The Killers uses Ernest Hemingway's short story as a springboard for a complex film noir. Two mysterious men (
William Conrad and
Charles McGraw) muscle their way into a small town and kill an aging boxer (
Burt Lancaster, making his screen debut), who offers no resistance and seems to be welcoming his death. An insurance investigator (
Edmond O'Brien) is hired to locate the beneficiary to Lancaster's policy, and in the course of his investigation reopens a long-dormant robbery case. In a series of flashbacks, O'Brien makes the connection between Lancaster and the robbery and tracks down the "brains" behind the operation. He also comes in contact with Lancaster's former girlfriend (
Ava Gardner), whose duplicity played a big part in Lancaster's demise -- and his indifferent reaction to it. Siodmak's hard-edged, moody direction of the Oscar-nominated screenplay by
Anthony Veiller, makes The Killers one of the definitive films noirs, including what is considered to be one of the greatest opening sequences in movie history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide