Ernest Hemingways simple but gripping short tale The Killers is a model of economical storytelling. Two directors adapted it into unforgettably virile features: Robert Siodmak, in a 1946 film that helped define the noir style and launch the acting careers of Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner; and Don Siegel, in a brutal 1964 version, starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, and John Cassavetes, that was intended for television but deemed too violent for home audiences and released theatrically instead. The first is poetic and shadowy, the second direct and harsh as daylight, but both get at the heart of Hemingways existential classic.

FILMS IN THIS SET

The Killers (1946)

Ernest Hemingway’s gripping short story “The Killers” has fascinated readers and filmmakers for generations. Its first screen incarnation came in 1946, when director Robert Siodmak unleashedThe Killers, helping to define the film noir style and launching the careers of Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner in this archetypal masterpiece

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Andrei Tarkovskys short film adaptation of Ernest Hemingways The Killers, made when he was a student in 1956
• Interview from 2002 with writer Stuart M. Kaminsky
• Screen Directors Playhouseradio adaptation from 1949, starring Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters
• Audio recording from 2002 of actor Stacy Keach reading Hemingways short story
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by novelist Jonathan Lethem

The Killers (1964)

Ernest Hemingway’s gripping short story “The Killers” has fascinated readers and filmmakers for generations. In 1964, Don Siegelinitially slated to direct the 1946 versiontook it on, creating the first-ever made-for-TV feature, which would prove too violent for American audiences in the wake of JFK’s assassination.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Interview from 2002 with actor Clu Gulager
• Audio excerpt from director Don Siegels autobiography,A Siegel Film,read by actor and director Hampton Fancher
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey OBrien