, whose tight suits and sunglasses make them seem less cold-blooded killers than some bizarre
Blues Brothers-Dragnet hybrid. As for Angie Dickinson's performance in the femme fatale
role Ava Gardner smoldered through in 1946, one need only refer to Siegel's 1964 letter to the actress, included in the discs' extras: "You are indeed a very fine actress and a wonderful person to boot. Please don't let yourself get too depressed by stupid ill-considered reviews." But before we be too hasty, the extras also contain redemption for poor Siegel, whose version is still enjoyable, albeit as artifact rather than art. Nestled in with the promotional stills and script notes, expert opinions on film noir and Hemingway's original story, is the trailer for Siodmak's 1944 full-color opus
Cobra Woman. That a stylist like Siodmak directed this cast-of-thousands South Seas romp stands as pretty strong evidence that everyone gets a little wacky when Technicolor's involved.
