The Killing, director Stanley Kubrick’s breakthrough film, was made after two ultra-modest features. A much beloved film noir, it has become a classic, imitated to death by many directors.
The heist is successful, but the results are unanticipated–and ironic. The sharpshooter is shot and killed by the police, while trying to drive away from the site. The members wait in an apartment for Johnny to come and divide the money. But Val appears and in the shootout that ensues George is the sole survivor. Badly wounded, he goes home and shoots his wife before collapsing dead.
Meanwhile, Johnny buys a big suitcase for the money and struggles to lock it with the right key. At the airport, Johnny and Fay aren’t allowed to take the suitcase as hand luggage, and after arguments they reluctantly check it in.
While waiting to board their plane, an eccentric old lady, who all along had been talking to her tiny dog, gets upset at the restlessness of her pet, who rushes in the field. The cart’s driver, trying to avoid killing the dog, veers rapidly and the suitcase falls off, breaking open with the numerous banknotes swept away by the wind.
The couple leave the airport but cannot get a cab quickly enough. Fay urges Johnny to run away, prompting him to utter one of the most cynical lines in film history, “What’s the difference?”
The last shot depicts two officers (in civilian clothes) pulling their guns and moving to arrest Johnny (though we do not see the act).
