The Swede Bites the Dust
Aug 1st, 2008 | By Rick | Category: Blogathons, memes, etc., Great ClipsHere’s one of my favorite murder sequences, from Robert Siodmak’s 1946 version of The Killers, a classic from the golden age of noir. Siodmak was a German immigré who was heavily influenced by expressionist films of the 20s and 30s. He and his cinematographer Woody Bredell created a beautiful, brooding, high-contrast atmosphere that’s classic film noir. The Swede (Burt Lancaster in his first film role) has been warned of the hit-mens’ coming (by none other than Nick Adams!) but he is strangely passive, awaiting his fate, staring at the door they will come through. When they do, guns blazing, all we see are the muzzle flashes, in amusingly unsynchronized fashion, proving that you don’t have to show the blood and gore to be effective. The final shot is a classic: the Swede’s hand slowly sliding down the bed-post and coming to rest, lifeless, as the killers’ footsteps fade away.
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Note: this is part of Joe Campanella’s Film-A-Thon topic Part II: Murder.
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I love this movie. It’s on TCM at least a couple of times a year and I think I watch it every time. I love the final moment where Ava pleads with her dying husband to get her off the hook, not caring at all that he’s dying. It’s a great movie and that opening sequence in the diner leading up to the Swede’s demise is riveting.
Yeah, I love that opening sequence as well … it is so beautiful that I wish I could see it without all the credits. The killers move so deliberately, so menacingly as they check first the gas station then the diner. It’s like they’ve done this before, they don’t communicate with one another, they just know what to do, they’re professionals.
Are you going to watch the remake? Because even though this one is great in a classic noir sense, the remake with Lee Marvin is so fun to watch. Lee Marvin is sex. In every role he plays in. Even The Big Red One, when he’s, like, 89-years-old.
Hey, Whitney: I did watch the remake (and Andrei Tarkovsky’s student film version of it!). All three are available on the Criterion DVD which I wrote about here.
Yes, I loved the remake, not as well, but Don Siegel’s 60s cool and Lee Marvin’s shades are a lot of fun.
Ok, I am not watching that clip, nor am I reading anymore of your description, as I have yet to see the film and it’s on my viewing list this month (when we get to it on the 7th).
But Whitney, the remake sounds wicked cool. And I had forgotten that Tarkovsky had made a version of this. Rick, how does Tarkovsky’s adaptation compare to this one?
Evan, Tarkovsky’s is a student film that is very faithful to the Hemingway story, which ends with the Swede being told the men are in town; in the short story, we don’t get to the killing. Neither the 1946 or the 1964 versions are anywhere near faithful to the short story.
The Tarkovsky film — actually, it was co-directed by Tarkovsky — is a student film, with crappy acting and production values, and it’s e hard for me to find anything in it that speaks to his future promise. My review of the DVD (see the url quoted above and in the piece) actually has some more info.
The 1964 version was made to be the first TV movie ever; it was deemed too violent by the network. Therefore, it has a real 60s television, Universal City vibe. The pick of the litter is the 1946 noir.
Just watched that last night for Noir Month. I LOVED the camera tracking in The Killers
Me too. This is one of my favorite noirs.
Great article Rick-
I agree with you about THE KILLERS. The ‘46 version is very much superior to the others.
But I do love the Siegel version as well.
It’s ridiculous that the person who made that short student film on the criterion DVD went on to direct SOLARIS and STALKER.
Not to mention my favorite, Andrei Rublev. Actually, Tarkovsky’s Killers is not much of a film, but it’s the only one of the three that sticks to the Hemingway short story.
Rick-
Totally forgot about RUBLEV. That is a great movie as well. I love that early scene with the flying machine.
Extremely surreal.
Very surreal … actually, it was a balloon, but perhaps still anachronistic for the 14th century.
[...] of camerawork and lighting. You can read Rick’s thoughts on the scene and watch the clip HERE. (Be warned that it does contain spoilers) There’s another scene involving a heist that is [...]
Just watched this for the first time last night. Really, this opening scene might be some of the best 10 minutes of cinema I’ve ever scene. The whole thing is just riveting, from the writing to the acting to the cinematography - just a superb piece of work.
I liked the slow, deliberate checking-out of the diner, then the purposeful screwing-around with the owner’s head. That first 10 minutes is very close to the Hemingway short story.