Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Killers Starring Burt Lancaster

This 1946 film noir classic is hardly a forgotten movie, but I saw it for the first time, and liked it fine. It stars Burt Lancaster in his movie debut, the drop-dead gorgeous Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. William Conrad plays one of the killers sent to blow away Ole "The Swede" Andreson (Lancaster). I've seen Conrad in quite a few films noir, and he's always reliable. From what I remember of the famous Ernest Hemingway short story, the movie provides the back story of what may have transpired before the execution takes place. Life insurance investigator Jim Reardon (O'Brien) draws the assignment to investigate the murder since Ole took out a $2,500 insurance policy. Reardon gets an able assist from an old neighborhood pal of Ole's, Police Lieutenant Sam Lubinsky played by the droll Sam Levene. Ava Gardner plays the femme fatale Kitty Collins who Ole has the misfortune to fall deeply in love with enough to take a three-year prison rap for her. Lancaster played his role rather understated while O'Brien did a solid job playing the persistent, tough-nosed insurance detective. The narration is told through an interesting series of flashbacks, and the plot is complicated by crosses and double crosses. For the most part, I could follow the bouncing ball of the plot. Where did the stolen dough end up is the question I kept asking myself. By the final scene, I found out the answer. The Killers is a quite enjoyable movie and worth seeing for a second time.