The Killers

(Robert Siodmak, US 1946, 102 min., 35mm)

War, Myth, Desire. Burt Lancaster (in his debut performance) is the Swede, a washed up boxer turned failed criminal waiting for death in a small-town diner. Edmond O’Brien comes to town as an insurance agent, tracking down the circumstances behind the Swede’s death. His investigation leads him down the sordid alleyways of the Swede’s life, charting his fall from legitimacy, his rise in the criminal underworld, and his obsession with an alluring Ava Gardner. Expanded from an Ernest Hemingway short story, the film is pure noir, but also explores the delicate nature of legacy and what remains when we leave this world.