The Killers · reception & legacy

1946 · Robert Siodmak

How The Killers has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

No rediscovery needed — it was a hit in 1946 (four Oscar nominations, including Siodmak's only Best Director nod) and has only hardened into a cornerstone of the noir canon since, now sitting comfortably in the Criterion Collection.

What's debated

Noir fans perennially argue over whether the electric opening — the only part taken straight from Hemingway — outclasses everything the film invents afterwards, plus the eternal 1946-vs-1964-remake face-off.

Its footprint

This is the film that launched Burt Lancaster and made Ava Gardner a star, and Miklós Rózsa's ominous four-note 'killers' motif lived a second life as the basis of the Dragnet theme — a resemblance close enough to end in a plagiarism settlement.

Where it stands

Bedrock film noir canon — on any 'essential noir' list and a standard gateway drug for the genre, powered by first-role Lancaster and peak Gardner.

★ Did you know? Ernest Hemingway, famously scornful of Hollywood's treatment of his work, loved this one — it's widely reported as the only adaptation of his writing he actually approved of, and he kept a print to screen for guests at his home.