The Movie: The Killing (1956)
What Is It?: Stanley
Kubrick’s first significant film takes the standard heist-gone-wrong scenario
and transforms it into something audacious with boggled chronology, bizarre
characterizations, and clown masks. Culty character actors populate the cast of
miscreants with Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., and Timothy Carey really
standing out even though this is definitely Sterling Hayden’s movie. The
finale, which involves a bunch of bucks fluttering all over a tarmac, is
beautiful and ruthless. In other words: it’s Kubrick.
Why Today?: On
this day in 1785, the dollar becomes
the official monetary unit of the United States.
