Don Siegel didn't want to make a masterpiece. He wanted to make the first-ever TV movie. But The Killers 1964 ended up being way too violent for NBC, so they kicked it to the theaters instead. Honestly? Thank God they did. If you've seen the 1946 version with Burt Lancaster, you might think you know the story. You don't. This version flips the script entirely. Usually, the "investigator" is some insurance guy or a bored cop. In the 1964 film, the people asking the questions are the hitmen themselves.
It's a weird, neon-soaked fever dream.
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Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager play Charlie and Lee. They're professional killers. They walk into a school for the blind—yeah, it's that dark—and gun down a guy named Johnny North. But Johnny doesn't run. He just stands there and takes it. This bugs Charlie. Why didn't the guy fight back? Why was he "dead" before they even pulled the trigger? Most of The Killers 1964 is just these two hitmen retracing Johnny’s steps to find out where the money went and why he gave up on life. It's brutal. It's stylish. It’s also the only time you’ll see Ronald Reagan play a total dirtbag villain.
A Different Kind of Hitman Movie
Most 60s movies felt a bit stiff, but this thing has an edge. Siegel used these harsh, flat colors that make everything look like a Pop Art painting gone wrong. It’s a huge departure from the moody, shadow-heavy noir of the 40s. Here, the sun is shining, the racing cars are loud, and the violence is sudden. Charlie and Lee aren't your typical movie thugs. Charlie is the aging pro, calm and methodical. Lee is the younger, twitchy partner who does isometric exercises while they’re waiting to kill someone. They’re weirdly human. That makes them scarier.
The movie basically invented the "hitmen talking about mundane stuff" trope that Quentin Tarantino later rode to superstardom. When you watch Jules and Vincent in Pulp Fiction, you're looking at the DNA of Charlie and Lee. They aren't just plot devices; they have personalities. They have a dynamic. They're curious.
The Reagan Factor
Let's talk about Ronald Reagan. Before he was the President, he was a working actor, and this was his final film role. He played Jack Browning, a high-stakes criminal who’s as slick as he is cruel. It’s jarring. If you’re used to the "Gipper" persona, seeing him slap Angie Dickinson across the face is a genuine shock. Reagan supposedly hated the movie and his performance in it. He thought it damaged his image.
Actually, he’s great in it. He brings this corporate, cold-blooded vibe to the role of the antagonist. He isn't a street thug; he's the guy who plans the heist from a high-rise office. It adds a layer of cynicism to the film that feels way ahead of its time. You see the transition of crime from the back alleys to the boardroom.
Why John Cassavetes Matters Here
John Cassavetes plays Johnny North, the doomed driver. Cassavetes was the king of independent cinema, a guy who hated the Hollywood system. He took this job mostly to fund his own projects, but he’s magnetic. He plays North as a man who has been hollowed out by a woman and a fast car.
The racing sequences are visceral. Siegel used actual footage from the Riverside International Raceway. You can almost smell the burnt rubber and gasoline. When Johnny's racing career ends in a horrific crash, you feel the desperation. He loses his purpose, then he meets Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson), and that’s the real end of him. Dickinson is the quintessential femme fatale, but without the melodrama. She’s just... pragmatic. She does what she has to do to survive, even if it means destroying everyone around her.
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Technical Grit and Legacy
Siegel was a master of efficiency. He didn't waste frames. The pacing of The Killers 1964 is relentless. It starts with a hit, ends with a bloodbath, and barely breathes in between. The editing is choppy in a way that feels modern. It doesn't care about being "pretty."
- The Score: John Williams did the music. Before Star Wars, before Jaws, he was writing jazz-infused, tense scores for gritty thrillers like this. It’s lean and mean.
- The Script: Gene L. Coon wrote it. He later went on to be a huge deal on Star Trek, but here he’s channeling Hemingway’s original short story through a meat grinder.
- The Violence: It was controversial. Seeing a man beaten with a silencer or a woman thrown through a glass door was heavy stuff for 1964.
The film serves as a bridge. It connects the classic noir era to the "New Hollywood" of the 70s. Without Siegel's work here, we probably don't get Dirty Harry (which Siegel also directed). We don't get the cold, detached killers of The French Connection. It stripped away the romance of the criminal underworld and replaced it with a paycheck and a bullet.
Actionable Insights for Film Buffs
If you want to actually appreciate this movie, don't just stream it on a tiny phone screen. The colors are too important.
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- Watch the Criterion Collection release. The restoration is incredible. It preserves those garish, 1960s Technicolor hues that Siegel used to contrast the dark subject matter.
- Double-feature it. Watch the 1946 version first, then this one. It’s a masterclass in how to adapt the same source material into two completely different vibes. One is about regret; the other is about the cold reality of the job.
- Pay attention to Lee Marvin’s eyes. He doesn't say much, but his face tells the whole story of a man who realizes he's becoming obsolete in his own profession.
The movie is a cynical, fast-paced masterpiece that proves you don't need a massive budget to create a lasting impact. It takes the Hemingway "tough guy" archetype and drags it into the sunlight, where it looks a lot uglier and more honest. It’s not a comfortable watch, but it’s an essential one for anyone who cares about the evolution of the crime thriller.
To get the most out of your viewing, track the motif of "money vs. loyalty" throughout the film. Notice how every character, from the hitmen to the girl to the driver, eventually chooses the cash, and see how that choice leads to the inevitable final shootout on the lawn. It's a bleak look at human nature that still feels relevant today.